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Blue-throated Conure

 (Pyrrhura cruentata)

Also known as: Blue-throated Parakeet, Blue-chested Conure or Parakeet, Ochre-masked Conure or Parakeet, Red-rumped Conure or Parakeet, Red-eared Conure or Parakeet

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Wild Blue-throated Conures
© Nick Athanas [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

The female Blue-throated Conure tends to be heavier than the male, and more dominant and assertive.

Academic Research

Related publications: Pyrrhura cruentata

Species Profile

Genus: Pyrrhura | Species: cruentata

Size:

30cm (11.7 in)

Weight:

90g (3.1 oz)

Subspecies including nominate:

one

Colour Adult:

Both adults partly green in colour; brown/red frontal band, lores and area around eyes to ear coverts; sides of neck yellow/orange; blue upper breast; blue collar encircling hindneck; lower back to rump red; centre of abdomen brown/red; olive tail. Bill grey. Eye ring bare and grey. Eye yellow.

Colour Juvenile:

In general duller than adults. Eye brown.

Call:

Calls made in flight are high-pitched, chattering notes.

Listen Now

More Information:

Avibase

Content Sources:

CITES
BirdLife International
Cornell Lab of Ornithology/Birds of the World
A Guide to Parrots of the World, Juniper and Parr, 1998
ML Media Collection Catalogue 32262, Blue-throated Parakeet Pyrrhura cruentata, Parker, Theodore A., III, Espirito Santo, Brazil, Dec. 3 1982, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Site
Parrots: Status Survey and Conservation Plan 2000-2004, Snyder, McGowan, Gilardi, Grajal, 2000.
Parrots of the World, Forshaw and Cooper, 1977. 2010 edition
Parrots of the World, Forshaw, 2006.
Parrots in Aviculture, Low, 1992.
Lexicon of Parrots, Thomas Arndt.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Blue-throated Conures
© Nick Athanas [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

The female Blue-throated Conure tends to be heavier than the male, and more dominant and assertive.

Academic Research

Related publications: Pyrrhura cruentata

Species Care

Captive Status:

Rare

Longevity:

15-25 yrs

Housing:

Walk-in aviary or suspended enclosure, minimum length 2m (6.5 ft).

Diet:

Fruits such as: apple, pear, oranges, banana, pomegranate, cactus fruits, kiwi, guava (a favourite), forming about 30 percent of diet; vegetables such as: carrot, celery, green beans, peas in the pod; corn on the cob; green leaves such as: Swiss chard, lettuce, kale, sowthistle, dandelion, chickweed; spray millet; small seed mix such as: canary, millet and smaller amounts of oats, buckwheat, safflower and a little hemp; soaked and sprouted sunflower; cooked beans and pulses, boiled maize and complete pellet.

Enrichment:

Enjoy bathing so provide overhead misters or shallow bowls of water daily. Also provide bird-safe, unsprayed flowering, fir, pine, willow or elder branches; wooden block or vegetable tanned leather toys.

Nest Box Size:

Vertical box 10" x 10" x 28" (25.4cm x 25.4cm x 71.1cm).

Clutch Size:

4-7

Incubation Time:

22 days

Fledging Age:

7-8 weeks

Hatch Weight:

5-6g

Peak Weight:

Not recorded.

Weaning Weight:

Not recorded.

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Blue-throated Conures
© Nick Athanas [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

The female Blue-throated Conure tends to be heavier than the male, and more dominant and assertive.

Academic Research

Related publications: Pyrrhura cruentata

Species Wild Status

World Population:

3500-15,000, decreasing.

IUCN Red List Status:

Vulnerable

CITES Listing:

Appendix I

Threat Summary:

This species is threatened by continuing forest and habitat clearance over the last century. There is also some trapping for the bird trade, but this is a relatively new occurrence.

Range:

E Brazil, from southern Bahia south to Rio de Janeiro.

Habitat:

Found up to 400m (1312 ft), occasionally 900m (2952 ft) in primary rainforest or forest edge and in slightly modified natural forest near cultivated areas.

Wild Diet:

Feeds on seeds and fruits of Trema micrantha, Cecropia, Talisia esculenta, Alchornea iricurana and Mabea fistulifera, and Miconia hypoleuca important in periods of general fruit scarcity.

Ecology and Behaviour:

Gregarious; generally seen in flocks of 6-20 birds where food is abundant. Feeds in canopy and lower edge foliage.

Clutch and Egg Size:

4-7 rounded eggs, 27.5 x 20.0mm (1.1 x 0.8 in).

Breeding Season:

September-December. Nest is in tree cavity.

Related Links:

Wikipedia
Research: Parrot Populations and Habitat Use

Click photo to visit gallery

Wild Blue-throated Conures
© Nick Athanas [CC BY-SA 2.0] via Flickr

Did You Know?

The female Blue-throated Conure tends to be heavier than the male, and more dominant and assertive.

Academic Research

Related publications: Pyrrhura cruentata

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