ECHO T. BIRD

Echo was Pet of the Day on January 21, 2000.

Echo FAQs

What kind of bird is he?
Echo is a green cheek conure, a little parrot. He's the smallest of the conure species. For more information about all kinds of conures, check out the links below.

What does he look like?
Ta da! There he is. He's gorgeous and he knows it. Unlike Tera, he's looked the same since we got him at 3 months and will look the same when he's 30.

How big is he?
About 9-9.5 inches from head to tail.

Will he get any bigger?
Nope.

That sucks.
Yup.

Can he talk?
Well, kind of. He tries very hard, but, unfortunatley, green cheeks don't have very good speaking voices. They're very gravelly, and the birds sound like they've had one too many Marlboros. It's a good thing we named him Echo- he's really living up to it now. We say "Echo," and he says "Reh reh," which, in real life, is pretty close to "Echo." He's always trying to mimic sounds that he hears from Bo or I or the television. And his voice will probably get better with age. I swear he's saying "Echo bird" now, but I am the mom.

What does Echo like to do?
Echo's very hyperactive. He loves to run around and climb on or chew anything he can get to. He loves to sit in his cage and make all kinds of interesting and adorable noises, especially in the morning (when it's not so cute). One of his favorite hobbies is "spelunking"- he climbs or sticks his head into drawers, under blankets, inside T-shirts, in bags or boxes and babbles to himself. Echo would do just about anything to get wet- he jumps in the sink when I'm doing dishes and likes to be in the shower and doesn't even mind when we spray him with feather conditioner. He also likes toys that make noise, like bells and soda cans and pill bottles. He's able to entertain himself most of the time, but would always rather be sitting on a shoulder where he swears he's king of the world. He usually likes to be petted, especially by his mom.

What doesn't Echo like to do?
So far, I haven't found anything he doesn't like to do. Except have his nails and wings clipped. But when he doesn't like something he'll let you know with that nasty little beak of his. He bites when you try to put him in his cage sometimes or when you rub a new feather the wrong way. But sometimes he just goes nuts and goes on little biting sprees for no reason, and I don't know what to do about that.

What does Echo eat?
Just about anything he can get his beak on. He's learned to love his fruit-shaped pellets, and he gets one dish of those and one dish of some sort of fruit treat every day. He likes anything he can get a big beak of, like ice cream or icing, which he will inevitably put directly on to a white shirt while he attempts to eat it. He seems to have a fondness for orange food- he likes carrots and will go straight for the papaya in dried fruit. He also has a fondness for chips and anything crunchy he can hold while eating.

Would you recommend Green Cheeks as pets?
Absolutely. On the whole, Echo is a wonderful pet. He's simply adorable. He's small and quiet, and while he loves to be with people, he's capable of playing by himself. As conures go, they're one of the quietest and considered to be absolutely fearless. They're great as first birds or for people in apartments.

Echo abides by the following bird rules:
If I like it, it's mine.
If it's in my beak, it's mine.
If I can take it from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If I'm chewing something, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
If I saw it first, it's mine.
If you have something and put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
If it's something that I can reach, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

Conure Chat at Up at Six
Conure Chat Gallery Page
Introduction to Green Cheeks
The Greencheek Conure Homepage
Green Cheek Color Mutations

Dacone, Guardian of Pets

© 2001