Green-cheeked conures are a type of parakeet. They have a very distinctive head shape with their large, round eye that is usually surrounded by a black ring.
They also have a long tail which is often held up in the air when they are excited or showing off to other birds.
These birds are known to be funny, charismatic and the ideal companions for bird lovers. But are they vocal?
Can Green-cheeked conure’s talk and what sounds do they make? Keep reading to find out more.
What Is A Green-Cheeked Conure?
Green-cheeked conures are a type of small parrot or parakeet. Fully grown, they are no more than 10 inches in length.
They make great pets, and love interacting with people and being sociable. In captivity, they live off a diet of pellets, nuts, seeds, fruit, and vegetables.
They are intelligent enough to learn some tricks and commands. Because they are clever and sociable, they can easily get lonely.
They need to be looked after by someone who can spend plenty of time with them, otherwise, the bird could become anxious or depressed.
If your green-cheeked conure is well cared for it could love for up to 30 decades.
Unfortunately, a lot of people underestimate the amount of effort that is required to look after a bird.
This means that a lot of pet parakeets don’t live longer than 10 to 15 years.
Do Green-Cheeked Conures Make Good Pets?
These birds have fun, cheeky personalities that are very endearing. They are quite affectionate and form a strong bond with their owners, making them loyal companions.
They love spending time with people, and you can handle them and pet them easily.
You can teach these birds tricks and they will love learning them and performing them for you. They are quite confident and outgoing with quite a funny nature.
Compared to other parrot species, they aren’t too noisy. However, they can still repeat phrases and make some singing noises.
Do Green-Cheeked Conures Talk?
These birds have quite deep voices with a rough texture. This can make it more challenging for them to mimic human sounds than other species of parrot.
They enjoy learning new things, and will likely be able to pick up some basic words and a few phrases.
The more time and effort you put into teaching your bird, the more it will be able to mimic.
However, they won’t be able to repeat as many words as Macaws or African Gray parrots.
Some green-cheeked conures have a naturally soft and quiet voice which means that even if they learn words, you might not always be able to distinguish them.
You should not expect your green-cheeked conure to start talking immediately.
They tend to start talking at around 3 months old, starting with very simple, short words.
Some words that are quick for them to learn are ‘good night’, ‘hello’, and ‘bye bye’.
If you say these phrases at certain times every day such as when you get up or when you leave for work etc then the bird will learn them fairly quickly and will start repeating them at those times.
They are also able to learn ‘I love you’ quite quickly.
What Sounds Do Green-Cheeked Conures Make?
So if they don’t talk much, what sounds can they make? There are plenty of noises that you will hear from your Green-cheeked conure.
Remember, they love interaction so they will enjoy any opportunity to engage with you, especially if you are both whistling or singing a tune together!
Singing
Green-cheeked conures love to sing. They tend to sing when they are feeling happy, which is a lot of the time.
They will come up with their tunes or they might repeat tunes that they have heard, as they like to mimic sounds which include any songs or music that you listen to.
If the lyrics are simple, you might even be able to teach them to sing along to a song with you.
Clicking
If your green-cheeked conure is feeling relaxed then you will probably hear it clicking. This is when they click their tongue against the roof of their mouth.
Whistling
If your bird wants to play and interact with you then they might whistle to get your attention.
They enjoy whistling, so you could teach them to whistle some tunes so you can whistle together.
Chatter
Each parakeet or parrot has their style of chattering. If you talk to your green-cheeked conure then it will probably make some kind of friendly, companionable noise back to you.
It could be a combination of whistling, clicking, and singing.
Beak Grinding
When parrots are feeling relaxed and tired they tend to grind their top and bottom beak together. This means that they are ready to go to sleep.
If your green-cheeked conure makes this noise, dim the lights or put a blanket over their cage so they can have a nap.
Laughter
Birds don’t naturally make a laughing sound, but the more time they spend with their owners the more they will understand that laughter is a joyful and happy sound.
This means that they will begin to mimic your laughter and laugh with you when they can.
Noisy Outbursts
Green-cheeked conures are considered to be the quietest of the conure family. They usually make noise when they are happy or interacting with their owner, but it is not at a very loud level.
However, if the bird gets scared or startled then they might have a noisy outburst, but this will stop when they calm down.
Screaming
These birds don’t tend to scream and screech like some other species. However, they require a lot of attention and interaction.
If your green-cheeked conure gets bored or lonely then you might find that they begin to scream or screech to get your attention.
How Do You Train A Green-Cheeked Conure To Talk?
The most important thing when you are training your green-cheeked conure, whether it is talking or tricks, is to build a strong bond.
If you have a connection with your bird then they will want to please you and make you happy, and they will enjoy the training sessions.
Here are some top tips for making the most out of your training sessions.
Building The Bond
There are a few important steps to building a strong bond with your bird. First, you need to make sure that the bird is happy and content by consistently meeting its basic needs.
The cage should be the right size, they need fresh food and water, a perch, and some nice toys. This will make them feel comfortable.
Once they have settled into their new environment, they will begin to open up to you and see you as a member of the flock.
Next, you need to build trust between you. This involves talking softly to the bird, not looking at them directly, and not touching them straight away.
Make low, whistling noises to help them feel calm and build a bond between you.
When the bird feels more comfortable with you, it will start to approach you and will become open to being touched and petted.
Training Schedule
To get the best results from your bird you should try and stick to a regular training schedule.
This will make sure that they don’t forget what you have taught them, and the bird will begin to look forward to your daily training sessions as it is a chance to bond with you.
The more time you spend together, the faster the bird will respond to your commands. If you repeat the sessions daily you will make a lot of progress.
Prepare Your Environment
For speech training, you need to make sure that you are in a quiet environment with no loud music or distractions.
This will help you both to concentrate and will ensure that the bird can focus on the sound you want it to mimic.
Choose your Words Carefully
Make sure you start slowly, with simple words. The words should be short- hello, bye-bye, good night. You can also teach them their name.
Once they get the hang of these simple words you can move on to harder words or even a few phrases.
Repetition And Positive Reinforcement
Repetition is the best way to teach your green-cheeked conure. Repeat the word you want it to learn plenty of times, and give praise whenever they get it right.
You can also use treats like toys or treats when they do a good job. They love to chew, so chewy treats and toys are a great option for training rewards.
Association
If your training is going well, you can begin to teach your bird word association. This means that you can teach them what certain objects are called.
For example, if you feed them a piece of apple then say ‘apple’. Show them the apple and say the word, and say the word every time they eat it.
Over time, they will associate the word ‘apple’ with the object and they will be able to tell you when they want to eat apples. This can be done for all sorts of objects, not just-food.
You can teach them what their favorite toys are called, what your name is, and the names of any other pets or people in the house.
Green-Cheeked Conure Personality
These birds are known for their fun, charming personalities. They are affectionate and entertaining which makes them popular pets.
In the wild, they like to live in flocks, which means they are happiest when they have other birds to interact with or an owner who spends a lot of time with them.
You need to make sure that you spend at least a few hours every day interacting with your green-cheeked conure.
Once your conure has learned that certain behavior makes you laugh or makes you happy, they will repeat this behavior more often.
When the bird is in their cage they like to play by swinging off their perches, hanging upside down, lying down on their backs, and going in and out of things.
If you put some interesting and fun things in their cage then they will be able to entertain themselves for a while by climbing and exploring the cage, performing different kinds of acrobatics.
However, they will enjoy it more if they know you are watching!
These birds are intelligent enough to learn tricks, like waving, shaking hands, bobbing or nodding their head, or turning around on their perch.
Learning and performing tricks is a fun way for them to interact with their owner and make them happy.
Summary
As you can see, green-cheeked conures can talk. With time, consistency, and patience you will be able to get them to learn a whole range of words and even associate words with objects.
This means that they can ask you for different kinds of food or a specific toy.
They also make lots of other noises, and you can get to know these noises to understand how your bird is feeling.
These noises tell you whether the bird is happy, excited, playful, or tired, and you will find it easier to understand their needs.
Green-cheeked conures are sweet, funny, affectionate birds that make lovely companions.
If you put the effort into spending quality time with your bird and bonding with them then you will reap the benefits of a great friendship with your green-cheeked conure.
Harlan Derricks, nice to meet you. I created this online resource in the hopes of educating more people about the wonders of parrots, including their species, sizes, and more.
But I don’t just want to stop with parrots. I want to give every bird an opportunity to be marveled at and rescued by my education. If just one of my readers learned something valuable about budgies, cockatiels, or parakeets, then I’d be happy with my success.
