🐾 Land🐦 FlyingCare difficulty: IntermediateLegal complexity: Medium
Nanday parakeet
Aratinga nenday · also called Nanday conure, Black-hooded parakeet, Black-masked conure, Nanday
A striking green conure with a black hood and face, the Nanday is bold, affectionate and famously loud. It is a hardy companion bird best suited to owners who can tolerate noise and offer plenty of interaction.
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Quick facts
| Size | Medium-small parrot, roughly 27-30 cm (11-12 in) long, around 120-150 g. |
| Lifespan | 20–30 years |
| Social needs | pair |
| Native region | South America (Pantanal region of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina) |
| Origin | New World |
| Climate | 🌴 Tropical |
| Family | Psittacidae |
| Genus | Aratinga |
Part of the Conures
Conures are small to medium New-World parrots from Central and South America, prized as companion birds for their bold personalities, vivid colors, and strong human bonds. They are active, playful, and social, needing roomy cages, daily interaction, and plenty of enrichment.
Habitat & space requirements
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Color & pattern variants
Natural variants occur in the wild; selectively bred (man-made) variants were developed in captivity.
Habitat & enclosure
House a single Nanday in a cage no smaller than 24 x 24 x 30 inches (60 x 60 x 75 cm) with 3/4 inch (about 19 mm) bar spacing; a flight cage or aviary is much better, as these birds are energetic climbers and strong fliers. Provide several perches of varying diameter (natural branches are ideal), plenty of chewable and foraging toys, and rotate enrichment regularly. They need 3-4 hours of supervised out-of-cage time daily.
They are hardy in normal household temperatures, comfortable from roughly 18-29 C (65-85 F), and should be protected from drafts and sudden chills. As cavity nesters in the wild they appreciate a snug roosting tent or box. No supplemental UVB is strictly required indoors with a balanced diet, but access to natural sunlight or full-spectrum lighting supports wellbeing.
Substrate
Line the cage tray with plain newspaper or paper towel for simple daily cleanup and droppings monitoring; avoid loose litter that can be chewed or grow mold. A grate above the paper keeps the active bird off soiled bedding.
Equipment & setup
Provide a tall, sturdy cage with about 5/8 to 3/4 inch bar spacing and plenty of horizontal climbing room, fitted with varied natural-wood perches. Nandays handle normal room temperatures without extra heat, benefit from full-spectrum/UVB lighting on a regular cycle, and enjoy a bath dish or gentle misting for their frequent bathing.
Diet
Offer a base of high-quality formulated pellets making up roughly 60-70% of the diet, supplemented daily with fresh vegetables and leafy greens and smaller amounts of fruit. Seed mixes are high in fat and should be a minority of the diet or used as foraging treats. Provide a cuttlebone or mineral block for calcium.
Avoid avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, and high-salt or high-sugar human foods, all of which are toxic or harmful to parrots. Fresh, clean water should always be available and changed daily.
Behavior & temperament
Nandays are intelligent, playful, and highly social, often bonding strongly with their keepers and enjoying being part of household activity. They can learn a modest vocabulary and a few tricks, and they love to forage, shred, and explore. Their most notable trait is volume: they have a piercing, repetitive screech and are not recommended for apartments or noise-sensitive homes.
They thrive on companionship, whether from an attentive owner or a compatible avian companion, and may develop screaming or feather-destructive habits if left isolated or under-stimulated. Daily interaction, training, and rotating enrichment keep them well-adjusted.
Health
Common conure health concerns include feather plucking and self-mutilation (often linked to boredom, stress, or poor diet), obesity and fatty liver disease from seed-heavy diets, and respiratory infections. They can carry or contract psittacosis (chlamydiosis) and proventricular dilatation disease (PDD), so quarantine new birds and seek an avian vet for any lethargy, fluffed posture, or appetite loss.
Prevention centers on a varied balanced diet, ample exercise and mental stimulation, clean housing, and routine checkups with an avian veterinarian. Note: this content is informational and not a substitute for professional veterinary advice.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Nandays are notoriously loud, so give them ample out-of-cage time, foraging toys, and shreddables to channel energy and reduce contact-call screaming. They love to forage and chew, so DIY puzzle toys from untreated wood, paper, and vegetable-tanned leather are cheap enrichment; provide a consistent 10 to 12 hour dark sleep period to keep this excitable species settled.
Sources
- Nanday parakeet - Wikipedia (wiki)
- Nanday Conure Parrot Profile - Psittacology (care guide)
- Wikipedia: Nanday parakeet (wiki)