Black Cap Conure: Pros and Cons

[bostobudgies]

Hello,

I am not new to birds (canaries, budgies, etc) but have never had a conure. I am interested in a black cap conure and have heard good things. One question I have is:

Can you leave a black cap conure home alone from 9am-5pm while at work?

Also, I'd love to hear some pros and cons from black cap owners. I know they are probably quite messy and most likely dirty their cage fast but anything else? Are they extremely noisy? I live in a condo with neighbors on one side. Will they hang out with you or if you remove them from the cage do they want to fly off on their own and be alone? Again, any pros and cons you can think of would be great to know and help me decide if this is the right bird for me. Oh! I also have two budgies that could be in the same room, is that an issue?

 

[Dinosrawr]

From a general perspective, I've found the black caps I've met have "little-big man syndrome"... they're one of the smallest conures and have a BIG attitude that doesn't quite seem to match, haha! But they are sweet hearts.

Conures, in general, dirty their cages very fast because they poop about every 15 minutes. And if you don't build trust with your bird, yes they will fly off and not want to be with you, which isn't specie specific. A 9-5 schedule is pretty normal for most parrot owners, and I have a schedule that is similar. Avery is perfectly fine with it, and happily screams to welcome me home when I come in through the door.

As for your budgies, I don't think they could do much harm to each other other than perhaps your conure hurting your budgies by getting angry. Always supervise their interactions and never leave them out together without you watching. It only takes moments for an accident to happen.

Pros of conures:
- often very, very loving and snuggly
- relatively quiet
- can be independent
- don't mind just hanging out in their cage
- enjoy being with you when they trust you
- relatively easy to train
- not nearly as messy as budgies!

Cons:
- severe line of sight screamers
- known to communicate through nipping
- can over bond and this results in displacement biting
- can be very skittish if not socialized
- have high pitched screams
- cages require cleaning daily (though really every bird does)

 

[kalypso123]

Viemar(hope I spelled that right) has budgies that just adore her conure. There is a thread about that you might want to check out. I hope they can chime in on it. I have always like conures. They're pretty, have a huge personalities, and are pretty quiet for birds anyways.