Are gold capped conure rare?

[Daniel08]

Hello! Recently i found a golden capped conure lost,and i have to give him back to the owners but i fell in love with that species,the colors,the behaviour. I want one for myself too. The question is, are golden capped conure rare? or expensive? i've searched all the websites in my country and i couldn't find one. Also international i saw just a few of them being sold, monstly sun conure,jenday, but just a few golden capped. Are those birds that much rare?

 

[Owlet]

From what I understand a lot of conure species aside from gcc and suns are on the rarer side.

 

[itzjbean]

They are not as common as Suns or Jendays but I wouldn't consider then necessarily 'rare'.

There are several for sale here, from $250-600 they are about the same price as I've seen Sun conures go for.

 

[EllenD]

I don't know where you live Daniel, but in the United States you can find a Gold Capped Conure breeder pretty easily if you look, but they are not a species that you normally see being sold in pet shops, and that's why they aren't nearly as popular or as common as other Conure species, like the Green Cheeks, the Suns, Jendays, Nandays, etc. Gold Capped, Blue-Crowned, Mitred, Cherry-Headed, Patagonian, etc. are all species of Conures that are not really "rare" or very expensive, but you usually do have to buy them from a private breeder...

You can buy a hand-raised, baby Gold Capped Conure from a private breeder in the US for between $400-$600 on average, some higher, some lower, just depends on the breeder...

Again, thank you for finding that bird's rightful owner and returning him to them, I'm sure they were very grateful to you for doing so.

 

[Sunnyclover]

I would say they are pretty rare. However, I think what is more likely is that you fell in love with "medium/large conures" because they all have similar temperaments. Some examples of these kinds of conures would be: Sun, Jenday, Nanday, Queen of Bavaria, Blue Crown and Cherry Headed. The ones I am excluding from this specifically are Green Cheeks because they have a different temperament than the medium conures.

 

[Squeekmouse]

I would say they are pretty rare. However, I think what is more likely is that you fell in love with "medium/large conures" because they all have similar temperaments. Some examples of these kinds of conures would be: Sun, Jenday, Nanday, Queen of Bavaria, Blue Crown and Cherry Headed. The ones I am excluding from this specifically are Green Cheeks because they have a different temperament than the medium conures.

To elaborate on this (because I love adding genealogical trivia, as it give me the excuse to learn more myself!)...


Sun, Jenday, Nanday, Sulphur breasted, Gold Capped, Queen of Bavaria, Blue Crown, Cherry Headed, Brown Throated, Dusky Headed, Orange Fronted, Mitred, and Peach-fronted Conures are all Aratinga Conures, commonly referred to as Large Conures. They are relatively similar in temperament and size, generally louder than Small Conures.


Pyrrhura Conures, commonly referred to as Small Conures, include Green Cheek, Black Capped, Blue Throated, Crimson Bellied, Maroon Bellied, and many many more. Green Cheeks are the most common of these, but there are many color variations of Green Cheeks, some that are quite rare. Green Cheeks tend to be smaller, less loud, and otherwise fairly similar in temperament.



In MY opinion, Conures are WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!! You can't go wrong with any of them. Pick one that looks pretty to you, but most importantly, pick the bird that picks YOU. When you find a parrot that seems to instantly like you and wants to be with you, you've found the right parrot for you.

 

[MonicaMc]

Squeekmouse, conures have since been reclassified. The "green and red" conures are actually Psittacara now. Golden conures are Geuruba, which has not changed. Brown throats, olive throats, orange fronts, peach fronts and cactus are Eupsittula. Blue crowns are Thectocercus.

From here ---> DNA-sequence data require revision of the parrot genus Aratinga

A1. Greater wing coverts and tail green: Psittacara.
A2. Greater wing coverts green and tail green with red in the inner webs: Thectocercus.
A3. Greater wing covert with blue or violet, and tail green or olive-green tipped violet: B

B1. Greater primary coverts violet blue, tail olive-green tipped violet: Aratinga.
B2. Greater primary coverts mostly green with some blue (bluish green in cactorum) on inner primary coverts, tail green: Eupsittula.

As far as gold caps go... I wouldn't consider them rare, but perhaps uncommon. Breeders can certainly be found! Sadly, people who aren't familiar with this species often think they are either sun conures or jendays.


Many conure species are easily mistaken for another though... my first conure was given to me as a red masked or "mit-red". He was a cherry head (aka red masked). My second conure was given to me as a cherry head, but I knew the moment I saw him that he wasn't a cherry head! He was a mitred! (My-turd ) Twelve years of having him and I still have people calling him a cherry head!!!! (he's 24 years old)



In short though, if you are having a hard time finding a gold cap breeder, you might try expanding your search, widening it and see if there's another species that you might fall in love with, regardless of the bird's coloration!

 

[dhraiden]

I'm in the NYC area, and I bought my Gold-capped from a local Pet Supplies Plus, where he was brought in from another "out on the Island" (our suburbs). We heard he was apparently 1 of 3. He's certainly "rare" in the sense of being very special to us, I but I'd perhaps place Golds after Suns and Jens in terms of being "common", especially from the sorts of Breeders that specialized in conures.


PS Kudos to you Daniel for helping reunite the Gold you found with their original parronts.

 

[Squeekmouse]

Ooooh! Thanks Monica! I just learned more!

 

[Aratingettar]

... and to bring some confusion into the discussion, Golden-capped conures (in the wild) are less rare than Sun conures, which are actually very endangered species that may be extint in the wild.
There are lot of Suns bred in captivity, but there's a question on their "blood purity" as they have been for a long time considered as identical to now-separated species of Sulphur-breasted conures (Aratinga maculata).