Welcome to the forum and thank you for doing research before you acquire your bird.
First of all, there are lots of different species that fall under the avicultural category of 'conure' but, if I go by the little picture you posted, you are referring to a GCC (Green Cheek Conure). Cockatiels are aviary birds and need the company of others of their own species to be truly happy and healthy. Also, the only time a female vocalizes (and I've never known of one that learned to whistle or talk) is when it's hormonal and calling for a mate. Males, on the other hand, do vocalize more often and learn to whistle but, if they are kept overly-hormonal, they do it all the time -and I do mean ALL the time!- because, again, they are calling for a mate. They are also not known for being cuddly... Don't misunderstand me, in my personal opinion, they are the sweetest-tempered of all the parrot species and can be very affectionate but it's usually on their terms and not all the time, either.
GCCs (if that is the species you were referring to - there are others) are EXTREMELY cuddly and affectionate BUT this also makes them HIGHLY needy (I often compare them to cockatoos in that sense) so unless you have many hours during the day (cannot be at night and remember that, at least in USA, night falls VERY early in the winter) which you can spend inside your house with the bird on you (because, to a GCC, company means him/her being on your body - no exception), your bird will not be happy.
I have two female GCCs: Cody and Annie. Cody came from friends of ours which gave her to me when she was almost two years old because, by then, the novelty had worn off and having being told that a GCC that is not getting enough attention can start screaming, biting (which she had already started doing), plucking, etc. decided they could not take good care of her. She is a VERY sweet and affectionate little bird that spends a solid two hours on my person every single morning - most of the time kissing me. I call her my 'kissing fool'
because the first thing she does when I put my hand to her to step up is quickly climb up my arm and pressing her beak to my cheek make a SMACK kissy noise - if I kiss her back, she kisses me again - if I say her name, she kisses me again - if I tell her I love her, she kisses me again - and, sometimes, she kisses me because she feels like it
see what I mean about her being my 'kissing fool'? I love this bird to the moon and back! She never bites and is the only bird I have that I allow to perch on my grandkids shoulders.
Annie is a parent-raised bird (so she did not imprint to humans) which was kept by the original idiot breeder in not good conditions. She was very plucked and extremely high-strung (she could not stop moving for one single second, the poor thing, and was VERY scared of humans). She hasn't been with me for very long but she is allowing her feathers to grow back, has calmed down a lot and, although not tame, she is no longer afraid of me (follows me flying around the house, perches on the top of my laptop screen when I am using it, etc). She has also wisen up to the daily schedule and does not go back into her cage for her breakfast - she would rather go hungry until the early afternoon (2:30 - 3 pm), when I put them all back in their cages for the rest of the day.
So, if you have the time to spend with the bird, I would recommend you adopt an adult female GCC (they are sweeter than males). Do not fall into the tempation of buying a baby from a breeder because these little birds are never weaned properly and, in truth, there are way too many babies out there being bred by people who don't know what they are doing (like the man who bred Annie) and end up producing birds with issues. When you buy a baby, you do not know what you are getting but, when you buy an adult, what you see is what you get so if you see a young female (I see ads on CL rehoming them as young as 6 and 7 months but any bird that is under 3 is still VERY young) that is easy to handle, that's your bird!
by Redington » Thu Aug 29, 2019 10:22 am 
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