Slender-billed Conures aka Long-billed Conures
Enicognathus
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The Slender-billed Parakeet, Conure À Long Bec, Perruche À Bec Gracille, or Cotorra Choroy (Enicognathus leptorhynchus) is one of only two species in the Enicognatus genus. Although both birds in the genus are available in aviculture, neither is especially common in captivity. The Slender-billed Conure is endemic to Chile where it favors temperate forests.
In their natural habitat, the breeding season is around November to December. The average clutch consists of two to five eggs that are incubated for 26 days.
Physical Description:
Slender-billed Conures average 15-16 inches in length.
The general plumage is generally olive green. Their forehead, crown and neck feathers are edged with brownish black. The feathered lores (the regions between the eyes and bill on the side of a bird's head) and cere are crimson red. The center of abdomen is a maroon reddish color and the tail is brownish red with a tinge of green.
They have a dark grey bill. The upper beak is prolonged and slightly curved.
The irises are orange and the eyes are circled by a small grey periophthalmic ring.
The legs are grey.
Diet / Feeding:
Natural Diet: Their natural diet consists of seeds, nuts, small fruit (i.e. berries), leaf buds, acorns and bulbous roots. Even though this conure will feed on various seeds, including grass and bamboo seeds, their favored food appears to be seeds of the Araucaria Araucana (also known as the Monkey Puzzle Tree). Swarms of these conures can be found in Araucaria forests when the seeds are ripe. In farmland areas, these conures cause considerable damage to crops whilst feeding on the ripened grain.
Captive Diet: A variety of seeds, fruits and vegetables should be provided, in addition to a good quality dry food mix. The general feeding ratio is f 25% seed, 10% pelleted (good quality pellets without harmful chemicals), 65% fresh vegetables and fruits and wheat bread. During the breeding season, additional buckwheat, safflowers and sunflower seeds should be provided.
As these conures like to forage on the ground, breeders often sprinkle seeds on the cage bottom or the aviary floor.
Personality:
The Slender-billed Conures are categorized as a medium noisy to noisy parrot. They are inquisitive, playful and animated, and are also good talkers. They are social birds that like to be part of the family or flock.
They love to play!
They are very active parrots that like to play, explore and chew. Lots of toys are recommended to keep their beaks from "getting busy" on your furniture.
- Toys can be home-made or purchased online or are available at your local bird store.
- Toys can also be things that I bet you never thought were toys at all! Please refer to the foraging page for easy, inexpensive or FREE tips to entertain your pet.
How much attention do they need?
Like all parrots, they are social birds. They do require daily interaction with their social group, entertainment, things to do -- or else they will become bored and develop behavioral problems. In the wild, they would never leave the company of their flockmates. In a captive pet situation, a hand-fed conure requires the same social interaction from you and your family.
If you have little time to give, a parrot would not be a good choice for you. You would need someone at home several hours a day at a minimum, preferably someone should be home most of the day. I would recommend that there be people at home, with the bird, for at least several hours every day or the majority of day.
It's best to keep your pet conure where the center of activity is, usually the family room, and leave the cage door open or allow your pet to be on a playpen whenever someone is at home. During this time some direct interaction should be provided, such as talking to your pet, petting it, or placing it on your shoulder while you surf the internet, watch tv or go about your other activities. My parrot even joins me in the gym!
Do they make good family pets?
In general, conures make good family pets as long as they have been well socialized. They don't mind a lot of activity - in fact, the more "fun stuff" is going on, the more entertained and happier they tend to be. They usually get along well with all family members, although they are likely to eventually choose a favorite; but as long as they are exposed to, and socialized by, other family members, they should maintain their friendliness with the others. Conures love to be touched and handled - another reason why they often do well with kids.
However, they go through nippy phases that can be hard on children as well as on adults. Teaching the child appropriate handling of the conure will help prevent some painful experiences - however, it will never entirely eliminate them. The tamest pet bird gets startled and bites - without this being a true reflection on its personality. It's a natural reaction. Experienced pet owners learn to read the body language of their pets and can avoid most of these "accidental encounters." Training is important to prevent an accidental bite from turning into a behavioral problem.
It is difficult to instruct smaller children on proper parrot handling, and their interactions with the conure should always be supervised. But children who have learned to handle the conure gently and confidently usually don't have a big problem with aggression. How well the child-parrot interaction goes really depends on the maturity level of the child, as well as the proper socialization-level of the parrot. Admittedly though, some genetics come into play as well. Some individual parrots are more aggressive than others. Often this is a family trait and one parrot pair produces sweet babies, while others produce nippy offspring. Sweet babies can turn nippy, if not socialized well, and nippy (usually nervous / fearful birds) can be taught to be good family pets. Birds do pick up on stress and anger that we humans may feel and this can impact their personality and likelihood to be aggressive towards us. It is always best to approach a bird calmly and focus on, and enjoy, the interaction with the parrot rather than reflecting on problems in your life. Doing so will actually be conducive to your own health, as it will help you relax.
There never will be a guarantee that a meaningful relationship between the children in the family and the pet parrot develops and if things don't go well, the conure may end up being a pet for the adults only. For this reason, it is not recommended to buy a parrot as a pet for the kids - this needs to be a family pet, with the adults taking on most of the responsibility.
Training and Behavioral Guidance:
Conures, albeit their smaller size, do present their challenges, and they are not the best "starter" birds, although some species are easier to keep than others. It really is important to learn to understand them and to guide their behavior before an undesirable behavior has been established.
Conures are known for their loud and harsh calls, which is a natural way of communication and social interaction and shouldn't be "trained away" -- however, they can develop into excessive screamers, which really requires early intervention.
Even a young bird that has not been neglected and abused requires proper guidance; this becomes even more challenging when it involves a rescued bird that may require rehabilitation. Behavioral challenges that conures present include:
- Excessive Chewing: Any parrot will chew. In nature, they use their beak to "customize" their favorite tree, to enlarge the size of their nest in a tree hollow. Doing this keeps their beaks in good condition. The problem is excessive and undesirable chewing. Undisciplined conures will chew on electric wiring potentially causing house fires. The owner needs to provide plenty of "healthy" chewing opportunities (bird toys, natural wood branches, etc.) and training is necessary to teach your pet what is "off-limits."
- Biting: Conures can become nippy. Like most parrots they are likely to discover their beaks as a method of "disciplining us" once they are out of the "baby stage." It really is important to learn to understand them and to guide their behavior before an undesirable behavior has been established.
- The "Noise" Factor: As is the case with many conure species, Slender-billed Conures can be very noisy. Not everybody can tolerate their high-pitched screech that can be annoying. However, even though it can't (or should not) be entirely eliminated, there are ways to discourage screaming / screeching in your conure.
Training and behavioral guidance will help your pet be the kind of companion you want it to be ...
- AvianWeb Resources: I put together web resources for you to help you understand your pet bird and properly direct him. Please visit this website for valuable tips on parrot behavior and training. If you found a way to resolve a "parrot behavioral issue" please share it with others.
- If you are, as I am, a visual learner and prefer step-by-step instructions to train your pet, I recommend:
- the to teach your parrot to:
- Stop Biting
- Perform Tricks &
- Tame ANY SIZE bird you could possibly own
- and/or try the "" Training Course.
- the to teach your parrot to:
If you are considering a conure as a pet, the following web resources might be of interest:
- Procuring your Parrot
- Breeders:
- Click here for a listing of breeders by state / country. Do you breed this species and would like to be listed? Click here to see your options.
- Housing & Caring for Your Conure: Conures love to climb and play and need to be provided with a cage that allows them to move around freely and toys to entertain themselves with. Please refer to the following websites for information:
Breeding / Reproduction:
Breeding the Slender-billed Conure is not considered difficult. A nesting box of the following dimensions suits them well: 25 x 50 x 30 mm (10 x 20 x 12 ins) with an entrance hole of 8 cm (3 ins). They usually start breeding in April. The clutch averages 3 to 4 eggs, but can have as many as 8. The hen incubates the eggs for about 26 days. The fledging period is 7 to 8 weeks.
Below are the dimensions of logs / nesting boxes usually used for these conures. However, the dimensions can vary widely, as they are influenced by the owner's and the birds' preferences. The preferences of the breeding birds can also be influenced by the size and type of nest-box / log in which the bird was hatched and reared.
If space allows, offering a choice of sizes and types of logs or nest-boxes, and placed in various locations within the aviary, can allow the parent birds to make their own choice. Once a pair has chosen a specific nest-box/log and been successful in it, offer that one to them each breeding season. Try and keep that one for their exclusive use. Once a pair has chosen its log or nest-box, the other ones can generally be removed. If the "spare" boxes are to be removed and moved to another flight, ensure the log / nest-box is cleaned to ensure the receptacle has the minimal contamination of mites, parasites and pathogens.
With this particular species, it's important not to disturb the nesting hen as they need to feel secure inside their nest box. If you suspect that eggs have been laid, do not open the nest box to check as this may cause the hen to accidentally break the eggs. She may stop incubating altogether, or at least long enough to kill the growing chick.
It is recommended to allow the chick to remain with their parents for about four weeks. At that time you can pull some of the chicks for handfeeding. It is best to allow the parents to fully raise at least one. Parent-raised birds are likely to become better breeders as they had the benefit of watching their parents fulfill their parental duties. Parent-raised birds would be of special benefit and interest to the aviculturist.
Log / Nest-box:
Marcy Covault from Feathered Companions Aviary suggests using a deeper box, either a bootbox or a vertical grandfather box (18" - 24" deep). Some conures do accept cockatiel-sized boxes, but using a deeper box will reduce the conures' tendency to remove the shavings and lay their eggs on the bare wooden base.
- Length / depth: approx. 16 - 24 inches (400 - 600 mm)
- Log / nest-box internal dimensions approx. 10 inches square (250 mm square)
- Diameter of entrance hole: approx. 3 inches ( ~70 - 80 mm)
- Inspection hole: Can be square or round, approx. 4 inches (100 mm) in diameter.
- A Removable top / lid can be a useful access point for inspections and for cleaning.
- Location and height of log / nest-box: Install in a sheltered part of the aviary at about 5 feet (~1.5 - 1.8 meters) height, but not too close to the roof to cause heat problems in the hotter months.
- Angle of log or nest box: 45 degrees through to vertical. Most boxes are vertical.
- Nesting log / nest-box material: Add about 2 inches of decomposed suitable nest box litter to the bottom of the box to help stabilize the eggs and absorb the droppings from the chicks.
Options for suitable nesting material are decomposed non-toxic saw dust, corn cob, shredded newspaper, clean straw / dried grass or wood shavings (i.e., Aspen shavings or wood chips). The larger wood chips the better, so the parents don't feed it to the babies or the chicks accidentally ingest it.
Please note that some wood shavings - such as pine, cedar and redwood - give off aromatic hydrocarbons (phenols) and acids that are toxic and can cause dermatitis, allergic symptoms and irritation of the digestive tract. They should not be used in cages, aviaries, or nestboxes. - Incubation: Both hen and cock share in incubating the eggs.
Conures have a habit of removing all the nest box material and laying their eggs on the bare wooden base.
Nest inspection is generally not tolerated. If nest inspection is necessary, wait till both parents have left the nest. They can be aggressive and protective of the nest area when breeding.
For additional breeding-related information, please visit this website.
Taxonomy
Genus: Scientific: Enicognathus ... English: Slender-billed Conures ... Dutch: Langsnavelparkieten ... German: Smaragdsittiche ... French: Perroquet emeraude
Species: Scientific: Enicognathus leptorhynchus ... English: Slender-billed Conure ... Dutch: Langsnavelparkiet ... German: Langschnabelsittich ... French: Perruche à longue bec ... CITES II - Endangered
Distribution: Central Chile
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