Hello Sage, welcome!
I'm glad you're looking for a little bird. We need more "littles" on the forum!
Mites.... I would treat ANY bird, not just a finch, with SCATT or other ivermectin product (made for birds) when you first get the bird, according to the directions on the package. Then, since your bird or birds won't be exposed to others, you probably don't have to think about mites ever again. I brought in a caique 2 years ago, did not treat because I was
so sure the conscientious breeders would've done so, and I exposed my whole flock to mites -- and man she was covered with them! Not a healthy way for a bird to start out!
The exception to the mites thing is Gouldian finches and canaries, which are prone to "air sac mites," a different mite altogether. They are very hard to eradicate, so I treat all my birds with SCATT 4 times a year. It's not a big deal, you put a drop on their skin.
You *might* can find a breeder of the species you choose and convince them to let you hand-raise a bird, which would give you a good chance of it remaining tame. However, you have a 50-50 chance of losing a finch if you hand raise it. Not sure about canaries. I don't hand raise mine unless there's something wrong where the parents reject it, because I don't want to lose one. Mine know me though and some of them come to the cage front and do cute things; I have a finch that turns its head upside down when I talk to it, and a male that gets on the swing and sings his heart out to me. That's out of 12 birds though, so don't believe that they'll all do that. They won't.
I imagine that with good care and an excellent diet, a zebra finch would live a lot longer than 5 years! Especially if you got it from a reputable breeder. Some of my Gouldians are 8 years old...... canaries I don't have one over 5 but then I've only had canaries since 2015.
A budgie might be a good choice.... they talk sometimes, and they are friendly ...... take a look at
@Lady Jane 's English budgies. Also close to the same size but completely different temperament wise are parrotlets. I have 3. They are little snots when they choose to be. From there you go up in size.....
A bigger bird will require a bigger cage, (so more $$), more interaction, in a way is more hassle if you travel at all, and will make more noise. So you have to worry about family/neighbors etc. tolerating the noise.
ETA: Oh. I just read your requirement list again. There is no guarantee that a bird won't drop dead or become ill. They are tender creatures. Even if you forget to put their water bottle back one day (I've done this) a bird can die in less than 24 hours. Yes it is hard but part of loving is losing.
Sometimes when people come here with a list like yours I say "you need a stuffed bird" but I see someone beat me to it. Not being cruel, just reality. For example, all birds are messy but finches are messier than most! When big bird owners come to my house they always comment on h ow my littles toss seed everywhere. Every pet has its drawbacks. Maybe visit a rescue so you can see them in person -- find out how much noise, mess etc. you can take.
