Galah or Blue Crown Conure?

[sugarsweetness]

After browsing these forums for awhile, we've decided to add to our flock.

We are fairly experienced with birds and have Jenday and Sun conures.

We were thinking of adding the blue crown conure as it might be a better fit with the current conures we have. We have also been considering the rose breasted cockatoo.

We've talked to a couple of breeders and still can't make up our minds.

Any thoughts on these 2 birds that might help us choose?

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

If you are used to Conures, then you will find the Galah is in a different league altogether! They are very fast and very active Birds... they are also great chewers and if you dont keep your eyes on them constantly then be prepared for lumps missing from your Furniture.

Your best bet would be to spend some time with a Galah and see how you feel.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

If I where you I would stick with conures, Galahs and other old world parrots have powder down that can be bad for your new world conures. If your looking into getting a larger bird you can get a medium sized macaw, amazon, or pionus.

 

[momto3]

I can only advise you on the Blue Crowned Conure, because we have one and I don't have experience with the other. I absolutely love our Blue Crown, Roscoe. He is very laid back and much quieter than our Quaker (he has a louder volume, just doesn't make as much noise). Roscoe prefers me and doesn't like to go to other people IF he is spending "mommy" time with me, but otherwise he welcomes attention from everyone else. He could care less about the cat and the dogs and so far, the only thing that he seems to dislike is the kids yelling when they play Wii (who likes that anyways!). Then he starts yelling and mimics their noises.

He is a very gentle and calm bird and I understand that this is pretty representative of Blue Crowns. He talks quite a bit and is a fast learner. Generally, if he is making noise, he is talking for attention. I wouldn't hesitate to get a Blue Crown and in fact, I almost got a Jenday, but was worried about the noise. Oh, their coloration can be quite striking in the sunlight too.

The one negative about Blue Crowns, in my opinion, is their beaks. They do get a super sharp point on the end of their beak. This hasn't been a problem for us because Roscoe hasn't bitten anyone, but his needle sharp beak could pierce the skin easily. I plan to dremel his beak a bit if it gets too sharp. When we got him the tip of his beak was dremeled off and the breeder showed me how to do it--it was super quick and he didn't seem to mind. I just haven't felt the need to do it.

Roscoe was a hand-fed, well socialized baby and I am sure that contributed to him being the great bird that he is today.

 

[sugarsweetness]

Hmmm, good info!

I was leaning toward another conure, so you're suggestions are providing good reasons to choose the blue crown.

Can anyone tell me anything about the difference between the blue crown and nanday? I don't know anything about nanday personalities. I was kinda thinking they were like our jenday & sun, but I've never met the nanday so I don't know. I got the idea somewhere (a friend of a friend) who was rehoming a nanday that was bonded to men and didn't like children. My impression was it was a grumpy bird, but I guess that could be the case with any bird (how it was raised, how it was handled.)

 

[Thingamagigs]

From my experience I would say a nanday is like a huge green cheek conure, but noisy. They are "nippier" (beaky like a GCC) and more active than a sun or jenday and are bossy little guys... but still manage to have the sweetest lovliest personalities. I was very taken by them and birdy sat one once... but the noise they produce turned me away from them. I would say they are about as noisy a sun but louder in volume. They are stunning looking birds as well!
Blue crowns arent really available to us in Aus so I have zero experience with them. It would have been high on my list to own if they were available.

I do own a galah though. They are similar to a conure in personality in some ways (cuddly, playful, funny, great sense of humour, love being touched, learn tricks easily, roll over on their back to wrestle), but like has been mentioned they require things to chew all the time (in the wild they chew the bark off trees, chew the opening to their nesting sites, chew sticks for fun lol). Almost all require ground time or a foraging floor/box big enough for them to play in as well (in the wild they spend most of their time in fields picking through grass for food). Ours has free roam of the bird proofed loungeroom while we are at home. She makes a huge mess and I sweep three times a day and steam clean every afternoon LOL They also need very regular misting to keep the powder at bay, I mist Mana every 2-3 days and wipe her cage down with a baby wipe daily. They aren't any more energetic than a conure, but if they don't get enough exercise they will suffer from pent up energy and frustration which isn't good for your furniture, your hearing or your delicate skin LOL
She spends most of her time running around being a nutter They are very entertaining, very intelligent and are like having a tiny feathered human toddler. They are very emotional as well (not as much as a big too, but WAY more than a conure) and for example, if we put Mana in her cage during the way when she is normally out, she will have a toddleresque tantrum LOL They do care about how you feel as well though and generally when I tell Mana off for being naughty she will sit next to me making apology coos and trying to snuggle LOL They are precious with their own posessions as well and if they love something, they will keep it in pristine condition. Mana has a dog bed she LOVES to flip out on which is made of a very delicate suede material and its still perfect, not a hole anywhere. She also has a favourite stuffed lady beetle she carries everywhere like a security blanket, its only made out of felt and by all rights should be nothing but confetti by now... but nope, still perfect. We still have untouched furniture by the way, but only because we keep her so busy every minute of every waking hour that she has no need to chew them.
Sorry for the rambling We love our galahs

 

[lene1949]

I would keep on with the conures, since they are some the same 'place'.. Adding an Australian parrot into a south american mix might not be good...

 

[ruffledfeathers]

I can only speak for my conure experience and my Blue Crown is one of the best additions to my family that i have made!! He is SO easy to fall in love with, so much personality, but in a pretty laid back way.