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Hello! Help choosing my first bird?

Erestyl

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Hi everyone! Complete and total newbie here. I've never owned a bird before and the most experience I have is from playing with my friend's cockatiel while he was still around. Recently I had to get rid of my cats because they were being destructive, and I thought I'd never have a pet again, but I've been reading about birds and I think I may have changed my mind!

But I need to know more. I had about 75 tabs open earlier, reading about things like diet, training, exercise, socialization, breeding, different species and their personalities, so I know a good bit about the basics. What I don't have is experience. What I do have, however, is access to all of you! :D

What I want to know is first of all, what's it like having a bird? What kind of changes to your life do you need to make to accommodate a feathered friend? And second of all, what kind of bird should I get? I've read that cockatiels make great first birds, but these aren't quadcopters and I can't just get a new one once I get tired of my first one. So I need to make the correct choice the first time, right?

With that in mind I've got my eye on the Sun Conure or maybe the Jenday Conure. Orange is my favorite color and I think they're absolutely beautiful, and I also think I'd really enjoy how social and clingy they are. However, there's a lot to learn and I'm sure I haven't read about anywhere near all my options, so I was hoping someone could give me some suggestions on species to read up on and look around for.

Thanks for the help!
 

Lady Jane

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Just an FYI, birds are destructive too. One needs to make their home safe for a bird to live and fly .
There are everyday items that are toxic to a bird. Some of those things are candles, sprays, non stick cookware, most but not all house plants and some foods/liquids. Household cleaners need to be made by you or purchased carefully. Windows and mirrors are dangerous as are ceiling fans. Even the toys you buy in a pet store can cause injuries. Other pets are predators to birds. Hope I have not scared you off wanting a bird but you asked. Birds can be expensive pets and avian vets are necessary.

Companion birds are so unique in many ways. They seem to retain their wildness somehow.
What are you looking for in a bird? Some are more quiet than others, some more active. Cockatiels are wonderful birds for a person with no experience. Yes those Conures you mention are beauties but do have a rep. for being loud. Other members will chime in and give their opinions. This is a great place to learn about the avian world.


@JLcribber
 

JLcribber

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Hello Joshua. The most valuable insight you could possibly get about the reality of owning a parrot would be for you to go visit a shelter/rescue and volunteer there for a while. They could use the help and you could use the exposure.

The best way to choose a parrot is for the parrot to choose you. The best way for that to happen is to expose yourself to lots of birds and a rescue is the perfect place to do that. You will also get the needed help/support from them to take a bird home.
 

Erestyl

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Just an FYI, birds are destructive too.
I should clarify, the cats were spraying. I know that birds can be destructive but nothing is as bad as cat spray :bash:

As far as what I'm looking for? A fun pet that I can play with that isn't a dog. I don't like dogs and most other pets just don't do anything. But birds are smart and social and you can take them places and do things with them, and I think that sounds like a lot of fun. I remember my friend did a lot of fun things with his cockatiel, much more than I ever did with my cat. And having recently gone through a painful breakup, the idea of having a non-human companion is very appealing to me. :D
 

ThatsFowlPlay

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he best way to choose a parrot is for the parrot to choose you. The best way for that to happen is to expose yourself to lots of birds and a rescue is the perfect place to do that. You will also get the needed help/support from them to take a bird home.
I agree very much. Shelters and rescues are the best places to find a bird who fits you.
 

Erestyl

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The most valuable insight you could possibly get about the reality of owning a parrot would be for you to go visit a shelter/rescue and volunteer there for a while.
I agree very much. Shelters and rescues are the best places to find a bird who fits you.
I would be open to this, if the shelters in my area weren't so intrusive in their adoption process. (EDIT: And if there were more shelters around!) I don't want to invite inspectors into my home at regular intervals to check up on me and my parrot. Especially this policy:

16) EBR reserves the right to withdraw from the adoption process at any time with any applicant. EBR reserve the right to reclaim any bird after the adoption process without refund of the fee if our standards of care are not being met.

This makes it feel like a loan, and it just feels abhorrent to me. And unfortunately I'm not finding many other shelters around with birds, at least none that have websites with information. I may go and look around tomorrow but the main avenues I'm considering are Craigslist or a breeder.
 
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Mizzely

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What it's like? It's like having a toddler. I have birds and a toddler, so I can say that with confidence. They are difficult to live with if you care for them properly. Pellets, fresh food, a bit of seed for their diet, flighted if you don't want to lose them to heart disease and want a happy and confident friend, and if they are super cuddly and affectionate with you, they likely think you are their mate and this can cause a host of other issues - jealousy, biting, egg binding, screaming, to name a few.

I've had to change out my pans to eliminate nonstick, I can't use "easy" cleaners like oven sprays. No aerosols. No candles or incense. I have to devote an entire room of my house to the birds so that they have plenty of space to fly in and be active and away from my child so they don't bite him. I can't go anywhere without someone to at least check in on them daily. I have to make or buy toys weekly to keep up with ONE bird's chewing, and they like to be picky about their food so right now I am currently messing with FIVE different pellet brands hoping Jingo will eat JUST ONE of them. This is the 2nd time in 5 years he has done this to me!

Oh and if you like peace and quiet, you'll need to invest in earplugs.

You know what else is social, cuddly, can do tricks, you can take them places? Rats :p I've had those and I should have stuck with them LOL

Proper bird ownership seriously changes a lot.

And all birds are so individualistic. My friend has a sun conure and he is nothing like what you have described despite years of working with him so far. I have two quakers and my mother in law has another and they are all different too. So for the qualities you want, you will have to look at individual birds, not species.
 

expressmailtome

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Welcome! If you are thinking of a sun conure, or a jenday conure, I would recommend that you visit one first at a pet store, breeder, or rescue. They have a loud, very high pitched, scream that many people have trouble listening to. You would hate to purchase/adopt the bird, and then not be able to keep him/her due to the noise.
 

BeeBop

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Welcome! I would recommend... budgies! :budgie: They are pretty much everything your looking for in a bird social, smart (they can learn tricks), and you can take them places if you want (BeeBop loves car rides). They can learn to talk and most including BeeBop have very energetic personalities. And, they are much lower initial and upkeep expense then a larger bird. But, if you think a conure is right for you, be sure to visit rescues to get first hand experience with them.
 

Lady Jane

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I agree on budgies. I love the English Budgies and I am getting a beautiful male baby very soon. Breeder is in northern NJ if you live near there I can give you the location.
 

Erestyl

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I have thought of budgies, and I'm just not really all that interested in them. I don't find any of the color schemes particularly eye-catching and I don't really like the way they look. They're also a bit smaller than I'm looking for. I like the 10-12 inch size range, which is why I was favoring a cockatiel over a budgie. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 

BeeBop

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I have thought of budgies, and I'm just not really all that interested in them. I don't find any of the color schemes particularly eye-catching and I don't really like the way they look. They're also a bit smaller than I'm looking for. I like the 10-12 inch size range, which is why I was favoring a cockatiel over a budgie. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Do you know about "rainbow" budgies? Rainbow budgies can have really unique and beautiful coloring. They have big personalities in a small package. But, cockatiels are also very nice and typically mild tempered birds with pretty coloring. Just remember the bigger the bird the more expense and work involved.
 
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Mizzely

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Can I ask a seemingly unrelated question?

How much time and energy did you invest in solving the issue of your cats spraying?

I ask because while that's an annoying problem, it's solvable. Sometimes difficult but in my experience not impossible. Birds require a lot of patience, so if that's in short supply you might not get the type of companion you're after.
 

JLcribber

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I have thought of budgies, and I'm just not really all that interested in them. I don't find any of the color schemes particularly eye-catching and I don't really like the way they look. They're also a bit smaller than I'm looking for. I like the 10-12 inch size range, which is why I was favoring a cockatiel over a budgie. Thanks for the suggestion though.

A cockatiel is a 4 to 6 inch bird (excluding tail). A 10 to 12 inch bird (excluding tail) is a "big" parrot (Macaw, cockatoo, Amazon) which is way out of your league. I think a cockatiel is a great choice for you. A lot of bird in a relatively small package that is much more manageable to look after.
 

Erestyl

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Do you know about "rainbow" budgies? Rainbow budgies can have really unique and beautiful coloring. They have big personalities in a small package. But, cockatiels are also very nice and typically mild tempered birds with pretty coloring.
This is true, I agree that there are some nicely colored budgies out there. But there's a few other things I'm a bit hesitant on with budgies. Cockatiels being "mild tempered," as you and others say, is nice but it's also one of the reasons I'm leaning more and more towards the conure... probably either a sun or a green-cheeked. Of course I'll have to meet and evaluate different types and individuals to make sure though.

How much time and energy did you invest in solving the issue of your cats spraying?
The issue with the cats was a bit complicated... we got them from a farm as kittens, where they had been trained to recognize paper products as litter. We had a heck of a time with ruined tax forms and other such things before we managed to really house train them (or so we thought). When my dad moved out and took the cats with him, we discovered that the cats had secretly been leaving puddles in all the hidden corners they could find, and we had just gotten used to it. After my dad moved in with his girlfriend and she brought her family and their pets, which included a cat and two dogs, the cats became very stressed and reverted to their earlier ways, as well as adding carpet to their list of things it was okay to go on. The male began spraying as well. Combined with neglected litterbox treatment (which was not my responsibility, because of another story), they were causing so much damage that they just had to go. We medicated them for a while but it scrambled their brains while they were on it and didn't actually help that much. We gave the female to a no-kill shelter and banished the male outdoors, for my brother's sake.

Long story short, the cats had to go because they were trained badly as kittens, and a diverse range of family troubles put a huge amount of stress on the animals and everyone involved. Since I'm an adult now (legally anyway :p) I'm confident that I'll be able to control the circumstances surrounding my life and my bird's to a far greater degree than I was with the cat.

A cockatiel is a 4 to 6 inch bird (excluding tail). A 10 to 12 inch bird (excluding tail) is a "big" parrot (Macaw, cockatoo, Amazon) which is way out of your league. I think a cockatiel is a great choice for you. A lot of bird in a relatively small package that is much more manageable to look after.
This is a good clarification. I meant 10-12 inches including the tail, which is how most of the sites I've been researching have listed. According to them, budgies are about 7", cockatiels are 12"-13", sun conures are 12"-14", white cockatoos are 18", and hyacinth macaws are 40". That's the sort of scale I was thinking on.

Thank you all for your thoughts!
 

BeeBop

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What are a few other things you looking for in a bird? Conures can be nippy especially during breeding season, so that's going to take extra effort. I'm assuming you don't want a bird that is mild tempered? Do you want an energetic bird, or a more docile bird? Do you want a bird that will be nice to you and other people? Do you want a bird that is needy?
 
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Erestyl

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What are you looking for in a bird? Conures can be nippy especially during breeding season, so that's going to take extra effort. I'm assuming you don't want a bird that is mild tempered? Do you want an energetic bird, or a more docile bird? Do you want a bird that will be nice to you and other people? Do you want a bird that is needy?
Honestly, I'm really not entirely certain what I want. Figured that maybe I'd just find a bird and click with it? I tend to be very needy and outgoing, and I get very lonely without my human friends sometimes, so I was thinking it might be nice to have a bird with a similar personality to keep me company at home. So far it seems that that really depends on the individual. I don't really mind nippy, as long as they're not making cuts that take days to heal, which I'm pretty sure they're usually not. This is a good question, thanks for bringing it up.

On a side note, what about Senegals and smaller Amazons like the Cuban? They seem to be around the same size. What are they like, in general? Might they be less troublesome than a conure? What other options are there?
 

Capt T.

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Research Bee Bee Parrots ( aka pocket parrot, yellow wing or canary wing parrot; family name is Brotogeris). Great first parrot, maybe the only one you will ever have. A small parrot with the attitude of a much bigger bird. Smart and inquisitive, speaks a bit, but learn whistles readily. Best of all BeeBee parrots love human company, in fact wild ones are noted for seeking out human company. My Max would curl up in the crook of my neck an go to sleep. He loved head scratchings, for hours! Since they are small parrots, the need for a huge cage is not as great. Read up them, they would be a good choice for you.
 
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BeeBop

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Amazons are much bigger birds than conures. And, I would think a bite from an Amazon would take days to heal. A Senegal is more around that size. I haven't had experience with those birds, but I believe Amazons can be very centered on one person (if your the chosen one) and aggressive towards others.
 
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