Hi! I'm new, so if this isn't in the right place, feel free to delete it or something.. I just wasn't sure which category this even belonged in, so I tried to play it safe by putting it in this more general area.
Anyway, now to get into the nitty gritty of things: I want to get some sort of parrot, but I don't know which species I want, or where I should be looking for information about said species. I'm not new to birds (or animals in general) and I understand the kind of commitment that parrots require - in fact, that's actually a big part of why I'm interested in getting one.
See, without getting too personal here, I am a hermit in the truest sense of the word. I don't have family, I don't have many friends, and I have no interest in pursuing romance and I don't plan on ever having any children. I like to be alone, but not completely isolated and I prefer the company of animals to people. In a few years, I'll be living (more or less) in the middle of nowhere and I've always been fascinated by parrots (especially african greys and amazons), so I figure... why not?
I won't have any neighbors around to take issue with the noise and even if I don't stay in such a rural area for my entire life, I don't see things ever changing much. I'm in a good financial situation and I've always been happily "antisocial", so the prospect of sharing my home with a very long lived companion appeals to me quite a lot and I'm not at all worried about having to potentially rehome due to changing circumstances.
But even though I'm pretty well off, I'm not experienced with larger birds and I don't know if //any// of them are a good choice - budgies, lovebirds, cockatiels and poultry are obviously not on the same level as an african grey or something, lol. I don't like the idea of "starter birds", though, so I don't want to be getting something I have absolutely no interest in with the hope of eventually getting something else entirely because 1) that's disrespectful to the "starter bird", they still need a lot of attention and upkeep and they deserve to be owned by someone that actually wants them, and 2) I don't think that's how that even works.
So I've compiled a list of sorts, of what I think I want in a bird and what I'm ok with. I'm obviously going to do a lot more research before I even think of buying/adopting any bird, but I'm going to use the answers I get here as a starting point.
- Long lived. 20-30 years minimum.
- Sociable (toward me, they don't need to like randos), outgoing, intelligent. I'd like a bird that's clever enough to easily grasp clicker training, and not so skittish/flock oriented as to be easily distracted the way budgies .etc. usually are. You know how with some of the smaller parrots they always seem to have this sense of "I am a lovebird" (or whatever) regardless of whether or not they have other birds to be with and no matter how much time one spends with them? That's what I mean by flock oriented. I've taught tricks to several of my little birds in the past and they do well, but they all found other birds (even random ones outside, lol!) more interesting than they found me.
- I don't care about talking ability or lack thereof.
- I like bigger, flashier birds, but I don't actually care about the size of the bird so long as they live for a decently long time and they usually like people (aka me, i am the people).
- I am fine with copious amounts of noise. They can scream all they like.
- I am mostly ok with, and actually kind of like the idea of, a bird that's moody/unpredictable. Now what I mean by this is that even though I've said I want the bird to be "sociable" and to "like people", among other things, that doesn't mean they have to be a sweet cuddly lovebug 24/7. Obviously I don't want a bird that's determined to maul me or something terrible like that, but mischievousness is fine and I'd actually prefer it if they had a mind of their own, even if that means my lovely pet might end up shrieking when I leave the room or nipping me because I didn't let them do something. So basically: outgoing, loud, feathered toddlers are great! But maybe they should be less intense of a feathered toddler than the sort of birds I'm interested in?
- Destructiveness is fine, but I'd like to build whichever bird I ultimately get an outdoor aviary to fly in when the weather is nice/warm, and it would be great if I didn't have to spend a fortune on the most durable materials known to man, lol. Not a deal breaker at all if I do have to, though.
- I work from home and have no social life, so I can spend the whole day with the bird. So they can be very needy.
Help me, people.
Anyway, now to get into the nitty gritty of things: I want to get some sort of parrot, but I don't know which species I want, or where I should be looking for information about said species. I'm not new to birds (or animals in general) and I understand the kind of commitment that parrots require - in fact, that's actually a big part of why I'm interested in getting one.
See, without getting too personal here, I am a hermit in the truest sense of the word. I don't have family, I don't have many friends, and I have no interest in pursuing romance and I don't plan on ever having any children. I like to be alone, but not completely isolated and I prefer the company of animals to people. In a few years, I'll be living (more or less) in the middle of nowhere and I've always been fascinated by parrots (especially african greys and amazons), so I figure... why not?
I won't have any neighbors around to take issue with the noise and even if I don't stay in such a rural area for my entire life, I don't see things ever changing much. I'm in a good financial situation and I've always been happily "antisocial", so the prospect of sharing my home with a very long lived companion appeals to me quite a lot and I'm not at all worried about having to potentially rehome due to changing circumstances.
But even though I'm pretty well off, I'm not experienced with larger birds and I don't know if //any// of them are a good choice - budgies, lovebirds, cockatiels and poultry are obviously not on the same level as an african grey or something, lol. I don't like the idea of "starter birds", though, so I don't want to be getting something I have absolutely no interest in with the hope of eventually getting something else entirely because 1) that's disrespectful to the "starter bird", they still need a lot of attention and upkeep and they deserve to be owned by someone that actually wants them, and 2) I don't think that's how that even works.
So I've compiled a list of sorts, of what I think I want in a bird and what I'm ok with. I'm obviously going to do a lot more research before I even think of buying/adopting any bird, but I'm going to use the answers I get here as a starting point.
- Long lived. 20-30 years minimum.
- Sociable (toward me, they don't need to like randos), outgoing, intelligent. I'd like a bird that's clever enough to easily grasp clicker training, and not so skittish/flock oriented as to be easily distracted the way budgies .etc. usually are. You know how with some of the smaller parrots they always seem to have this sense of "I am a lovebird" (or whatever) regardless of whether or not they have other birds to be with and no matter how much time one spends with them? That's what I mean by flock oriented. I've taught tricks to several of my little birds in the past and they do well, but they all found other birds (even random ones outside, lol!) more interesting than they found me.
- I don't care about talking ability or lack thereof.
- I like bigger, flashier birds, but I don't actually care about the size of the bird so long as they live for a decently long time and they usually like people (aka me, i am the people).
- I am fine with copious amounts of noise. They can scream all they like.
- I am mostly ok with, and actually kind of like the idea of, a bird that's moody/unpredictable. Now what I mean by this is that even though I've said I want the bird to be "sociable" and to "like people", among other things, that doesn't mean they have to be a sweet cuddly lovebug 24/7. Obviously I don't want a bird that's determined to maul me or something terrible like that, but mischievousness is fine and I'd actually prefer it if they had a mind of their own, even if that means my lovely pet might end up shrieking when I leave the room or nipping me because I didn't let them do something. So basically: outgoing, loud, feathered toddlers are great! But maybe they should be less intense of a feathered toddler than the sort of birds I'm interested in?
- Destructiveness is fine, but I'd like to build whichever bird I ultimately get an outdoor aviary to fly in when the weather is nice/warm, and it would be great if I didn't have to spend a fortune on the most durable materials known to man, lol. Not a deal breaker at all if I do have to, though.
- I work from home and have no social life, so I can spend the whole day with the bird. So they can be very needy.
Help me, people.