I think volunteering is a great idea and a good way to meet some birds. Also, sometimes the bird you think you want ends up not being the right bird. I always said I would never have a cockatoo.... and I have one. LOL.
Cranky nippy scarlet but green!
Tell us how you really feel! 
In general... I would say the blue and golds, green wings arent as grumpy as a scarlet. But every bird is different. That being said, the last two baby scarlets that were in the store I volunteer at have been very very sweet so again, depends on the bird.
I second this that Mary said. Having had a military myself as a first parrot was an eye opener. Had hawks prior to going into parroting, so I was a little prepared.
I think what @Hankmacaw said was not to get a "starter" bird but rather to go with the bird you truly want.
When Buzzard's owner contacted us, I deleted the email! Heck no I didn't want a beak that big. But then I undeleted it, showed it to hubby and we ended up bringing Buzz home. We had zero big bird experience, but like Mary Lynn said, there is so much info and support here that we were able to make it work.
I think what @Hankmacaw said was not to get a "starter" bird but rather to go with the bird you truly want.
I can see both sides of this. While we did start with smaller birds, it wasn't because we were working our way up to bigger birds. We had green cheeks & that was plenty for us.
I don't think the hands-on experience we had with the littles actually translated very well to the big guy. In fact, my first macaw bite was because I tried to handle him like I was used to with the conures.
It was mostly the knowledge we'd gained through constantly having to look things up about diet and care for them that helped us have a better start with Buzz. But honestly, we could have learned most of those things if we'd just done a little research before bringing any birds home instead of buying one on impulse. We didn't know how much we didn't know.
@Leslie Cole It may even be that your quest for a military is what leads you to your heart bird (military or not).
I think what @Hankmacaw said was not to get a "starter" bird but rather to go with the bird you truly want.
I can see both sides of this. While we did start with smaller birds, it wasn't because we were working our way up to bigger birds. We had green cheeks & that was plenty for us.
I don't think the hands-on experience we had with the littles actually translated very well to the big guy. In fact, my first macaw bite was because I tried to handle him like I was used to with the conures.
It was mostly the knowledge we'd gained through constantly having to look things up about diet and care for them that helped us have a better start with Buzz. But honestly, we could have learned most of those things if we'd just done a little research before bringing any birds home instead of buying one on impulse. We didn't know how much we didn't know.
@Leslie Cole It may even be that your quest for a military is what leads you to your heart bird (military or not).
