Natural
Range
Blue-crowns can be found in South America in parts of
Colombia, eastern and south west Brazil, Venezuela, northern Bolivia,
Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
In the wild they often nest in hollow trees. They usually live in small
flocks up to several hundred birds and can be seen occasionally with
White Eyed Conures or Mitred conures in the wild.
Life expectancy is approximately 30-40 years.
Wild blue-crowns feed on fresh berries, nuts, seeds, mangoes and cactus
fruit.
They sometimes migrate, following the ripening of certain berries in
different parts of the country.
They have been known to cause damage to the millet fields in Paraguay,
but have also proven to be beneficiary in agriculture by eating the
seeds of certain weeds. |
Personality
The Blue-crown makes up for the lack of bright colors
with their wonderful, endearing personality. They are quite friendly,
playful and very affectionate. Biting is seldom a problem, but they
do want to be socialized with and be part of the “family”.
They have been regarded as one of the most intelligent conures. They
can be taught to talk and learn at a rather early age, often managing
a hello by the time they are weaned. Their intelligence enables them
to learn quickly, but they do want a lot of attention from their owners.
Like most other pet birds, they love to be out of their cages as often
as possible and interact with their people. Blue-crowns love to take
showers and act goofy. They also can take a button of your shirt in
about 5 seconds!
They are very “busy” birds and need plenty of different
toys to keep them occupied during the day.
Blue-crowns need a variety of toys that they can either chew up or
tear up. They especially love things that are made out of wood and
leather. Even something as simple as a paper towel often will keep
a Blue-crown busy for hours tearing it in little shreds. They are
very social birds requiring daily attention. The extremely good-natured
Blue-crowns make wonderful companions.
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Breeding
Blue-crowns have been known to have three clutches and
up to five eggs per clutch, but the norm is two clutches a year with
three to four eggs.
Incubation time is from 24 to 26 days and they wean between 10 and
12 weeks. Some pairs are sensitive to nest box inspection. The best
way to get them used to inspections is to check boxes everyday, even
if they are not in the breeding cycle. They will get used to this
routine and seldom mind box checks when they are starting to lay.
Mates often start feeding and grooming each other and sitting very
close together just before going into a breeding cycle. Males will
feed females in most cases, once she is incubating the eggs and also
will help in feeding the clutch, when they have hatched. Some pairs
will pluck the feathers on the head or back when getting ready to
breed.
Nest boxes should be fairly deep as they like it to be totally in
the dark. Some pairs also have bred successfully in rectangular boxes.
If one style of box is provided and isn't succesful in a season, the
aviculturist may want to provide a different box. It is optimal to
provided new pairs with a couple of choices when space and situation
allows this approach.
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