Conures are screamers. Really really loud. The Nandays probably top the list of loudest, but the Jendays and Suns can be a close second. I know some of the members have Pionus and say they're relatively quiet. But living with a Cherry Head Conure and a Blue Crown Conure (and at one point having fostered two Nandays) and with friends who have Jendays and Suns, I can attest to how frequently they can get on a 'screaming jag.'
Sara
Southeast Vermont

I've heard Jendays are very loud, as well as most other Aratinga conures. Even if you are careful to never reinforce screaming (so he won't scream for attention) he would still very likely scream in the morning and evening, and sometimes when excited and playing. I have a greencheek conure, which is in the Pyrrhura genus, and they tend to be much quieter birds. He is, for the most part, a quiet bird. If he wants, he can scream loud enough to be annoying, but doesn't scream much. I've had him in college dorm rooms, two apartments.. noise was never any problem.
The biggest problem though would probably be your schedule. 2 hours a day out of the cage is not enough for a conure. Canaries are solitary birds outside of breeding season. A tame canary will enjoy attention but doesn't need it. Parrots (and that includes conures as well as budgies, cockatiels, ect) NEED lots of attention to be content. If you want playful birds that won't need a huge amount of attention, you might want to try a pair of budgies in a very large cage. With two housed together it will be harder to tame them, but they will have each other for companionship when you are gone, and will be active and playful. And with a large cage they would be ok with just 2 hours out daily.

Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI

I hate to say it, but Sara is right... The first time I saw a sun conure I was sure that I wanted one, for about 30 seconds, and then it sounded off and I decided I had to keep looking. :-)

The behavior of a baby birds is not a good indicator of what they'll be like as they grow up. They tend to get louder and more destructive (chewy). If you are concerned about noise, the aratinga conures are not for you... Aratingas include suns, jendays, nandays, cherry heads, blue crowds, mitreds, etc. The pyrhurra conures are smaller but they tend to be less noisy than the aratingas - the pyrhurra group includes green-cheek conures and painted conures.

To the best of my knowledge, pionus and eclectus are the best parrots to consider if you're concerned about noise. Every time someone's conure or cockatoo screeches, I'm a little more glad that I went with pionus. :-)

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA

great, thanks everyone for all of your input. it's more or less what i expected. hopefully in a few years a Jenday will be more realistic.

-steve

Lynn Faulkner and Nomo
(Dusky Conure)
I researched this question pretty carefully, and decided on a dusky conure because they are supposed to be the quietest. Perhaps others have had different experiences, and certainly we all have different tolerances and ideas about what noisy is, but my Nomo is only occasionally a little noisy and not enough to bother me. And I have to say, I have a low tolerance for noise.