Pyrrhura's are very adventurous when it comes to food, so in addition to a good quality small parakeet mix, at least 40% of their diet should be a mixture of fruit and vegetables. I offer apple, pear, orange, celery, carrot, peas and sweet corn daily and most other fruits and vegetables on an occasional basis.

They can learn to talk, albeit with a limited vocabulary and a gravelly voice. They like to be held (although some like it more than others) and can learn tricks such as lying on their backs, "kissing", shaking, hanging upside down, minor tool use, and even can be potty trained.

Pyrrhura Conures and, indeed, many other parrots, feed primarily on soft foods in the wild. Their diet consists of flowers, catkins, flower buds, tender young leaves, figs and soft juicy berries. Of these, flowers and figs are the most important items for most species.

P.m. molinae: Both adults brown crown to nape with green tint; bright green cheeks; pale brown chest barred with either grey/white or dull yellow near centre of breast, with feathers tipped brown; brown/red abdominal patch; scattered blue feathers on hindneck, sometimes forming faint collar; brown/red tail tipped with ...