Jenday Conure
Aratinga jandaya
Also called Jandaya parakeet, Jandaya conure, Yellow-headed conure, Flaming conure
From North-eastern Brazil, including Maranhao, Piaui, Ceara, Tocantins and neighbouring parts of Para, Goias and Bahia. It lives in lowland dry woodland, palm groves and farmland edges.123
At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Feathered; medium conure with a long pointed tail
A vivid conure with a yellow head and neck, orange cheeks and a reddish-orange chest and belly, set against green wings and tail. The tail tips have a bluish tinge, the beak is black and there is a pale ring of bare skin around each dark eye. Young birds are mostly green with patchy yellow on the head and gain full colour by about two years of age.13
Personality what they are like
Jenday conures are known as warm, trusting and playful family birds that enjoy close contact and will often snuggle up against their person's neck. They are curious and bright, so they learn behaviours and tricks well, and some mimic sounds and a few words. Like most Aratinga conures they are vocal, with a loud, ringing call, so they suit lively households.312
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Needs several hours of out-of-cage time each day with a play stand or gym, plus chew toys, swings, ladders and foraging toys to keep it busy.32
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Offer frequent baths and a steady supply of wooden toys, branches and other bird-safe chewables.24
Home where they are happiest
A cage of at least 91 x 61 x 61 cm (36 x 24 x 24 in) as a minimum, larger if possible. For aviary keeping the World Parrot Trust suggests a flight at least 2-3 m long.32
Food basics what goes in the bowl
In the wild it feeds on fruit such as mango and cashew apple, palm nuts and seeds, including crops like rice and maize. Pet birds do well on pellets plus daily fresh fruit and vegetables, with some seeds, spray millet and cooked beans or corn.123
Company who they like around
A flock bird that usually travels in groups of about a dozen and needs a lot of daily attention in the home. It can share space with a compatible conure companion.23
The story where it all began
The naturalist Georg Marcgrave recorded the species during a Dutch expedition to Brazil in 1638, and several later authors described it from his account. Johann Friedrich Gmelin gave it a formal scientific name in 1788, and its name jandaya comes from an indigenous South American word for the bird.12
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
Chicks start out mostly green and only develop the full orange and yellow head over their first two years.3
- 2
Wild pairs pick nest holes high in trees, often 15 m or more above the ground.2
- 3
It is one of the conures most often named as a close relative of the extinct Carolina parakeet.3
- 4
It was first written about by a European naturalist as early as 1638.1
Recognised by the official bits
- IUCN Red List
- Least Concern; the World Parrot Trust lists the population trend as increasing.2
- CITES
- Appendix II.1
- Taxonomy
- Monotypic (no subspecies). Part of the sun conure group of Aratinga; some authors have treated it as a subspecies of a related conure.1
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Jenday Conure. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- Fresh food and waterevery day
- Cage linerevery 2 days
- Full cleanevery week
- Bath offerevery 3 days
- Nails checkevery month
- Beak checkevery month
- Toy rotationevery week
- Out-of-cage timeAbout 2 hours a dayevery day
- Vet check-upevery year
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- Jandaya parakeet - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.orgused for range, size, plumage, wild diet, history, status
- Jandaya Conure - World Parrot Trust parrots.orgused for range, weight, lifespan, care, diet, behaviour
- Jenday Conure - Lafeber lafeber.comused for temperament, cage size, juvenile colour, care
- Conure - Lafeber lafeber.comused for general conure bathing
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.