SUN CONURES

Sun Conures

History: Sun's are a species of conure (con-your) from the Aratinga class. Aratinga comes from the Latin word for "little macaw". I think there is much truth in that too. Sun's, like Macaws, are characterized by their bright colors, slender appearance, and long pointed tails. They also have personalities that are very similar to a Macaw, except that Sun's are not good talkers and are more mischievous in nature.

Suns as pets: Sun's are one of the top ten most popular birdsbecause of their brilliant colors and affectionate and clownish personalities. They are also outgoing, spunky, resilient, intelligent, very sociable, and can learn to say a small vocabulary of words and phrases. They live for about 30 years, are about 12 inches long, and weigh around 275 grams. They are very submissive, devoted, and loving towards their owners wanting nothing more then to cuddle up in your shirt or ride around on your shoulder. My sun's will often roll onto their backs with their feet up in the air and play "dead bird" while I hold and caress them.

Down side to Suns: However, Sun's can be LOUD! If not raised at a young age with a firm yet gentle hand, you can expect earth shattering, ear-piercing screaming that is guaranteed to make your neighbors hate you and your family hard-of-hearing.

Baby Suns: Baby Sun's are mostly green when they first get their feathers. It is not until they are about six months old that they will start to loose there baby green and start to get some of their brilliant orange and yellow feathers in. At about ten to twelve months old they are usually all yellow and orange with blue primary wing and tail feathers. As they continue to age and the years go by, their colors become brighter and more vivid.

Red Sun Conure

History
Did you know that Red Sun Conures are actually Sunday Conures? A Sunday conure is a cross between a Sun Conure and a Jenday Conure (Sun + Day). It is said that back in the 1980's a lady breeder in Honolulu decided to start breeding Sun Conures and Jenday Conures together. The Breeder culled out the offspring that looked like Sundays and kept the ones that looked like redder Sun Conures to breed back. She did this for several generations. The breeder openly told people how she developed what she named Red Suns. When this breeder started selling them to the wholesalers and breeders here on the main land they just marked them as Red Suns. Soon people started believing that the Red Sun was a new and rare mutation on Sun Conure developed naturally through selective breeding like the Green Cheek Conure. Through lack of information and communication the real facts were lost to most buyers.
In today's breeding world, there is much controversy as to what to call this new color cross in the Aratinga class. Many breeders believe that if you breed Red Suns back to Suns enough generations they are officially Suns. Other breeders believe that once a cross is made it will always be a cross no matter how many times it is bred back to its originality.

How are the Red Suns bred?
In the last couple years, people have started to refer to this Red Sun Conure by two terms; the Single Factor and the Double Factor. Single Factor Suns are very red. The Double Factor suns are so red they almost appear brown. Below is an easy to understand breeding chart I created to the best of my knowledge

Sun X Sun
100% Pure Sun Conure

Single Factor X Normal/Pure Sun
50% Normal
50% Single Factor

Single Factor X Single Factor
75% Single Factor
25% Double Factor

Single Factor X Double Factor
50% Single Factor
50% Double Factor

Double Factor X Double Factor
Something very Brown I'm told!!!