Jenday Conure – Care, Food & Profile

Pets are now an essential part of almost all households. This is primarily because people realize the significant role that they play in boosting emotional wellbeing, as well as teaching kids and adults alike about responsibility.

In the past, only cats and dogs sufficed for pets. Nowadays, however, some environments do not support the care of these large animals while some people are not as intent on them.

Birds are the best choices for pet owners looking for pets that thrive in almost all environments, are easy to care for and need minimal living space.

Conures are currently among the most sought-after birds for pets. These are small and medium-sized birds that belong to the same family as parrots. Though small, conures are intelligent, active, affectionate and have big personalities.

The jenday conure is one of your best options when you choose these birds for your pet. It is also called a jandaya parakeet, jandaya conure, flaming parakeet, yellow-headed conure, or Aratinga jandaya.

Like the other members of the conure species, this little goofball is full of cuddles and tricks guaranteed to keep your household on its feet.

Below is other information on the jenday conure that will be essential for a pet owner.

Jenday Conure Origin and Natural Habitat

The natural habitat of the jenday conure is the dense growth, rain forest edges, palm groves and woodlands of northeast Brazil. In fact, the name “jenday” comes from an indigenous language in this region called Old Tupi in which it means a small parrot.

In Brazil, it inhabits the regions of Ceara, Maranhao, Tocantins and Piaui. Here, the birds prefer to nest in high tree hollows, about 50ft above the ground. In their natural habitats, jenday conures live in flocks comprising 12-30 birds.

They can sometimes migrate for several miles into other areas for their survival if conditions in their natural habitats are unfavorable. The jenday conure is a protected bird species hence it has healthy and large wild populations.

Jenday Conure Appearance

The jenday conure has bright-colored feathers that closely resemble the sun conure’s. Its chest and head have bright yellow feathers while the back, wings and tail feathers are green.

The jenday’s belly has a fiery green hue while there is an iridescent blue tip on its flight and tail feathers. The striking vibrancy of the bird’s colors is topped off by a black beak.

The biggest difference in the appearance of the jenday and sun conure is that jendays primarily have green feathers whereas the feathers on a sun conure’s shoulders and back are yellow. Furthermore, the yellow feathers in the sun conure spread further down as the bird ages.

Jenday conures are zygodactyls. This means that their feet have two toes in the back and two in front. The toes’ arrangement allows the bird to hand upside down and perform a range of acrobatic tricks.

Jendays are monomorphic, meaning that the males and females have similar markings that make them hard to differentiate. In most cases, however, females have light brown irises with grayish eye-rings while the irises of males are dark brown surrounded by white eye-rings.

Nonetheless, DNA and surgical sexing are the only ways to accurately know a jenday conure’s gender.

Jenday Conure Food and Diet

Mirroring the dietary habits of its natural habitats is advisable because this will make your pet jenday conure comfortable. In the wild, jendays feed on seeds, nuts and fruits.

As pets, they need a balanced and pelleted diet that is supplemented with fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. You can give as many pelleted feeds as your bird can manage to eat.

There are seed mixes available at pet stores for jenday conures. Though beneficial, you should not include too much of these seeds in your conure’s diet.

This is because the seeds have high carbohydrate and fat levels that will cause your bird’s organs to work hard sifting the fats out of its bloodstream. This, at times, causes premature organ failure.

Fresh organic fruits and veggies like kales, apples, broccoli, kiwis and carrots can be fed to jenday conures daily. An eighth or quarter cup of fruits and veggies in the morning and evening is enough for your pet bird.

Be careful to remove apple seeds before feeding your conure apples since these seeds contain cyanide that might poison your pet. Remove the uneaten fruits and veggies to avoid contamination of the cage or diseases in your bird when they get spoilt. Cooked eggs are also healthy nutrition sources for the birds.

Keep chocolate, caffeine and alcohol away from your bird since these might poison it. Processed meats and foods containing high amounts of sulfites, nitrates, monosodium glutamate and nitrites are also not healthy for jenday conures.

Parrots are also lactose intolerant and should thus only consume small amounts of yoghurt or hard cheese. Avocado should be kept away from pet jendays since it contains a chemical that is toxic to them.

Add cuttlebone in your jenday conure’s cage to give the bird some calcium. Moreover, ensure you give the bird fresh water every morning and replenish it every evening.

Thoroughly wash the bowl you use for feeding after each feed to prevent parasitic infections in your bird. The signs of poor nutrition in a jenday conure include an overgrown beak, blindness, seizures and plucked feathers.

When you notice these, get expert input on what to include or exclude from your jenday’s diet.

Jenday Conure Weight and Size

Jenday conures reach adult sizes of  12 inches (30 cm) and weigh 4-5 ounces (125-140 gram).

However, their long tail feathers, making up about half of their body lengths, might fool you into thinking that your conure is larger than its actual size.

Obesity is, fortunately, rare in jendays because the birds are quite active.

Jenday Conure Lifespan

Jenday conures can be lifelong companions for most people.  With a natural lifespan of 25-30 years, the pet birds can outlive most of their owners.

However, in the wild, the jendays live for a maximum of twenty years since they are prey to many predators and are prone to accidents. To boost your bird’s life expectancy, focus on a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle for it.

Jenday conures are quite sensitive and thus prone to diseases. The common ones include aspergillosis, psittacine feather and beak disease, proventricular dilatation disease and psittacosis.

Loss of appetite, breathing difficulty and lethargy are common signs of illness in jendays.

To keep diseases in your bird at bay, have regular medical checkups and ensure its living environment is clean. Extra attention and care are also essential to pick the signs of illness early.

Jenday Conure Breeding

Jendays reach their sexual maturity at 4-5 months. Though they can be bred throughout the year, young jendays cannot survive in extreme heat. As such, it is best to avoid breeding your bird in hot months.

Jenday conures generally have higher fertility levels compared to other parrots. They lay 2-4 eggs that are incubated for 25-27 days. The chicks that hatch are ready for fledging after about seven weeks.

Just before breeding, you will notice that male and female jendays will be seemingly feeding and grooming each other. Their mating time is only three minutes and this makes them quite affectionate towards each other during the breeding season.

Before laying eggs, the female jenday’s abdomen will swell. Unfortunately, some jenday conures destroy their eggs after laying them.

This is often in cases where the bird has a calcium deficiency. Therefore, to keep the eggs safe, ensure your jenday’s diet is balanced during breeding.

There are restrictions on the breeding of jenday conures in some places.  Contact your local wildlife and fish regulatory commission or other relevant body before breeding to check if you need a permit for the same.

Jenday Conure Talking Ability

While they are social and intelligent birds, jenday conures are not the most interactive of parrots. They will not speak much, but they are entertaining.

Though not famous for their talking abilities, jendays can mimic your household’s sounds like telephone rings and the microwave’s sound. Other than talking, they beep or chirp when excited, sad or happy.

Jendays can learn everyday phrases and words. They can also master more words than their natural capability allows when taught well and, even become better talkers than other conures.

When teaching your jenday to talk, start with forming an emotional bond with it so that it is comfortable enough.

Start with a few short words and phrases then repeat them frequently to encourage your jenday to mimic them. Above all, be patient because the bird might take time to learn the words.

Jenday Conure Cage Size

The right size of a birdcage plays a key role in the health of your jenday conure. Most people assume that the bird can thrive in a cockatiel cage because of its size, but this is not the case.

Jendays love flying inside and outside their cages, as well as exercising. As such, the cage should be adequately large to accommodate their flapping wings and enable them to move around freely.

The ideal cage dimension for your jenday’s cage is 36 x 24 x 24 inches in length, height and width respectively. Bar spaces of half an inch are enough.

Maintaining the right temperature setting is also essential in a jenday conure’s cage. Aim for a temperature of 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit to keep your bird healthy.

Other than the right temperature and size, provide enough toys in the cage to keep your jenday busy. Swings, ladders, ropes and bells are among the toys that will provide a jungle-like experience for your bird in captivity.

Chew toys are also essential for the conure to exercise its beak. If you do not provide these, your pet bird might chew on electrical wires, cage bars and furniture.

Even with the right birdcage, your jenday conure still needs some time out of the cage. Allow it to get out for at least two hours daily.

The space in which your bird spends time out of its cage should be free of hazards like ceiling fans and cats or other pets that might harm it. The place should also be free of open doors and windows that would facilitate an accidental jenday escape.

Are Jenday Conure Noisy?

Yes, jenday conures are quite loudly. They make raucous and shrill noises along with very loud calls that might disturb you. Others will scream if they feel neglected by their owners.

Though charming companions, jendays are not your best picks for pets if you hate noisy pets. Their noise also makes them unfit for pet owners who live in apartments. Nevertheless, you can control the noise your pet bird makes by training it.

Wrapping Up

The above tidbits might have convinced you that the jenday conure is the perfect pet for you. Even so, before heading out to get one, check your local regulations.

Some authorities have restrictions on the bird species that those under their jurisdictions can keep. A few areas allow people to keep jendays only after getting a permit while others will ban them outright.

When choosing your bird at a pet store or rescue facility, your best choices are young birds and those that have been hand-fed.

The hand-fed ones have somewhat adapted to life in captivity while the young ones are easy to bring up in a way that best suits you. Moreover, these choices are relatively cheaper than when going for mature birds.

Look for jendays that are alert, active and bright. Birds with puffed feathers and those huddled in a corner might be ill and are thus best avoided.

The feathers around the vent of a healthy jenday should ideally be clean and dry. The beak of the jenday should be well-shaped and smooth while its feet’s scales should be smooth.

Unfortunately, picking issues in a jenday conure you want to buy might not be so easy with a visual examination. As such, it is advisable to involve a vet in your purchase journey. He/she can conduct several tests to pick any hidden conditions that might cause issues later.