PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

The sexes of the Sun Conure look alike. The body is yellow, tinged with orange on the forehead, cheeks, neck, breast and abdomen.

The greater wing coverts are green tipped with yellow; the primary coverts and secondaries are dark blue, edged with green on the outer margins. The flight feathers are green towards the base of the outer webs, blue towards the tips. The tail is olive green, shading into blue towards the tip. The outer feathers are entirely blue on the outer webs.

The iris is brown and the bill is a brownish horn color. The legs and feet are a brownish flesh color. They grow to a length of between eleven and thirteen inches.

One of the most beautifully colored of the conures, this species is a great favorite with the natives, who raise many young birds by hand. Flocks of twenty or more may often be seen flying about the huts or settled on roofs.

DISTRIBUTION and HABITAT:

Their range is mainly NE South America, the Guianas and north-western Brazil.

They occur principally in natural savannas, but have been found in seasonally inundated scrub forest along the banks of the Amazon River.

DIET:

Sun Conures are known to feed on seeds, fruits, nuts, berries, and probably blossoms.

REPRODUCTION and GROWTH:

These birds use cavities in palm trees as nesting sites, but the details of its breeding behavior in the wild are still unknown.

In captivity the female alone incubates the clutch of four eggs for a month. Both parents feed the chicks. The young fledge some eight weeks after they have hatched.