Sinbad

Sinbad
By Kathleen O’Keefe

Meet Sinbad, a green cheek conure. He has visited before, and captured hearts and made friends in every pet shop from Anchorage to the Mat-Su Valley. He has visited schools, parks, pet shops, vet clinics, and has been a wonderful bird ambassador. He is a normal conure, loud (but not too loud), demanding, because yes, he is spoiled. He retrieves toys (when he wants to), hangs upside down, spreads his wings in his own way, and hands me his little foot to shake my hand.

He throws food down for the dog, watches everyone else looking for an opportunity to cause mayhem, and was the ruler of the flock until we brought a macaw into the house.

I have had to work extra hard with him because his little feelings got hurt, and he still is one of my favorite birds. I tell him he is my one and only and it does get him strutting.

I have learned from having a variety of species in the house how very different each one of our flock members can be. Birds who would never meet in a natural setting learn to live in the same household. Even birds from different parts of the same hemisphere have learned to adapt to our human habits.

He eats a lot of the same foods we do and is willing to try new foods, which is always a plus. Not really over-demanding, he is still very affectionate. Could Sinbad really be a female? Yes, but since I’m not introducing any more birds into the flock (at least that is my plan) then knowing his sex is not important to me.

Sinbad, the king of posing

"Pyrrhura molinae" is the scientific name for the Green Cheek conure. They are found in Bolivia and the upper half of South America.

Some of the other recognized subspecies of the pyrrhura conure are: Maroon-bellied, Pearly, Black capped, Painted and Crimson-bellied. Some color variations, such as the Pineapple, were cultivated by breeders.

Studying the different species and sub-species of conure is extremely interesting. There are Gold-capped, Slender-billed, Patagonian, Nandays, Jendays, Queen of Bavaria, and a whole list of other conure species. Some are more colorful and larger than the pyrrhura, but with that extra color comes louder calls.

Read up on them on the Internet and you will find there are wild colonies of them in several US states where they have become pest species because they are an unnatural addition to the ecology.

Is this why they are in danger of becoming outlawed as pets in some states? They are fairly adaptable and live in outdoors areas we would not think they would survive. I found a wealth of information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conure#Pyrrhura

Please join us at our holiday meeting and meet this little ambassador of the bird world.

The Alaska Bird Club • P.O. Box 101825 • Anchorage AK 99510
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