easiest vs hardest bird?

[Mizzely]

My easiest, sweetest birds have been 10 years or older.

By contrast my babies were

Give me an old bird any day!

 

[Greylady1966]

All of mine are/were older rescue parrots. I couldn't handle a young one. Lol

 

[dandruff]

That's really not a good way to determine a parrots behavior, a rescued parrot behavior is gonna depend on how its previous owner treated him/her..

if i get it from a rescue or from someone rehoming the bird, i can ask about the temperament. if i buy from a pet store, i wont be able to know what the bird is like until i already got it.

 

[dandruff]

This question always comes around. And there´s just no answer to it.

If we could put birds ¨in a box¨ and say that X species behaves in Y way, then we could theoretically compile some sort of list. But even at that, we then have to take into consideration the human and how they fare. And I don´t mean experience, some birdy newbies do great, fantastic even with large macaws. Others have experience with pi´s or IRNs and then run into all sorts of problems while owning a lovebird.

It´s hard to rank species when each bird is so different, and our own skill and confidence is so different.

If all lovebirds were like my Sydney, I would recommend them to everyone. Such a perfect bird.... But I wonder... How would Sydney have been had he lived with someone else? Would he still be this perfect bird? Or would others not be able to train him right and rid the undesired behaviours (biting, mating etc).

If all lovebirds were like Aldora, I´d say there´s few people who would ¨enjoy¨ having them as companions. Not friendly, likes to do her own thing, very bitey, don´t mess with her. She´s a lot of hard work to live with, just cleaning her cage and sorting food is difficult. Oh, but she´s a sweetheart with my partner, like butter wouldn´t melt. She just isn´t that interested in being friendly with me, and I´m fine with that. But I know a lot of people looking for ¨pets¨ wouldn´t be happy with such relationship, or would treat her as less, which I would never do.

sorry for the confusion, i meant more of how you would rank your own bird species. i get that it's different for every bird, my two budgies are vastly different from each other.

 

[Mizzely]

If we're going by the birds I've personally had and who was easiest:

Easiest to hardest:

Jardine's
Green cheek
Hahns (she's only below the green cheek because she was a suuuper Velcro bird)
Quaker
Quaker

 

[flyzipper]

After all the valuable conceptual discussion from a tonne of experienced people, I'll circle back to your original ask with an attempt to offer a tangible set of species for further research...

I'm looking to adopt a new bird friend but I'm not sure which ones i should look into, and which ones i shouldn't even consider.

... and considering this...

the bird would be in my room with me

... and...

my two budgies

Those two factors help to steer you away from some species, and toward others.

Showing my thought process, so others can see what might need correction...

• I wouldn't consider any of the "dusty" species, because as @Mizzely stated earlier, it's not healthy for us in the long term to sleep with any parrot, and the dusty species only amplify that. So, eliminate any cockatoo, or African Grey, and even cockatiels.
• That would also steer me away from larger birds, and even medium birds unless you're really fastidious with keeping things clean and managing the risks associated with keeping birds in close proximity when they have vastly different sized beaks.
• Would only recommend some species that are Green Cheek Conure size, or less (and even then, I'm not comfortable recommending a GCC if you want something that will interact with your Budgies).

That leaves you to consider species such as Green Cheek Conures (66g), Love Birds (50g), Parrotlets (28g), Lineolated Parakeets (48g), or another Budgie (36g).

I have no experience with any of those except GCCs, so hopefully you can clarify if you expect a new bird to interact with your Budgies, and others with experience can weigh in on what might be suitable in that instance.

That said, you can always wait until your circumstances change (I didn't adopt a Military until I moved from a loft to a detached home).

Bird weights referenced from here.

 

[Sparkles99]

I'm shocked about your ranking of quakers, Mizzely.

There's a green quaker at a local pet store here. They don't sell pets, but someone gave him to the owner because she was facing eviction on account of him. He's been there at least 7 years, as long as we've known about the store.

He absolutely loves my twin & can tell us apart (better than your average human). He struts about his area, showing off, & having once seen her take her mask off outside the store window, then put it back on, he can also tell us apart with masks on now.

He seems so innocent. He never destroys merchandise, though he's quite close to the bird treats. And he's polite to everyone, but if he doesn't want to talk to you, he'll walk away. I get this a lot, once he's determined I'm not she.

 

[Mizzely]

I'm shocked about your ranking of quakers, Mizzely.

There's a green quaker at a local pet store here. They don't sell pets, but someone gave him to the owner because she was facing eviction on account of him. He's been there at least 7 years, as long as we've known about the store.

He absolutely loves my twin & can tell us apart (better than your average human). He struts about his area, showing off, & having once seen her take her mask off outside the store window, then put it back on, he can also tell us apart with masks on now.

He seems so innocent. He never destroys merchandise, though he's quite close to the bird treats. And he's polite to everyone, but if he doesn't want to talk to you, he'll walk away. I get this a lot, once he's determined I'm not she.

My experience with Quakers was that they are loud, stubborn, and hot headed After my quaker flew across the house and attacked me for touching a coffee mug, and having to crawl under a kitchen table to stop the attack, I might be biased.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Which only emphasizes, @Sparkles99, that every parrot is an individual. My male and female had personalities and were as different in every way as they possibly could be. Now my Kitty (also a GW) is totally different than either Hank or Jasper.

You really need to know the individual bird.

 

[kayosa]

Pigeons are the easiest. They’ve been domesticated longer then Cats have. Breed to be sturdy and low maintenance but also for brains they are charming and easy to keep. They even wear pants! Pigeon Pants are a diaper and harness combo made specifically for pet pigeons.

 

[Sparkles99]

I think you may have resolved the question - they can even live in dovecotes & come & go as they please.

 

[redindiaink]

I don't even know how to answer the original question because so much of my experience is tied into not just their temperament, but the knowledge I do or don't have to address ... whatever it might be. The easiest birds in my experience are the ones where there is little to no friction in the relationship. So, the ones that are easy to read, step up with ease, don't scream or bite, love everyone in the house, or at least aren't dive bombing your partner. If it was just Rosie (military macaw) and I she might be at the top of my list rather than near the bottom.

My easiest bird is an older yellow naped amazon rescue, but would I think he was easy if I had him since he was a chick?

Respectfully disagree.

I think there's an element of truth to a previous relationships having the potential to impact behaviour, how could they not? I have birds that were taught to step up and are syringe trained by someone else. But I think people make the mistake to assume all previous (adverse) experience will turn all birds into PTSD'd messes with behavioural problems. I think rescued/rehomed birds get burdened with baggage they often don't deserve.

 

[fluffypoptarts]

If all lovies were like your Sydney, I wouldn’t get the mental images of my own blood streaming and subconsciously hear the psycho shower scene music effects in my head when I look at them! I’d definitely give Lovebirds another go for a Sydney bird.

I have a couple of adorable little demon girls for you that fit that description…

 

[FiatLux]

I can see what you’re saying. Consider this though; does the lowly budgie not have the same needs of the Amazon?

In much smaller quantities, but hopefully you’re still preparing fresh foods and chop daily… same as for Amazonia.

Still providing engaging foraging opportunities and enrichment activities, as well as the correct amount and type of toys… same for Amazonia although smaller in size.

Still providing supervised outside cage time and socializing… etc. The list goes on and on.

Bird care is bird care. And even with hands off birds such as finches in an aviary type situation, care should be relatively the same. Time and money are the only variables for me- I spend less money on tiny bird toys and less time making up their food.

My hardest birds ever? (@Zara @Peachfaced don’t laugh!) LOVEBIRDS. I got a call from the sheriff’s office one day saying they had 3 “parakeets” that were abandoned as part of a forced eviction and that they were delivering them to me. What I got were 3 really dirty lovebirds that smelled like marijuana with whopping case of a hatred of people. These birds were ANGRY. At the same time, I had 6 large cockatoos with hormonal aggression issues and 3 macaws that were habitually abused, as well as 3 Amazons who turned over to the veterinarian to be euthanized because they attacked their owners living in my house…and all of those birds were sweet kittens compared to these Lovebirds. Those lovebirds were the most stubborn, opinionated, bite first ask questions later birds I have ever lived with! If one could ever feel bullied by a bird, surely I was a victim once or twice.

My easiest bird? A blue crowned conure who was treated magnificently by his owner. The owner was elderly and entrusted the bird (who was also elderly) to me in his will. Both the gentleman and his conure always had perfect manners. It was a pleasure knowing them both. But the blue crown conure got the exact same amount of care that each of those knife beak wielding lovebirds did.

Completely off topic, but I often read @Sparkles! posts and think: “She should be or perhaps is a writer.”