Conures?

[flambled]

My mom is thinking of getting a Conure.  Anyone have any info one them?  She has tons of time to spend with it. Are they friendly?  What is the cheapest type?  My mother just loves birds.  She had a Hahn's maccaw, but sadly it passed away.  She did got at from an older age and the bird ended up adoring her.

[LastEchoes]

There's like 100 different types of conures and the care/personality traits differ from one breed to another.
I am personally a fan of green cheek conures. They are smart, very tamable, bond very close with their human, able to learn to mimic speech and best of all NOT LOUD. Many conures can be very very loud.....and so can green cheeks but they only scream if they're very excited or scared. Their normal chatter is very low/quiet, with some clicky sounds and sounds that can resemble mumbling.

As for the 'cheap' conures...different breeds have different prices but none of them are 'cheap'.

Here's my green cheek showing off his tail

[MiniMuffin]

I have a green cheek conure. He's my buddy, but he hates everyone else (and is terrified of my dad).  He's very stubborn and bitey.

"Cheap" is something that always makes me cringe when it comes to birds. There's no such thing as a cheap bird, even if the bird is only $5, it needs a cage, food, toys, VET CARE, that it really adds up. Pyrrhhura conures (maroon bellied, green cheek, pearly, etc) are the "cheaper" ones though, and generally quieter. Aratinga conures (Sun, Jenday, etc) are louder and more colorful. I can't think of any prices right now, Green cheeks might be around $150-$200 with Sun's being a bit more.

The poicephalus parrots (meyers, senegal, red bellied and others) are my favorite genus of parrot (they aren't conures though). I absolutely LOVE my meyers, he's sweet, funny, nice. He screams sometimes and also bites, but if he gets time out of his cage it's not so bad. He cost $400 I think.

[tsk_n_such]

Many years ago I had a lovely Nanday conure (she passed on, sadly) She was a lovely, lovely bird. I had adopted her from her previous owners and she was never anything but a sweetheart.  Noisy at times, yes, but her great personality more than made up for it. She knew several tricks and loved to cuddle

[Sorraia]

Can't speak much about the birds themselves (never had a conure, though I considered it for awhile!), but in my area the local bird farm sells their conures for around $350 to $500. The PetCo sells their for $2000 (BIG difference there!!!). No idea what they are at private breeders though.

But as was mentioned, what you pay for the bird itself is only the start. GOOD cages are expensive (and well worth). Plus you need to provide toys, good food (make sure you get an appropriate diet - my understanding is that those seed mixes are not appropriate for most birds), and any vet care that may come up will all add costs.