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Tell me about your Pionus

Nir

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I am looking to get a Pionus after a lot of research but I want to hear mostly from owners who have adult Pionus of how their temperament is and how they are overall. Do they like being petted/scratched? Are they independent? Do they get along with other birds / Humans or are they 1 person birds? Just explain as much as you can so I can learn more about them.

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finchly

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Mine is probably a terrible example. He was in a cage for 17 years then taken to a rescue. He picked me, and he doesn't like anyone else around me. He would live on my shoulder if I'd let him. He mostly wants to bite other people. He likes scritches on HIS terms. He does whatever the birds beside hiim are doing, but doesn't relate to them at all.
 

hrafn

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My pi is still very young, and is currently in the war-rampage of puberty, so she may not be the best example, lol. For the most part she is very independent, and she's only interested in interaction on her terms; if she wants scritches she's very insistent, but most of the time she prefers her own company and would rather play by herself. She's definitely a one-person bird, and she'll give a royal telling off to anyone but me who dares approach her. She shares a room with my macaw, and she performs flock activities (ex. eating, preening) with him from a distance, but otherwise she wants nothing to do with him and she gets jealous if I pay too much attention to him. Overall she's just very snarky and a bit of a drama queen, but I love her.

@Eloy @tka @Fuzzy @Dartman
 
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Nir

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Does anyone also have a Senegal? That's my bird and I wonder how similar/different they are generally. Thats the only bird i can kinda of compare any bird to.
 

CheckeredTail

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Mine is only about a year and a half old, a Maxi, she likes being independent a lot of the time but she always wants to be watching and close by. She only likes scratches on her head occasionally, and so far, we've managed to have her as a more socialized bird. We have friends over once a week and she will fly onto them and sometimes let them pet her. She clearly enjoys our company, both my wife and myself, but she tends to prefer me the most. She likes taking stuff apart, and is very curious. She loves chewing wood, unscrewing stuff and breaking things. She's pretty quiet and gentle. She might change as she grows older though.
 

tka

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Leia is just over three years so her hormones are still a bit all over the place.

She's independent but likes to be around me - at the moment she's dozing on a perch near me. If I get up and leave the room, she'll fly after me and land on my head or shoulder. She likes to be on my shoulder while I cook, wash up and so on, and is pretty good about staying there. She's curious about things and likes to investigate with her beak and tongue - she's just licked the outside of my water bottle :lol:

She tends not to want to go to other people if I'm around. She won't dive-bomb or bite them but she won't go to them. She'll sit on my shoulder and peer curiously at them like a shy toddler peeking round their parent's legs. However, another person can look after her and get her back in her cage at bedtime without major problems.

She LOVES headscratches but on her terms. She knows how to ask for them, and I know how to offer. She'll politely decline with a look and by leaning away from my hand. If she's in the mood for headscratches, she especially enjoys her earholes, eyelids, around her beak and even the side of her tongue being scratched and gently rubbed.

Her body language is really easy to read and we've worked hard on being able to understand each other. She's beaked me hard a couple of times but never drawn blood. She telegraphs when she's annoyed or upset really clearly.

She's kind of fussy about toys - she reliably likes crosscut pine, balsa, cardboard, cork and wooden coffee stirrers, and has mixed feelings about finger traps and birdie bagels. Sometimes she loves them, sometimes she ignores them.

Bad things? She's occasionally loud, she's taken a violent dislike to me being on the phone so can't be on me then because she's fluffed up and ANGRY, she over-preens/feather picks and is currently looking like a fluffy mess. Still my weirdo feathery best friend though :)
 

jh81

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Does anyone also have a Senegal? That's my bird and I wonder how similar/different they are generally. Thats the only bird i can kinda of compare any bird to.
I have two :) see my posts in “the good, the bad, the ugly” :)
 

MyPiOwnsUs

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All birds are unique, but I have a rescued White Capped Pi and I can say that she's very independent. She's also very hands-off, so she doesn't sit on us or like to be handled other than to be transported from known-place to known-place (such as sleep cage to big cage, or sleep cage to weigh scale to big cage, and sometimes to look out the window, but then she wants to go back to her big cage pretty quickly). She likes head scritches, but as another person said, on HER terms. We only have her, so I can't say how she would do with other birds (at boarding facilities, she ignores them), but we wouldn't be surprised if she got possessive, because she puffs up around people when I'm around (when I'm out of the room, she could care less about other people). If you can find a rescue in your area that has a Pi, or any bird, really, they would know more about the personality of the bird, since any baby bird's personality will be a crap shoot. I knew that our Pi was like this before we got her, but we were fine with that. She's perfect for us.

She's very food motivated so she has a decent level of training, which is great for a hands-off bird (I can tell her "inside" and she'll go into her cage on her own). She also communicates well when she wants to be left alone, which is great for not getting bit. Ours wants attention in the morning and the afternoon/evening, but during the day she's either napping, playing on her own, or simply staring out the window. She likes to be near us and with us, just not on us or touched excessively by us. She's much more into head scritches when she's molting, but that's for grooming pin feathers and general itchiness.

I've also had a Meyer's, which is another Poicephalus like the Senegal, and he was way more into being on me than my Pi. My Meyer's was also pretty independent, but he was also my little buddy and would ride me around the house while I did just about everything. My Pi would rather be near or in her cages, but have me where she can see me. Again, check with your local rescues to see if they might have a fit for you and your Senegal, even if it isn't a Pi. I've read stories about people who bought birds who ended up not getting along and it's kinda sad, because they live so long and are so hard to rehome if it doesn't work out. Good luck!

(oh, I'll also say that my White Capped is very pushy and demanding, which is supposedly common. We think she's awesome this way, and she has us wrapped around her little claws, but not everyone will feel the same.)
 
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Begone

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Pionus are sensitive, can be very difficult to handle when they are hormonal, and they can be very loud.
They will never be the cuddle bird that will be independent when you want that. Most of them hates other birds.
When I put together my girls they where trying to kill each other for the first months. I did solve that, but I can never trust them, because they still fight.
My girls don't accept other then me to handle them. So every wear I go, they must too.

A Poi is much easier to handle and I think they will fit you better.
 
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SwedeBird

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Hi everyone!

It´s been years since I commented on this site but since I seem to have a somewhat different experience of Pionus I thought I´d share my point of view :)
I have a 14 y/o maxi male, Linus, and he´s a real cuddle bug, as soon as I get home from work he wants to be with me and hardly leaves my shoulder or sits close to me on the couch while I´m watching TV.

He shares a room with 2 budgies and 3 tiels and the small ones are the kings of the castle:D During the night they have their own cages but when I leave for work I let them out and they spend the day together, there have never been any problems with them sharing the place.

He is also very social, when I have guests over he prefers to sit on their heads and my guest are also allowed to scritch him.

He almost never screams, happens maybe 3-4 times a year and is overall a very placid guy, a real coach potato who I love dearly:heart:

Guess I must be a real lucky Pi owner, huh? :dance4:
 

Begone

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Hi everyone!
Hi! I know you. :)
I have also said here that I have a friend in Sweden that has a Maxi with budgies because I think that is unique.
Linus is the best. ♥
If it wasn't for him I never had my Maxis.
 

SwedeBird

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Hi Anette!

I´m glad you got hooked on Pi´s after I told you about Linus all these years ago!

By the way, here are a couple of pics of my "babies"; Linus.jpg Nymferna.jpg Gänget.jpg
 

zoo mom

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I have a Senegal and a BH Pi. I also have a Hahns Macaw, 2 cockatiels, and a Rose breasted Cockatoo (aka Galah). My Pionus Andre is fairly even tempered. Even when hormonal he is not aggressive if you pay attention to his body language. If a Pi is strutting just back off. My birds talk back and forth and call each other's names. However I have to segregate time outs. Andre and Russell (RB2) do not like each other and beak sparring is a very real possibility. Andre and Guiseppe can be out together because Andre just prefers to hang out. And Guiseppe must be on me at all times.
 
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