• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Which bird should I get?

Sparkles!

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/9/20
Messages
1,890
Ever heard the saying “I hope one day my life is as awesome as I pretend it is on Facebook”?

The trouble with social media is that all too often, only things that will get “likes” or “thumbs up” ever get shown.
Nobody ever posts the whole story.

If all anyone ever sees on my channel are my parrots talking cute and being sweet loving little feathered babies, I’m going to have a very popular channel. We all love cute animal videos!! But what if I showed two hours nonstop...of me scrubbing poop? Cleaning up thrown food against my walls? Vacuuming chewed up toy splinters and seed hulls? Not so many likes going to be given there. And yet, that’s a good chunk of bird responsibilities.

It’s like the Christmas Card Photos we send every year! Everyone looks their best in nice outfits, makeup perfect and not a hair out of place! But what about the day before those pics were taken? 100% I was in yoga pants and my hair in a messy bun no makeup to be found.
And on any given day? I’m more likely to look like the yoga pants vs the Christmas dress.

The point is, what’s the most true about owning a small parrot isn’t found on Social Media. It’s found in the tried and true daily life of a bird. I encourage you to do what others have suggested and peruse this forum to get a better whole understanding of birds and their care.
Or, volunteer at the closest bird rescue to you! Go help an exhausted foster home clean cage pans, maybe meet and interact with some parrots! You’ll get a better view of real life birds than what you watch on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
 

Birdboo

Moving in
Joined
5/3/21
Messages
13
Have you considered budgies in your research. They are not that loud and are happy to sit with you. The only downside is that they are quite flighty and are not very nice to other birds if you want another in the long run. Good luck on choosing your baby!
 

Elizabethh

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/21
Messages
32
Hello everyone! So let me tell you guys what happened. So I was looking at bird breeders near me and I found a nice place. I was looking at their Facebook page and one of the posts caught my attention. It was a post of someone wanting to rehome their red-fronted conure! I fell in love with him when I saw him and messaged the people to know more info about him. Here is the description that they posted: "Hi Everyone! We're looking for a home for Calypso, he is a Roseifrons (or Rose-fronted or Red-crowned) conure who according to his current owner likes kids and is very vocal. He loves flying around the house but is also ok with being in his cage. He also likes dogs. If you're interested in providing a home for Calypso please send us a private message with a little info about yourself and contact information. We pass those messages along to the owner so it's a good idea to write it as a message conveying why you would be the best candidate since we do get a lot of replies for smaller bird rehomes. Thank you everyone for your help as always, and we do have green cheeks in the store and Indian Ringnecks coming in soon." She was still a little unsure if she wanted to rehome him but after some time she decided it was best for him. ( I forgot to mention by the way that he came with his cage and food and he is 1 1/2 years old. He also only has two toes on one of his feet and one of them is without a claw but it doesn't seem to affect him. We will also take his to get his nails and beak trimmed because his beak is overgrown on one side. We'll let him settle in a little first though.) We met up and I just brought him home yesterday. He sure is vocal! As a matter of fact, he is right behind me squawking right now. haha. Thank you all for your suggestions and help. I'll definitely be sending you pictures and updates about him and I'm sure I'll have some questions! Here is a photo of him. IMG_4490.jpg
 
Last edited:

Sparkles99

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/9/20
Messages
6,315
Location
Ontario, Canada
He's beautiful!
 

Pepebirdie

Walking the driveway
Joined
1/31/21
Messages
155
I know you said you didn't want budgies. Not sure why. I'm putting in a good word for them. If you've been influenced by YouTube or other social media, you should know that they are popular with good reason, & it's not always down to price. Everyone on social media always seems to be 'upgrading' to larger & larger birds.

A very popular, young YouTuber went from 2 budgies to 1 cockatiel to a GCC. So far, it's holding at that. Bet her parents put their foot down. This is sad behaviour. No one buys a chihuahua, then upgrades to a lab, then a few years later gets a mastiff.

There are many adults on this forum who choose to live with budgies, including me. While I wanted a quieter species as I live in an apartment, some of these adults live out in the boondocks & still choose budgies.

Budgies are loud. I'm not contradicting myself. All those people telling you about their 'quiet' budgies, cockatiels or GCCs, really are saying that because, compared to a cockatoo, they're quiet. That doesn't make them actually quiet, as measured in decibels. I was shocked at how loud my first two are & honestly felt a bit betrayed by AA. :roflmao:

We have a minor member right now whose conure (not GCC, but still) is causing his mother distress. My Pistachio & Marzipan came from a house where the mother was sick of the mess & noise. Their owner was in his early 20s; he still had to live at home; it's a tough economy. These people say they're quiet, because compared to their other birds, they are. But you can hear my budgies in the hallway.

I really think you should consider doves, as mentioned by several people, if you would consider non-parrots. They can be hands on. The first bird I ever touched was a dove. Beautiful, quiet (at least then) & as gentle as they come. :xflove:

If I were you, I'd examine my reasons for getting a bird, then my reasons for wanting a particular species or size. You don't have to tell us; this is for you. Be honest with yourself.

I also completely agree with tka. Who's going to take care of this bird when you're off at college? Many parents wouldn't mind a pair of budgies. They might balk at a hormonal conure.
I know what YouTuber you are talking about, and I do not think it is fair to judge her motives for getting different species of birds. Just because she has 2 budgies (she adopted a 3rd one btw) does not mean she can only have budgies for the rest of her life. There is nothing wrong about having birds of different sizes/species/colors etc. If you watch her videos, you would know that she loves all of her birds equally, treats them all the same, and they all get the same attention and wonderful care. She adopted her 3rd budgie after having her GCC.
 

SeñorBirb

Sprinting down the street
Joined
3/15/21
Messages
440
Real Name
Ella
The red on him is so pretty!
 

Sparkles!

Rollerblading along the road
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
12/9/20
Messages
1,890
He’s a cutie! Let us know if you’d like any perch recommendations or help with his cage. Sometimes if you can preserve and conserve strength and good ergonomic use in the affected foot missing digits at a young age you can help stave off painful conditions that commonly affect when they’re older.
What do your parents think of little Calypso?
 

Elizabethh

Meeting neighbors
Joined
4/28/21
Messages
32
He’s a cutie! Let us know if you’d like any perch recommendations or help with his cage. Sometimes if you can preserve and conserve strength and good ergonomic use in the affected foot missing digits at a young age you can help stave off painful conditions that commonly affect when they’re older.
What do your parents think of little Calypso?
Thank you! The whole family loves him! I thought they would kind of get annoyed of him squawking but they aren't. Which is good because he sure squawks a lot! :laughing2:
 

camelotshadow

Joyriding the Neighborhood
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Joined
11/9/11
Messages
21,494
Location
S California
Real Name
Christine
Beautiful! They are nice birds & not that common.
Congrats & Good luck. Make sure everyone knows bird safety in the house.
May you all have a long happy future.
A wood platform perch is a must. My guys love them & it helps rest the feet
 

Dona

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
3/13/18
Messages
3,625
Location
Maryland
:congratualtions:

Oh my, so so pretty with such an inquisitive face!
 

MR. Mango

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/4/20
Messages
1,774
He’s so gorgeous, glad to hear u adopted!! I can’t wait to see his setup!
 

Sparkles99

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/9/20
Messages
6,315
Location
Ontario, Canada
I know what YouTuber you are talking about, and I do not think it is fair to judge her motives for getting different species of birds. Just because she has 2 budgies (she adopted a 3rd one btw) does not mean she can only have budgies for the rest of her life. There is nothing wrong about having birds of different sizes/species/colors etc. If you watch her videos, you would know that she loves all of her birds equally, treats them all the same, and they all get the same attention and wonderful care. She adopted her 3rd budgie after having her GCC.
Actually, there is. She's a very dusty cockatiel with semi-dusty budgies & a dust sensitive GCC manifestly housed in the same room. So it is ignorance or putting her needs before the bird's, because it is one or the other in this case?

I don't want to derail this thread, but it smacks of 'upgrading' & I'm sticking to my opinion. Maybe she should've just gotten the GCC to begin with, if that's what she wanted.
 

Pepebirdie

Walking the driveway
Joined
1/31/21
Messages
155
Actually, there is. She's a very dusty cockatiel with semi-dusty budgies & a dust sensitive GCC manifestly housed in the same room. So it is ignorance or putting her needs before the bird's, because it is one or the other in this case?

I don't want to derail this thread, but it smacks of 'upgrading' & I'm sticking to my opinion. Maybe she should've just gotten the GCC to begin with, if that's what she wanted.
You have to realize that she got budgies when she was 6/7/8 yrs old. Maybe she just wanted a budgie when she was little because they were less intimidating and very cute. (beak size etc) She loves her budgies. Second of all, she has an air purifier/filter. Also, don't parrot rescues have their parrots within the same rooms? Different species in the same room? So is it wrong for rescues to have more than one species? I still see no harm at all of keeping different types of parrots.
 

Sparkles99

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/9/20
Messages
6,315
Location
Ontario, Canada
I'm not continuing this conversation beyond this post.

The science says not to mix non-dusty & dusty (especially 'tiels & 'toos), but people will believe what they want. I've done a lot of recent reading on this.

An air purifier is good, but it doesn't make it like you don't have dusty birds/ birds.

Parrot rescues are presumably rehoming regularly, so the set up is temporary & better than being homeless. It's not deliberate, unlike people's pet choices.

Sanctuaries, where the birds stay forever, house by species.
 

MR. Mango

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/4/20
Messages
1,774
@Hankmacaw knows a lot about the dust and what they can do to non dusty species
 

Hankmacaw

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avian Angel
Avenue Concierge
Joined
10/18/09
Messages
1,000,001
Location
Arizona
Real Name
Mary Lynn Skinner
@Sparkles99 You are right, we shouldn't derail this thread, but it seems that @Pepebirdie does not realize the deadly danger of keeping powder down birds with non-powder down birds. If he doesn't take the word of scientists and really good vets, we can do nothing except provide him with the information.


BTW several members of this forum have lost their birds (not all of them macaws) to this deadly disease. My GW girl has it from living with cockatoos for 20 years.
 
Top