The Good, The Bad and The Ugly about Senegals

[AlexGrayBird]

I have a female Senegal, JoJo, who is 2-years old. I have to agree with you .......JoJo is a very jealous bird, and Yes, she will go after and attempt to attack my dog. She has flown off her cage and landed on the back of my dog, she shows no fear and is very aggressive. I will be bringing into my home a baby Congo African Grey in a matter of weeks, who is a male. I will not allow JoJo out of her cage in the same room as the CAG. Ever. The only thing that has calmed JoJo down a bit is increasing her time out of the cage. Senegals are not the type of birds that enjoy playing with toys. All they want is to be with you and on you. So, I am going to have a real balancing act ahead of me between the CAG and JoJo.

 

[Mimi75]

From my point of view Mimi was very well rounded; A little bit of everything but not too much of anything. But others might have different tolerances and expectations.


The Good She loved to hang out and be involved in whatever I was doing but when I went to work she entertained herself and wasn’t distressed. I made up for her cage time by ensuring most of my at home time involved her.

She was very curious and confident.

Cuddles and scritches right before bed were daily requirements, I wouldn’t describe her as super needy but others might.

On one hand she was very opinionated and once she had something in her head it might be hard to redirect her but on the other hand she was pretty happy to go with the flow as long as she could be involved.

Also, she was a good traveler, she went on many road trips with me and a couple plane rides.

She had the occasional panic attack but other than that was not a screamer.

She never spoke English words but was a very effective communicator. We had many conversations (and some arguments) just with body language, tone of voice and context.

Also she was a good eater. She Tried everything and liked most of it.


Good or bad. She was a chewer, which is healthy so it made me happy. She liked her toys but I had to wait until she was asleep to read books. Now that she’s gone having a keyboard with all the keys feels extravagant. I put my earrings on and off in the car and eventually gave them up altogether.


The bad. She could be nippy. It got better with time but her biting was always a communication tool she would fall back on if you ignored her other attempts to communicate. When we first started dating, my husband knew that my bird and I were a package deal so he naively tried to make friends with her when I wasn’t looking;he walked over to her and stuck his finger in her face. She did the ‘bite & grind’ removing a chunk of skin the size of a dime.

She was also mostly a one person bird and ignored guests. She did eventually get along with my husband, hated my grandma and would fully attack her cat, we had to be hyper vigilant with the cat.


Ugly. I loved my girl and I would gush about her. People saw our relationship and thought, ‘wow I didn’t know birds were so cool, I should get one!’ I said ‘yeah they are super cool! Everyone should have one!’As a result 2 people I know got birds and subsequently rehomed them. I am more careful now.

 

[jh81]

OH MY! I have never added the good about my two little green pea’s Kaya and Jaco.

Kaya is my absolutely adorable sweet pea. She was born in June 2015 and i got her straight from the breeder. She is a lady with a character that rivals that of the Diva Miss Piggy Kaya soes as Kaya says. There is absolutely no point in trying to work when shes arround. Shes the embodiment of velcro and will not let other animals near me. She will gently nip even the dog to shoo her away. She once escaped her cage while outside and came flying straight for me, still i do not allow her outside much, because i simply would die if something happens to her. She is my absolute super duper sweet green pea and i couldnt find anything bad or ugly about her even if i thought all week about it.

Jaco is a male rehome that i got from a local pet store when i was looking for a companion for Kaya because i went fulltime working. Jaco is not really tame, every so often he will land on my head and just sit there, but mostly Jaco prefers to be on his own. He is a screamer for the fun of it, and can be heard across the street. He absolutely adores my mom, the only one who can actually touch him even though she is scared of anything larger then a fly.. go figure!

The bad, as people allready said, Sen’s can be agressive.
The ugly, i cant find any

 

[MadIe]

Just a little thing - Brown-heads and Senegals are not different sub-species, they are different species. Poicephalus is a genus composed of 9 species.
Sub-species in this case would, for example, refer to the 6 different types of Meyer's or 3 different types of Senegals.

Oh I see. So could I ask which one would you say is best family bird which could bond with several members ( of course we’ll put in the efforts). And after that which one ( of the best for family ) would be the best real talker ?

 

[expressmailtome]

Oh I see. So could I ask which one would you say is best family bird which could bond with several members ( of course we’ll put in the efforts). And after that which one ( of the best for family ) would be the best real talker ?

You will most likely not receive a reply as she has not posted in over a year.

 

[jh81]

I think the brown-heads are a bit calmer, but in general, all the Poi’s can be a hand full

if you want a familybird that bonds to more members at once, i am convinced a Senegal is not the right choice. You could be lucky however.. each bird has its own personality

If you want all members to bond with the bird, it takes work from everyone, regardless which bird species you choose but i would advise a cockatiel, or a Pionus. They are gentle birds that you have much more luck with. But thats just my 2 cents ;-)

as for talking, that depends on the bird. But i feel that should never be the goal, because even within the same species there are huge differences I could tell you to take an African Grey, they are amongst the best talkers

 

[iamwhoiam]

Oh I see. So could I ask which one would you say is best family bird which could bond with several members ( of course we’ll put in the efforts). And after that which one ( of the best for family ) would be the best real talker ?

Agree with @Lincee that all birds are individuals and even though we can make generalizations about species personalities there are always exceptions. My Senegal has always been friendly towards others although he has become a bit more grumpy in the last few years. He turned 34 this year. My red-bellies are much more temperamental but my females are generally friendlier and less likely to nip than the males I have. In fact one of my females, Sophie, is very outgoing and personable and is friendly towards all.
As for talking, not predictable whether or not a bird will talk but all of my Pois talk. My best talkers when it comes to my Pois are probably Sophie and her brother (from another clutch), Roswell.

 

[Mauraun]

We have a 30+ years old Sennie, Rikkie. We adopted him last May, so I feel I can add my two cents here now.

The Good (in random order):
-He is very friendly, whenever we have visitors, or go to visit, he often asks people to scritch him, he is usually calm and quiet.
-He is very affectionate (mostly towards me, though. My wife is able to scritch him most of the time, but when I'm around, he hardly has eyes for her).
-He seems to have a sense of humour; He has the ability to burst out laughing when we make a joke, or laugh ourselves. His timing is impeccable
-He is very forgiving. He is my first parrot and the mistakes I make do not seem to bother him for long. When he does bite (not that often), it is not too bad.
-He has had to learn to play by himself, but it goes to show that they are never too old to learn. He can now destroy his toys for hours on end.
-He really enjoys the attention he is given. If he wants more, he can make the cutest little noises and actually talks (Come, come here, come on then (in Dutch))

The Bad:
-He thrives on attention and company. He does not like being left alone when we leave the room., even for a minute. His screams are really loud an really get on your nerves. Some days are worse than others.
-He is jealous; When my he is with me, he can be unfriendly to my wife, although he rarely really bites her. This might also be due to the fact she is really good at reading him. He really dislikes our dog (a miniature poodle, although I do not think her size is a factor for Rikkie). When he gets the chance, he will walk to her bed and try to harass her. Of course, we do not let it get to that point.
-He can often get cranky around bed time. If he notices I'm preparing his cage for the night (cleaning it up, changing his water), he will often refuse to step up (although bribery with a treat is always an option; usually successful). When I drape the cloth around it, or remove his bowl of fruits and veggies) he can sometimes try to attack my hands through the bars).
-He needs to be in his cage when we eat, or he will climb up my legs to join in on the fun.

The ugly:
-Pooping everywhere, but this is of course not species specific. I can often feel him squeezing his feet just before, but I'm not always in time
-I know it's natural for parrots to choose one partner in a household and I am the lucky one. Although my wife and i know this, I sometimes feel bad for her, because he is not as close to her as he is to me.
-He needs attention. Of course he should get it and he deserves it, but some days are worse than others.

Again, most of these traits are common for all parrots, I know. My wife and I had talked for years about having a parrot, we took care of a couple for a few months, so we had a good idea of what it would be like. I would not miss him for the world now and I am forever grateful to my wife for finding him and taking me to go and have a look at him at the halfway home he was at...

 

[redindiaink]

We have a 10 (I'll have to double check) year old we assumed to be male. He's been in two homes that we know of before us ... so who knows how many times he's been passed around. In his last home he was fed whole almonds, peanuts in the shell and pistachios with Hagen Gourmet (seed mix). We were told they couldn't get him to eat a healthy diet. Within days of being here he was eating Zupreme and chop.

He has a phenomenal personality and lights up the room. He loves people and joining in on the conversation.
He sounds like a kazoo, likes to mimic some of the local song birds and has an evil super villain laugh. Picks up new words pretty quickly and has started mimicking some of the calls from the rest of the flock.
He's not a very fussy eater. He's adapted to his new diet very easily and quickly.
He's affectionate with my partner and I, but he has a slight preference for my partner.
We have other birds, but with the size disparity he's in another room.
He's very smart and has been learning new tricks incredible fast.

The bad: He plucks.

The ugly: Someone mentioned above how theirs attacked another bird and wouldn't let up? He's done that to my hand. My partner had to scrape him off because he was in what I can only describe as an uncontrollable frenzy. And last week when I tried to give him something he likes he went for my finger. There's something about his aggressiveness that is a lot like my military macaws in that he Just.Won't.Back.Down and stays reved/ramped up for quite awhile after. When we met him there were some heavy duty gloves under the cage and we chuckled about it on the way home. We're not laughing now.

 

[Bird_lover6]

I haven't been posting in years, but have been reading here lately, so I thought I'd give an update on Mango, my senegal. Mango is going to be 7 years old this spring, and I got her directly from a small hobby breeder in Texas.
Mango was the smallest of her clutch, and is still small for a Sennie. She's beautiful and very healthy. She made the move with our family to Tennessee four years ago with no problem.

The good - Still my heart bird, and so quiet that guests can come and go and not necessarily know that I have a parrot in the house! Sure, she has her moments, but she's never loud for long, and certainly never obnoxiously loud. She only says three things: hi, kiss, kiss, and step up, although she imitates a few sounds. She still communicates by whistling. (I always respond to her whistles by whistling back, and ignore any other noise.) Interestingly, Mango knows to say "hi" in context (when I enter the room she's in), and says "step up" in context, as well. She. does. not. bite. She's a bit of a picky eater, but still eats enough of a variety that I don't worry about it. She loves her Zupreem fruity pellets, which may not be the best choice but they are always available. She has no bad habits. She still spends a ridiculous amount of time hanging upside down from the top of her cage, which I still find amusing after all this time.

The bad - She's definitely a one person bird, but since she doesn't bite, this isn't a problem. Other people can care for her in my absence without fear of being bitten. She will step up for my daughter with no problem.

The ugy - Absolutely nothing. She's my dream bird.

***Putting this here even though it's not the right board. Our parrotlet, Skeeter, is still alive and doing well, and just moved out with my daughter who recently got married. He's definitely her heart bird. (She told her fiance that she and Skeeter were a package deal.) I'm quite sure that Skeeter has a big presence in their little studio apartment.

 

[Mauraun]

We have a 30+ years old Sennie, Rikkie. We adopted him last May, so I feel I can add my two cents here now.

The Good (in random order):
-He is very friendly, whenever we have visitors, or go to visit, he often asks people to scritch him, he is usually calm and quiet.
-He is very affectionate (mostly towards me, though. My wife is able to scritch him most of the time, but when I'm around, he hardly has eyes for her).
-He seems to have a sense of humour; He has the ability to burst out laughing when we make a joke, or laugh ourselves. His timing is impeccable
-He is very forgiving. He is my first parrot and the mistakes I make do not seem to bother him for long. When he does bite (not that often), it is not too bad.
-He has had to learn to play by himself, but it goes to show that they are never too old to learn. He can now destroy his toys for hours on end.
-He really enjoys the attention he is given. If he wants more, he can make the cutest little noises and actually talks (Come, come here, come on then (in Dutch))

The Bad:
-He thrives on attention and company. He does not like being left alone when we leave the room., even for a minute. His screams are really loud an really get on your nerves. Some days are worse than others.
-He is jealous; When my he is with me, he can be unfriendly to my wife, although he rarely really bites her. This might also be due to the fact she is really good at reading him. He really dislikes our dog (a miniature poodle, although I do not think her size is a factor for Rikkie). When he gets the chance, he will walk to her bed and try to harass her. Of course, we do not let it get to that point.
-He can often get cranky around bed time. If he notices I'm preparing his cage for the night (cleaning it up, changing his water), he will often refuse to step up (although bribery with a treat is always an option; usually successful). When I drape the cloth around it, or remove his bowl of fruits and veggies) he can sometimes try to attack my hands through the bars).
-He needs to be in his cage when we eat, or he will climb up my legs to join in on the fun.

The ugly:
-Pooping everywhere, but this is of course not species specific. I can often feel him squeezing his feet just before, but I'm not always in time
-I know it's natural for parrots to choose one partner in a household and I am the lucky one. Although my wife and i know this, I sometimes feel bad for her, because he is not as close to her as he is to me.
-He needs attention. Of course he should get it and he deserves it, but some days are worse than others.

Again, most of these traits are common for all parrots, I know. My wife and I had talked for years about having a parrot, we took care of a couple for a few months, so we had a good idea of what it would be like. I would not miss him for the world now and I am forever grateful to my wife for finding him and taking me to go and have a look at him at the halfway home he was at...

Update:
Rikkie is still going strong; Slightly fewer feathers at times, more during the summer time. He has perfected the ways to both get on our nerves and win our hearts; Our new dog gives him a wide berth whenever he gets close (Although he is around 28 kgs / 62 lbs). We take him along when we walk the dogs, wheather permitting, and whenever we stop to have a talk with passers-by, he works his charm with his cute little voice and noises. He must be around 35 years old now, but shows no signs of deteriorating health or slowing down in any way, so he still seems fine.