Thoughts on Aviculture of bird beyond its normal biology just to satisfy our commercial needs? We per sonally have third generation (F3) Sun Aratinga solstitialis Conures. Are we a part of this com Jim and Janet Voight, Woodside, CA mercialism? One might say so as we he Sun Conure, Aratinga solsti sary here. The Sun Conure species is in held back those babies from our wild tialis, has come a long way aviculture an extremely prolific pro caught Suns that showed some yellow T since it first started to show up ducer. This is especially true with on their wings at fledging. Normally in the early 1960s. Oh, were we avi some of the third generation (and juvenile Sun Conures have green culturists excited to see such a beauti more) handfed birds that are now wings and acquire their yellow color fully colored parrot. With only a few going to nest at a very early age. Their starting after their first molt which may who had observed the Queen-of sexual maturity can appear as early as be at five to 12 months depending Bavaria Conure, most U.S. bird keep 18 months. If allowed, some pairs will upon your environment. ers were stunned to believe that such lay, set and produce large clutches of During the next generation of Sun a vivid yellow and orange parrot could four and five babies year around. Conures, we again' held back babies exist in the wilds of South America. At Annual production from some pairs that even showed more color on their that time, the price matched the bird can be 15, 18, 21 babies or more. wings at fledging. By the third genera - around the $2000 mark. Some breeders are content to let their tion many of our baby Suns had 80% Aviculturists can be proud ofthe job prolific pairs lay and hatch, lay and of their wing-coloration yellow-gold. they did in breeding this psittacine. It hatch, month after month. Other keep Why did we do this? Only for the rea was reproduced so well that prices ers remove Sun offspring at 14 days son that the baby Suns that show the came down to an affordable level and and refuse to shut down continually yellow color in their wings are imme the question ofimporting or smuggling laying pairs, believing that adequate diately purchased by a wholesaler. this "yellow jewel" became moot. The nutrition will keep the parent birds These babies simply had more early prices quickly dropped to $1100 each, healthy. Is this responSible aviculture? color than their nestmates. Pet owners then even lower. In the early 1990s the It is interesting to note that, unlike are attracted to this yellow color and standard price for a producing pair some genera of psittacines in avicul the wholesaler could move this baby was $1000 and pet Sun Conures were ture, Aratinga fledglings which are quicker. It did not matter that all Sun $250 to $350 wholesale. handfed on today's potent, protein Conures will have the brilliant yellow The question now as we approach rich and high fat commercial baby for wings only a few months later. This the turn of the century is, "Where are mulas often outweigh and outsize was originally why the Sun Conure we going with this parrot?" During the their parents by five to 10 percent. was so popular. past summer of 1997, it was with sur This might explain the reason for their We do not know if early color prise and consternation that West extremely early sexual activity and acquisition is "pushing" the bird, as Coast pet bird breeders watched as the large clutch size. It also suggests that many other breeders use the same "jobber" price ofSun Conures dropped the current popular commercial baby techniques to acquire red or orange as low as $75 per bird from certain foods utilize formulas well suited to Sun Conures. The seriousness of push sources. The average jobber price conure nutrition - though not neces ing our birds comes with the concept going in California was $125 per bird sarily nutrition of other parrot species. of getting the maximum number of at that time. This significant drop in the The Sun Conure quickly turned into babies from a pair of birds without price happened in one breeding sea a commercial species. It was highly considering what we are doing to the son. desired by both the aviculturist and the parent birds. Problems begin to show A bit of background data is neces- pet owner. But are we pushing this up with juvenile hen Suns laying at nine months. We were very surprised to observe second generation Suns reprodUCing successfully at 18 months of age. Should we be going even fur ther? Could nine months be too early for a hen Sun to have a fully devel Corporate Members oped reproductive tract? We can well remember thinking our original wild caught Sun Conures would never lay eggs as we waited up to four and five Sun Seed Company, Bowling Green, OH years to get them to lay. Has the avi culturist lost patience with their breed Sunshine Bird Supplies, Miami, FL ers. Are they urging them to lay earlier than they should? (The breeders of the 1960s had patience as they did not always know the sex of their "pairs.")
8 January/February 1998 Are we pushing our "baby" Suns Wing Clip," guidelines of noted Sun from. What is surpnsmg about this too quickly to have babies of their breeder, Eb Cravens; where clipping is species is that it is a basically green own? Are we handfeeding our baby done in stages. bird and, unlike the brilliantly colored Suns correctly to become breeders or The truth is, we are going the way Sun Conure, is still very popular. The are we imprinting them to humans? of the nonnal gray Cockatiel with this reason for its popularity is that the Natural roles during mating in many Aratinga species. The Sun Conure in Greenccheeked Conure makes an out handfed, human-imprinted Sun aviculture is becoming so domesticat standing pet. It does not have the loud Conures can be poorly developed. ed that it no longer has the capacity to screeching voice of the Sun Conure. Dysfunctional hens will come out reg survive in a wild situation. But, we ask you, is this a $45 ularly from their nest boxes to feed, Is this good or bad? That is not for psittacine....? ignoring males who wish to eat, then us to say. But it does raise certain avi What about the Blue-crowned feed the hens inside the nest box. cultural considerations ..... Conure, or the Slender-billed Conure? Other hens are known for starting a What will a flooded market ofmass Why can't aviculturists offer these new clutch ofeggs before the chicks in produced Sun Conures (at a base price delightful conure species a breeding an ongoing clutch are yet three weeks of $75 each) do to conure aviculture in effort equivalent to that which has of age, let alone fledged and weaned. the U.S.? How will the long-term qual been put into the Sun Conure over the Are we allowing our Sun Conures to ity of the birds be affected? What kind past 20 years? Give one of the more follow the route ofmany pairs of cock of homes will be provided this beauti difficult species the chance to be atiels that are forever doing this? And ful psittacine when its value falls to reproduced to the extent of the Sun then there are the aviculturists so such a cheap figure that anyone can Conure, even if it does not have its locked into the incubator as a tool for purchase one on a whim? color. Both the Blue-crowned and the raising babies to sell, that they incubate When commercial breeding opera Slender-billed Conuremzke incredible Sun eggs and feed from day one. tions choose to push production of household pets. Where are we going with this such a species to the maximum, then Fellow aviculturists, do you realize psittacine? are forced to slash prices to dispose of how many hobby and expert bird We have seen Sun Conures as four the chicks in a saturated market, how breeders now refuse to give their par year-old breeders that were never does this change the desire of other rots nest boxes due to the deplorable allowed to fly as handfed babies, breeders to commit to this species? state of the pet bird market-prices in hence cannot fly down. We have seen How does it affect the quality of certain parts of the U.S. during certain males and females who raise chicks, upbringing given each individual times of the year? (This is an interest yet fight and spat at the food dish chick? ing way of "taking an ethical stand." because of "feeding anxiety" learned And, most important of all, which Yet it denies the captive psittacine a when they were force-weaned as species will be next as breeders seek chance to manifest the strongest need handfed babies. to support costly operations and afflu of its kind,). We have seen pairs that will not ent lifestyles by hatching and raising All we know for sure is that we find feed their chicks past 10-14 days ofage more baby psittacines? Will the next many of taday's loveable handfed Sun because keepers have for years taken species be the Senegal Parrot, the Conures to be rather unintelligent. babies away at that time. Yet the birds Umbrella Cockatoo, the African Grey? Anyone who has ever had a chance to are allowed to layover and over again The Green-cheeked Conure is fast observe a wild-caught Sun Conure will up to seven clutches per annum - as following the way of the Sun Conure. see immediately that they possess soon as chicks are pulled for hand Now that the jobber price (CA) of this something very special. feeding. And we have seen Sun bird has dropped under $50 where Where are we going with this par Conure babies with only a fraction of will the quality Green-cheeked come rot? ~ the intelligence of the correctly raised Suns of a few years ago. The correct way is to either parent AVICULTURAL CONJULTATION JERVICEJ rear Suns to become' future breeders or 3807 Main Street, Oakley,California 94561 at least remove baby Suns from the (510) 625-1878 • Fax (510) 625-8511 nest no earlier than 28 days. We have found that they still make excellent Brian L. Speer, DVM M. Scott Echols, DVM Dip, ABVP, Avian Practice pets. One should bring the babies up Comprehensive Flock Management Programs together and socialize them during the o Programs individually tailored to fit your needs; including production, marketing, finan handfeeding and weaning process. cial and personal goals. This includes being with birds of their o Helping you to establish effictive and practical record systems designed to optimize own kind during the juvenile and your desired avicultural results. o Concepts of comprehensive flock health management that can be effectively applied to maturing stage. Babies should not be caged bird and aviary species, ratites, gallinaceous birds, passerines, columbiformes and clipped or should be only partially others, including endangered species propagation efforts. clipped so they learn the art of flying. o Local, National, and International clients are welcome. o Initial call and estimate for consultation services provided free of charge. One should follow the "Progressive .... "AVICULTURE II SPOKEN HERE." ------. the afa WATCHBIRD 9