Apartment Conure?

[trypcruz]

I'm new to birds, and I am very seriously thinking about a small conure for my first bird, but I have a couple of questions.

I'm very happy to be around a chatty bird, but I can't deal with high volumes for a few reasons. First, I'm sensitive to loud sounds. Second, I work from home pretty frequently and sometimes have to be on the phone with a client or management. Third, I live in an apartment. Is there a conure that fits into that? Based on what I've learned so far, a GCC or Blackcap would be the way to go. Are there other lower volume conures that would work in this situation? I don't know that this is a great idea, but there's a parrot store near me that has THE MOST ADORABLE Half Moon Conure baby. I held him and shocked the guy working there because I was the first person the Half Moon didn't immediately try to fly away from, and he just sat on my hand while I gave him scritches on the top of his head. How bad an idea would it be for me to take home this little half moon conure?

 

[derin]

I would say go for it. Conures in general are loud, but there is no such thing as a quiet parrot. I have female cockatiels and they are loud, and cockatiels are considered the quietest parrots. Every parrot is going to be loud and make loud noises.

 

[sunnysmom]

Can you find some youtube videos of conure chirping, etc. Everyone has different sound tolerance. So what might be loud and annoying to some, isn't to everyone. For instance, I fostered a canary-winged parakeet for awhile and thought his sounds were adorable. Someone else from the rescue said they would never foster a canary-winged again because he couldn't stand the pitch of his chirps.

 

[trypcruz]

Can you find some youtube videos of conure chirping, etc. Everyone has different sound tolerance. So what might be loud and annoying to some, isn't to everyone. For instance, I fostered a canary-winged parakeet for awhile and thought his sounds were adorable. Someone else from the rescue said they would never foster a canary-winged again because he couldn't stand the pitch of his chirps.

I've been watching TONS of you tube videos about conures and other small parrots. I don't mind the green cheeks at all. I've also been around them chattering in bird shops around me, and have heard a couple of flock calls. Also, just want to say, that's SUCH a good idea for new bird people.

 

[Zara]

but I can't deal with high volumes for a few reasons. First, I'm sensitive to loud sounds. Second, I work from home pretty frequently and sometimes have to be on the phone with a client or management.

My mum has flown over to visit me this past week so my birds haven´t seen me as much as they usually do. They´ve only had an hour out of the cage each day. Today I have sat down to work, and it is impossible to have any phonecalls. The birds are all flying about and calling top note. A complete headache. I think they´re happy to have me back here and have the day out of the cage, but it has meant I have had to push all of my phone stuff back to tomorrow. Not ideal. The noise is not an issue for me, I am used to it but on the other end of the phone the noise is awful and I can´t subject my clients or other contacts to it.
There have been days before where we have had to take the phonecalls outside to the street when the birds have been having a noisy day.
Definitely think about how you can manage work and birds in one home, ideally an office would be great so you can take your phonecalls into there. But if you share a living room, and work in there with the bird, then keep in mind, there could be days when your bird just wants to be noisy.

This is the biggest issue, not so much apartment living. As long as you have neighbours that won´t be knocking on your door complaining, there´s no issue. I gift wine, baked good, plants from clippings etc to my neighbours every so often for holidays, and cards at christmas. We get on quite well and they don´t seem to mind the noise. Friendly ¨hello¨s can really help you build a good relationship with neighbours. I also cover my birds at night, so they are always silent through the night until morning, allowing them and their young child to sleep undisturbed.

 

[Mark & Da Boyz]

I just moved from a Apt in Ohio to a Condo in Florida and Cheddar and BB can get somewhat loud at time, but not all day and night. It's not so much the volume but the pitch that get me at times, like an ice pick in the ear. Add to that I have no carpet in the place, makes it much easier to keep clean BUT echos and makes the noise seem even louder. I have curtains for their room that should help some, my sister ordered the wrong length rod by mistake, and hopefully I can get them up in a week or so.

Both of my Guys are Green Cheeks and are on the quieter side (still can get loud at time) but the big guy, Suns, Nandays, Cherry Heads can really get going. So yu might want to see if you can find a store and take a listen for yourself, after all you know what you think is too loud and what's OK.

 

[Wardy]

My pineapple conure is mainly quiet just like to chirup away but when she wants to make a noise she is pretty loud.

 

[flyzipper]

During hormonal periods, Marvin will scream out the window at the outdoor birds. There's no way I could take a phone call during those episodes.

The risk in apartments is overreacting when our birds are making noise. As a generalization, the more you're able to ignore unwanted sounds, the less they'll occur. Conversely, if you're constantly worried about the neighbours and rush over to shush a bird, that reinforces their desire to make noise (because they know it gets your attention).

I was on a conference call with a bunch of VPs at my old company and one of them asked aloud, "is that a parrot in somebody's house?", to which I proudly owned, "yes, a green-cheeked conure actually!". If it's random chirps, just own it and don't stress

 

[trypcruz]

During hormonal periods, Marvin will scream out the window at the outdoor birds. There's no way I could take a phone call during those episodes.

The risk in apartments is overreacting when our birds are making noise. As a generalization, the more you're able to ignore unwanted sounds, the less they'll occur. Conversely, if you're constantly worried about the neighbours and rush over to shush a bird, that reinforces their desire to make noise (because they know it gets your attention).

I was on a conference call with a bunch of VPs at my old company and one of them asked aloud, "is that a parrot in somebody's house?", to which I proudly owned, "yes, a green-cheeked conure actually!". If it's random chirps, just own it and don't stress

Definitely!! I'm 9 floors up, so there are very few birds. I also keep the blinds mostly closed so he wouldn't see many birds. But I 100% get the feedback loop of me trying to shush the bird, then the bird learning that I give them attention when they're noisy, so they're noisy more often. Thankfully, I have a very LONG apartment and my bird will mostly be at one end. My neighbor to that side is hard of hearing, so I should be fine outside of constant cockatoo level screams.

 

[trypcruz]

I just moved from a Apt in Ohio to a Condo in Florida and Cheddar and BB can get somewhat loud at time, but not all day and night. It's not so much the volume but the pitch that get me at times, like an ice pick in the ear. Add to that I have no carpet in the place, makes it much easier to keep clean BUT echos and makes the noise seem even louder. I have curtains for their room that should help some, my sister ordered the wrong length rod by mistake, and hopefully I can get them up in a week or so.

Both of my Guys are Green Cheeks and are on the quieter side (still can get loud at time) but the big guy, Suns, Nandays, Cherry Heads can really get going. So yu might want to see if you can find a store and take a listen for yourself, after all you know what you think is too loud and what's OK.

This is why despite me LOVING cockatiel antics, I don't think I can live with a cockatiel. 99% of the time, all of the ones I know are adorable little clowns that want to be around me. But when they scream in that shrill pitch, I want to feed them to another animal.

 

[trypcruz]

I just moved from a Apt in Ohio to a Condo in Florida and Cheddar and BB can get somewhat loud at time, but not all day and night. It's not so much the volume but the pitch that get me at times, like an ice pick in the ear. Add to that I have no carpet in the place, makes it much easier to keep clean BUT echos and makes the noise seem even louder. I have curtains for their room that should help some, my sister ordered the wrong length rod by mistake, and hopefully I can get them up in a week or so.

Both of my Guys are Green Cheeks and are on the quieter side (still can get loud at time) but the big guy, Suns, Nandays, Cherry Heads can really get going. So yu might want to see if you can find a store and take a listen for yourself, after all you know what you think is too loud and what's OK.

My apartment is pretty heavily carpeted, but adding curtains around the walls is a good idea...