Golden Cap Conures aka Golden-capped Conures aka Flame-capped Conures
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The Gold-capped Conures are relatively common in aviculture in the United States. They are prolific breeders and hand-fed babies are generally available.
Personality
The Golden-capped conures are cheerful, affectionate little birds, who love to cuddle. They need plenty of playtime and one-on-one attention. The Gold Caps are a little more mellow than some of the other smaller Conure birds. They are trainable, and can learn to speak a few words.
Gold-capped conures have a loud scream and typically are noisy at dawn and at bedtimes. They will also shriek when they are scared or excited -- when you come home, for example, he or she will enthusiastically greet you.
Gold Capped Conures love to "customize" their environment, i.e., chew on your furniture and take things apart. Providing them with lots of wooden toys and natural branches will be important to keep them occupied and, hopefully, stop them from destroying your furniture.
Golden-capped Conure also go through nippy stages and they require some training to stop this behavior. Fortunately, they are smart and respond well to training.
Training and Behavioral Guidance:
- Conures are known for their loud and harsh calls, which is a natural way of communication and social international and shouldn't be "trained away" -- however, they can develop into excessive screamers, which really requires early intervention. Conures will discover their beaks as method of "disciplining us" once they are out of the "baby stage" and they can generally be somewhat naughty, as can all parrots.
It really is important to learn to understand them and to guide their behavior before an undesirable behavior has been established. Undisciplined parrots will chew on electric wiring potentially causing house fires. They regard anything in your home as a "toy" that can be explored and chewed on; destroying items that you may hold dear or are simply valuable. Even a young bird that has not been neglected and abused requires proper guidance; this becomes even more challenging when it involves a rescued bird that may require rehabilitation.
- Web Resources: I put together web resources for you to help you understand your pet bird and properly direct him. Please visit this website for valuable tips on parrot behavior and training.
- If you are, as I am, a visual learner and prefer step-by-step instructions to train your pet, I recommend:
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
- Stop Biting
- Perform Tricks &
- Tame ANY SIZE bird you could possibly own
- and/or try the "Teach Your Parrot to Talk" Training Course.
- the Parrot Training Course to teach your parrot to:
Description:
The Gold-capped Conure grows to about 13 to 14 inches in length and weighs about 150 grams. Their bodies are mainly green, with blackish bills, gray feet and brown irises. The forehead, the areas around the eyes and underwing coverts are usually red. The breast feathers are a red and green mix. Their tail feathers are olive green with a bluish tip. The primary feathers, wing coverts, and under-wing coverts are blue.
Immature Golden-capped Conures are essentially green, with some orange around the eyes, above the beak, and on the breast near the wings. Some navy is mixed in with the green of the tail. The bird's full coloration is not seen until they are sexually mature at about two years of age.
Their lifespan is about 30 years.
Care and Feeding:
Conures love to climb and play and need to be provided with a cage that allows them to move around freely and toys to entertain themselves with. Please refer to the following websites for information:- Optimal nutrition to keep your bird healthy
- Housing your bird
- Caring for your companion bird
Breeding / Reproduction:
Golden-capped Conures breed very well in captivity and reach sexual maturity at about two years of age. Golden-cappeds are not sexually dimorphic - only a DNA test, or the laying of an egg, will establish an individual's sex.
These conures are fairly easy to breed. Below are the dimensions of nesting boxes usually used for these conures. However, the dimensions can vary widely, as they are influenced by the owner's and the birds' preferences. The preferences of the breeding birds can also be influenced by the size and type of nest-box / log in which the bird was hatched and reared.
If space allows, offering a choice of sizes and types of logs or nest-boxes, and placed in various locations within the aviary, can allow the parent birds to make their own choice. Once a pair has chosen a specific nest-box/log and been successful in it, offer that one to them each breeding season. Try and keep that one for their exclusive use. Once a pair has chosen its log or nest-box, the other ones can generally be removed. If the "spare" boxes are to be removed and moved to another flight, ensure the log / nest-box is cleaned to ensure the receptacle has the minimal contamination of mites, parasites and pathogens.
Log / Nest-box:
- Marcy Covault from Feathered Companions Aviary suggests using a deeper box, either a bootbox or a vertical grandfather box (18" - 24" deep). Some conures do accept cockatiel-sized boxes, but using a deeper box will reduce the conures' tendency to remove the shavings and lay their eggs on the bare wooden base.
- Diameter of entrance hole approx. 70 - 80 mm (or approx. 3 inches)
- Inspection hole: Square or round) 100 mm (or approx 4 inches)
- A Removable top / lid can be a useful access point for inspections and for cleaning.
- Location and height of log / nest-box = in a sheltered part of the aviary and at about 1.5 - 1.8 metres height, but not too close to the roof to cause heat problems in the hotter months
- Angle of log or nest box = 45 degrees through to vertical. Most boxes are vertical.
- Nesting log / nest-box material: Decomposed non-toxic saw dust, wood shavings or other suitable material/s.
- Incubation: Hen / cock / both share in incubating the eggs.
Nest inspection is generally not tolerated. If nest inspection is necessary, wait till both parents have left the nest. They can be aggressive and protective of the nest area when breeding.
For additional breeding-related information, please visit this website.
Golden Cap Conures aka Golden-capped Conures aka Flame-capped Conures:
Genus: Scientific: Aratinga ... English: Conures ... Dutch: Wigstaartparkieten ... German: Keilschwanzsittiche ... French: Aratinga 
Species: Scientific: Aratinga auricapilla aurifrons aka Aratinga solstitialis aurifrons ... English: Golden-capped Conure ... Dutch: Goudkop Aratinga ... German: Goldkappensittich ... French: Perruche à front doré Sub-Species: auricappila, aurifrons CITES II - Endangered Distribution: South-eastern Brazil
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots
Sub-Species:
Golden-headed Conures: Please scroll up for additional information. Genus: Scientific: Aratinga ... English: Conures ... Dutch: Wigstaartparkieten ... German: Keilschwanzsittiche ... French: Aratinga Species: Scientific: Aratinga auricapilla auricapilla aka Aratinga solstitialis auricapilla ... English: Golden-headed Conure ... Dutch: Goudkap Aratinga ... German: Goldscheitelsittich ... French: Perruche à capuche d'or CITES II - Endangered
Distribution: Northern and Southern Parts of Bahia, North-eastern Brazil
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with web visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the webmaster.
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