The Good, the Bad and the Ugly about Quaker Parrots

[Mizzely]

The attributes listed in this thread are the experiences of each individual and your experiences may differ with your individual bird.

The Good

Quakers have so much personality that it is easy to see why so many people love them. They can be comical, both in action and in words, and they almost seem to know it! Many become talented speakers, learning a vocabulary that they can use in context (though, with any species, know that talking is not a guarantee). They can be quiet cuddly with the right person, and Jingo at least, really seems to enjoy the company of people and other birds. They do love baths, and it seems that large, deeper bowls are preferred. Many like ropes or sticks to play with that encourage their natural nest building instincts, which will help keep them entertained.

The Bad

Quakers can become one person birds, choosing one in the household that is favored over all others. Sometimes, this does lead to aggression with other members of the family, but with work they can be friendly to others. They can become perch potatoes, and are prone to fatty liver disease, so an all seed diet is strongly discouraged for this species. They do best with a larger cage. This species is prone to plucking.

The Ugly

Quakers can become very cage aggressive. A cage with feeder doors is recommended to protect your fingers when changing out bowls! My experience is that anyone that is not the "chosen" human (ie, not my husband!) is not allowed to touch the bowls without getting a nasty bite, HOWEVER many Quakers can be cage aggressive to everyone, including all humans and other birds. This also can apply when it is time clean the cage if my Quaker is in the room. Please remember that you may some day need to hire a pet sitter or have someone else change food/water, so plan ahead for the worst case scenario.

They can be LOUD (for Jingo, it's mostly when he is bored). Out of my Hahns Macaw, Green Cheek Conure, and Quaker, my Quaker screams the most often, can scream at a pitch matching the Green Cheek, and is just slightly lower in volume than the Hahns. However, over all three birds, his voice carries more than the rest, and his screams can be heard 10-20 feet away from the house with all of the windows closed. Here are some sound clips:

 

[April]

Another fabulous post Shawna!

 

[Anne & Gang]

I truly enjoyed reading this Shawna and seeing those fabulous cuties.

 

[Peacelovepets]

In The Ugly, I would add: Though mine don't scream, around sunset everyday, Eilley and Isaac have a chirping fit. I will have to get a video of it because it makes it makes it really hard to hear anything else.

 

[wonderb]

I love quakers. They bond so fiercely and are such wonderful, comical companions. Owning my quaker really showed me how fabulous birds can be.

To Shawna's "Ugly" I would add:

Quakers can be cage aggressive even if you're the chosen one. My quaker had to be out of the cage if I was messing with things in there or else I was liable to get nipped.

Quakers can also be very loud even if they're not particularly bored. Around 5 pm everyday my quaker would raise a racket just for fun.

 

[Mizzely]

I love quakers. They bond so fiercely and are such wonderful, comical companions. Owning my quaker really showed me how fabulous birds can be.

To Shawna's "Ugly" I would add:

Quakers can be cage aggressive even if you're the chosen one. My quaker had to be out of the cage if I was messing with things in there or else I was liable to get nipped.

Quakers can also be very loud even if they're not particularly bored. Around 5 pm everyday my quaker would raise a racket just for fun.

I did amend my post a bit to include a bit of this

 

[Merlie]

Great info Shawna .. very well covered and thorough!!

 

[Jazzysmama]

To add a little more to the Ugly...I was just told by a 2nd Avian Vet that Blue Quakers are not a healthy bird and will be smaller due to messing with color mutations. This may not be the case for every blue quaker owner but it certainly has been for me. Breeze has chronic health problems and most likely always will. I've been advised by these 2 separate vets that if one wants a quaker, stick with the greens.

 

[Ribbit21]

Ditto to just about everything said. Little clowns with huge personalities.

Plus, Jasper has a scream that can be heard 3 houses down in the summer with the window open. He's also very mechanical and can unscrew nuts easily. All the nuts and bolts in his cage had to be redone with lock nuts.

 

[Kayaker]

I agree with everything and on the plus side they are very loyal birds, once they become your buddy they will defend you from everything else in the house. Mine have taken on much bigger birds if they thought I was getting hurt. Also they are great for help teach things, like step up. If I'm training a new bird they will keep telling them to do the whatever it is I'm trying to get them to do. I have even had a quaker bump another bird to make them step up. Get little inforcer!

 

[tozie12]

i have a quaker who doesnt particularly care for me. i think it goes back to the first time i met her. she was a rehome. her old owner brought her to me in her cage. but he needed that cage back immediately. so the first time i met her, i had to take her from her cage and put her in a totally unfamiliar cage with no time to get used to me or her new home. so if my Twiggy is any indication, they hold a grudge for a LONG time. she's been here for 3 1/2 years and still really doesnt care for me. she will occasionally give me some attention, but mostly is happiest if i just stay outta her space.

but she is a sweet bird, very smart.... too smart. she regularly unscrews the bolts in and on her cage! she is a master nest builder.

a word about noise.... persistent. she is in love with my son, who has grown up and moved out of the house. so when he comes to visit, she will contact call him if he gets out of her sight.... so if he leaves without telling her goodbye, she will contact call at him for the next two hours or more! every minute or two... a loud shriek.... over.... and over... and over.

 

[Renae]

We got Keiko as a re-home, and even though we have had our ups and downs with him, we don’t regret getting him one bit! They do have a huge personality, and Keiko enjoys nothing more than human companionship, he can always make us laugh, no matter what he does, he is outgoing and very sweet, he loves dancing, playing hide-and-seek, and singing his favorite song “Life is a highway”. We also have found right from the beginning Keiko has always been the best eater out of all the birds too, he is willing to try any new foods, and he never wastes any food either. They are a very intelligent bird, and Keiko has proven to us time and time again just how intelligent this species is! Luckily, Keiko never screams at all, he used to, but now all he does it talk, he is a real chatter box, once you start him, he doesn’t stop. He is such a blast, and so loving, and playful, I couldn’t imagine not having him now.

The only bad/ugly we have had is aggression… he went through cage aggression (only once thank goodness), as well as bonding to my mum (who is his favorite person) and, for some time, being aggressive towards me by flying at my face and biting/attacking me, but that was years ago, he has been fine since that, and I can give him scratches, cuddle with him, and we sing and dance together.

 

[fidsmom]

My 5 Quakers, can be quite loud at times. I don't find anything bad with them at all. They are loving, sweet & very loving to me. They all have their own personalities, funny habits, They are so much fun. They make me smile daily. At times, they will take "hissy fits" & boy do they ever have good lungs, lol. They sometimes, will scream/hissy fits, if I am late, taking them out, for playtimes. They sure let me know, lol. None of mine, are cage agressive, they all visit each others cages, and play with others toys. I guess my 5 are "little angels" lol.

 

[Skyler]

In all fairness, my quaker CC/Cheeky Cricket did have a rather rocky start in life. The aviary I acquired him through was not as reputable as I had believed , they kept him well beyond when he should have been with me, THEY MAILED HIM, the US Postal Service lost him for over a day, and at his first vet visit had shown extensive stress bars(a sign that he had been dangerously ill).

THE BAD. CC is still quite bitey. He over preens, and generally bites mildly if bored, tired, or done with what' he's doing. The techniques that worked with my sun and tiels has not affected CC. In fact after a moderate bite he will say" No bites" . If he has been given a "time out" and placed back in his cage he will stomp all up and down the lower perch yelling a litany of warnings---"No Bites, Behave, Be careful, Be gentle , Be quiet (that's to Rika). I try not to laugh, he really is the little rebel. I so wish that as a baby he hadn't been allowed on shoulders as two or three times he was very mad at me and ran up to bite my face. Thank goodness it's rare and each time I realize what provoked that anger(the one time I was tired of waiting till he was ready to step up and left the room with him outside the cage)

The next bad is the cage aggression. Dad super mists him in the morning just to slow CC down---- Yes, his cage has the outside access doors but CC will ran over and yank the bowls very hard. CC even resents being covered at night --- He will say "Nite nite" while engaging in a tug of war with the cover.

Yes CC will fight to control his world.

THE GOOD . At heart for all his biting CC is really sweet. He like my sun is a wonderful eater and bather. And CC is the ultimate peekaboo player. The joy he has running underneath his papers laughing , yelling and talking is infectious. In the early morning I enter the front room--our bird room and as my sun screams , CC greets me with about 6 or 7 "Good Mornings" and Hi Baby. I sit with Rika on my shoulder and CC watches patiently for at least an hour or two, with just occasionally asking "What's you doing?" Eventually it's Cricket's turn, Some days he'll ask for "Apple" and if I don't have one then he'll say "Apple Tomorrow?" I offer him some treat and get "Yummy---- Is that Good?"----- and for those that insist they don't speak in context--- I usually don't eat in the front room but last week I sat on the sofa with a bowl of cereal . Immediately, CC says" Yummy, yummy Is that good?"

And yes that stacoto yek of the quaker is loud but for the most part even with Dusty the tiel whiny and Rika screeching , CC is fairly quiet and prefers to talk. We both say" Who's making all that noise?"

But the very best quality that CC has is the ability to make those around him laugh.

 

[Irishj9]

Our Quaker. Noodles is a blast, he has a strong personality which has its good and bad sides. I would say he is a much easier bird to manage than any of the caiques.

The good:
He is super friendly and a cuddlebug. He doesnt get upset if he spends long periods alone or with the flock of caiques ( who accept him completely). He imitates caique and lovebird sounds perfectly. He also says Boooooooooooy! and whatchadoin, and tickle tickle!. He likes to come in from the aviary and have cereal with the SO, then go back to play, no complaints. He will allow himself to be handled any which way and VERY RARELY bites ( see below).
I let him out in the morning, he flies to me and takes apiece of food, then he is off to eat it and all is well in his little world.

The bad:
He wakes up first in the morning, and starts his 'OW'... 'OW', repetition until he is let out of his sleeping cage. If nobody moves QUICK, he will wake up the caiques ( Please NOOOOOOOOOOO!).

He is kept in the sleeping cage overnight because he has decided that one of the little lovebirds is 'his' friend/possible mate and screams at any other lovebird who approaches her. When there is a raucous din in the aviary, its usually him defending his 'mate'. We are afraid to get him a real mate, the NOISE of a pair of quakers!. OMG!

He IS cage territorial, which we tried to discourage by switching him between cages often when he was young, but he has still settled on his preference and will defend it. When he is excited, in this state, he will attempt to bite, but has never really attacked.

See there is no real 'bad'

 

[Kolkri]

I have two. And may add a third....
They only become one person birds if you let them. It can easily be prevented. Topaz has become aggressive in her cage but only cause she is laying eggs. I never put my hand in a quaker cage when they are in the cage. They come to the door and I offer a finger.
Teddy Bear has always been in love with his cage. So even when he comes out I have to offer him a perch and then move him away. But all of this is easy to deal with.
They are fun birds and Topaz is a good talker. Teddy was said to talk but has not for me yet.
They are worth what little baggage they bring with them.
Blue use to be not as healthy but now that they have been around a while this is no longer true. Now it is like any other bird. Bad breeders still have unhealthy birds.

 

[doreenrihn]

Hi there! I am usually on some of the other forums, having had an african grey for most of my bird owning life, however, today I adopted a little Quaker, he or she ( not sexed) is named Romeo, and right now my grey shows no interest. Wondered if any other Quaker owners also had other larger birds, and if so, if they got along ok? Thanks,

 

[Glowbird]

My quaker Frost is sweet, funny, and enormously stubborn. She loves all humans, including guests. When we first got her ('08) we made everyone who came to the house handle her, so extra effort at socialization pays off. We used to have terrible problems getting her to go into her cage, so we solved that by giving the cage away (Frost always wins in the end). She's flighted and has access to a screened porch as well as the bird room. I don't see any tendency towards being a perch potato. The only time we have any problem with her is egg laying season, and then watch out.

 

[allen]

thankyou so much this is going to help with my fist pair i have been told that the maly has been plucked a bit but the new pin feathers are comming in

 

[zuzanqa]

I'm so excited to post here

The Good. Everything. Penguin is smart, loving, affectionate, he learns very very fast. He is a clown, he loves to be with me and on me. He loves to play. He's pretty good at entertaining himslf while Im at work. He likes people and is a great eater.

The Bad. He is still bitey but we're working on it. He can be loud, and he calls for me non stop if I leave the room to shower or make food. He's an Energizer Parrot so if I am having a low energy day, it can be exhausting. He demands my full attention!

The Ugly. Nothing yet