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Hi, HELP!
I have a pair of true Mitred Conures coming. The person that has had them looked high and low to find a male and female and has done the introductions etc to the point that they are now well bonded, and she believes probably ready to breed. But, due to a family situation, is having to give them up.
I have searched the internet, and can not find out much about this breed of conure. I'm interested in their diet, breeding habits, the personalities of their hand fed off spring, intellegence, oh, and the size o& type of nest box that they need. And anything else you can tell me about them.
Thank you very much for your help!

I'd be interested in seeing pictures of the mitred conures.

Species, btw....

Diet is a controversial subject. Many may believe in a diet based on fresh foods, a diet based on seeds, or a diet based on pellets is best. The hard part is deciding a good base diet (there are a lot of crappy brands out there, IMO) and what to supplement it with. If your worried about seeds, buy bulk sprout seeds, and sprout them to feed those instead.

IMO, as far as diet is concerned, we should stick away from cheap foods (i.e. any foods that contain dyes, or food mixes that contain both seeds and pellets, and seed mixes that contain a lot of fatty seeds, such as sunflower seeds). Fresh foods are very healthy, from veggies, to sprouts, cooked eggs, cooked legumes, etc. Some veggies may need to be steamed before feeding (supposedly helps make digesting them and all the nutrients inside easier....). If you feed pellets, feed a good quality brand (again, no dyes).


I don't know much about their breeding habits other than they use a nestbox... wooden should be fine... size I'm not really sure... just be prepaired for chewing! (maybe a wooden box within a metal one?)

Any handraised bird could be a great pet... likewise, they could also be bad pets. This is my opinion, but I believe that many problem parrots are due to the fact that we take them away from the parents (or handfeeders) at too young of age (i.e. right after weaning), and the birds don't get a chance to mature and become independant... because if you think about it, offspring will stay with their parents a while after weaning.

I derived this opinion from the fact that I've had my handraised cockatiel (she was handraised from day one, although IMO it's best to leave the chicks with the parents for at least 2 weeks before taking for handfeeding) since she was 6 months old (24 weeks). I've met several (probably over 5 people) who have bought young handraised cockatiels (usually 3-5 months of age). All of these cockatiels have gone through a screaming phase, and if not handled right, this leads to bigger issues. I've never had any screaming issues with Casey. Truth in point though, I don't really know if Casey may be an exception or if she was able to attain that independence.

Likewise however, my mitred conure is 13 years old, going on 14 this year. I've had him for just over a year now (got him in late 2006) and he's very dependant. His parents were/are a wild caught pair, so he's also a first generation captive bred, but I doubt that has anything to do with it. He's very loud, hates being alone, but he's a goof, he loves to laugh, knows a few words, loves to dance, loves it when I swing him around (i.e. he's holding onto my finger with his feet, and I swing him upside down), and I can hold him on his back in my palm and gently toss him up in the air.


Most mitreds make great pets and they do tend to be goofy birds. They usually love to play, and they can play hard.. I know with Charlie he really beats up on his toys and gives them a good yellin at too!

Now, I am consistently suspicious of claims that recently acquired birds are "true pairs" and "proven pairs." Conures are very social and will bond with any other conures almost immediately. Many of the older captive birds might be close to the end of their best reproductive years, or, if they are offerred for sale, never did nest in captivity. Hate to be so negative.