why do you add to your flock?

Just wondering why when I'm at a bird store or even in forums you see so many birds with people. Yesterday for instance I met a couple with 7 different pet parrots. The were considering an 8th, a b&g macaw.

Why do people have many birds?
How do you properly spend time with them?
Or do people just hoard them in cages and not interact with them?

People love pets . I guess it's the way they love their owners and give them company . I have 2 budgies , in June I'm getting a sun conure . After that a gcc, a hahns macaw and a caiqe then a galah . Some horrible people though, only get parrots to show off.

all our birds get personal attention every single day, as far as how many, I like being abused daily

Because I am nutty as a fruitcake I started off with my canary for three years and then I decided I also wanted a small parrot and along came my Quaker. Then I fell in love with a picture of a parrot on Craigslist and along came my african red bellied. then back on craigslist a few months later and there was a picture of a yellow side green cheek. now I am done because each bird is in front of a glass sliding door panel that overlooks the back yard and I am out of panels . my flock is now complete

I have often wondered the same thing, since I barely have enough time for the one bird I have. I do have horses though, and Im working toward my PhD. As a full time student with a part time job I suspect I just have less time than a lot of other people. If I was home more I would have another bird. If they get along it wouldnt much more work aside from the cleaning. Mango completely trashes my entire house on a daily basis. I can barely keep up with him. I can understand how people collect them though, every time I see a bird I want to bring it home. I almost came home with a Pionus the other day. He had the most gorgeous violet colored head, and he looked right into my eyes at the pet store. Luckily common sense kicked in and I remembered how much work Mango can be. I was looking on kijiji and craigslist for a while, and then I realized its too much temptation. I stay away from those sites now! When life slows down for me and I have more time at home I would love to have a Macaw. It will be a lot of years though before Im ready for that. If another male red belly came along I know I wouldnt be able to refuse though. I am completely crazy about Mango.

Some people have lots of time. At the moment I only have one Macaw and 2 fish because that's all we have time for, but 1 year ago we had 2 parrots at once, 3 dogs, 3 reptiles, 7 ferrets, and a breeding pair of hamsters that all were given time and love. We took them camping, parks, beaches, parades, walks, etc (except our chameleon). We had tons of time and nothing but time, but now we have little due to the move and change of jobs.

I started off with one Green Cheek Conure and about 11 months later I got another one primary to provide company and preening assistance to Molly. I have been blessed that both Molly and Cody have bonded with me and they both spend the majority of the day with or near me. They play together and with me at the same time. I just purchased a new home and closing is in January. Once settled I intend to get another parrot. I have not settled on which type yet but have narrowed it down to 4 different breeds. I am single, retired military and disabled so I spend a lot of time at home and love the company and interaction. In fact today Molly said Peek-a-boo for the first time. Every time I cover up my face or Molly's I hear "peek-a-boo"! I love my babies!

MollyGreenCheeks said:

In fact today Molly said Peek-a-boo for the first time. Every time I cover up my face or Molly's I hear "peek-a-boo"! I love my babies!

Click to expand...

I would love to see a video of this!

I had parrots back in the early 90s. In 2000 my husband was laid off from his job of 20 yrs. He decided to drive an 18 wheeler over the road for the next 5 yrs, I rode with him. I found a great couple to take all my birds and all their cages & play perches.

I didn't get any more birds other than budgies after he quit driving until last yr. when hubby said we should get parrots again. Well, he should never have opened the door for me. I have always loved the macaw species & I went looking for a green wing. Didn't find one of those in my state at the time & then I saw pics of my Catalina boys & had to have them. Got the ekkie from the same breeder just because I'd had a male in the first group I owned. Was given the green cheek conjure & just added budgies til I had a nice colorful flock.

All of mine come out daily on play perches except the budgies. I have a walk in aviary for my macaws in my living room. In fact all my birds are in my living room & computer area which is one large L shaped room. So even when they are in their cages, they are still right there with us.

I am getting my green wing macaw next yr. purely out of greed for myself because I love their looks & I'm not getting any younger. I don't plan on any more after I get my GW, but time will tell. I would not take for my flock, they will stay til I am no more. I am in the process of making sure they have a place to go when I am not able to care for them any longer due to age or death.

None in my current flock were really planned... per say.

Casey was a gift to me as friends of the family knew I had birds, knew I loved birds, and she needed a home! Well, the friends of the family were friends with some cockatiel breeders, and she was being sold... so they bought her for me, although somehow, I think, I ended up paying for her.

The bourke parakeet came with a group of other keets from an elderly couple deciding travel across the country and couldn't find a bird sitter for them... so instead gave them up. They had belonged to one of my mothers coworkers parents. Out of the small group, she's the only one left.

Pistachio (and his family) was quite literally dropped off at my doorstep. I have actually known him for longer than I've had birds, as at the time, he had belonged to a neighborhood kid, and he and I were about the same age. As little boys grow up, they forget about their precious pets and discover girls and sports. He and his family were offered to me several times, but I figured I'd never see them because they were never brought over... so the day they were brought over, I had no advance warning they were arriving! I found homes for his two offspring, and sadly lost his mate earlier this year.

Tomi Girl was found by some "friends" and they decided to keep her... in a smoke filled home (practically everyone is a chain smoker and/or does drugs and drinks alcohol) over-run by sick cats. I did what I could for her, which wasn't much... that is, until they simply "forgot" to feed her (found this out later) and she was ~50% underweight. Took her home that night, which thankfully they said I could. I was going to take her even if they said no!

Faye was "payment" for watching over a house. I had previously gotten a male cockatiel from them after the female died... then received a screwed up young dog (I put all blame to this family! quite furious with them!) from them that later had to be put down. I hate that I wasn't able to do more for him... and then Faye's mate died (they blame mice... mice who would actively go inside the cage during the day! I blame them once again) and she was offered to me. They decided to keep her for a while longer, that is until they went out of town for a couple of weeks. I watched their house for them, then after a few weeks of them being back, and on December 25th, they decided to offer her as payment to me.


Charlie was offered to me because at the time I had owned a cherry headed conure. His foster parents wanted him to be in a safer home, his screaming was horrendous (imagine that! a house that included 2 macaws, 3 amazons, 3 green cheek conures and 2 rosellas... and he was the loudest!) and they offered him to me. I accepted, but as it turns out, he and Noel never really did get along.




All the cockatiels and bourke parakeet live together. However, only Casey and Charlie demand interaction. For the most part, the rest of the birds don't desire contact, and I'm not going to force them to interact with me if they are happy as is. If they want to interact with me, that's another thing - and I'd be more than happy to oblige them!

All I can say is "It just happens"... You see one, you fall in love, Obsess over it for a few days (talk your husband around) and hey presto you have a new addition.
I'm a writer so I work from home. So I'm not leaving all the time for hours etc.

Hey casey, their quality of life is not determined by the amount of time their human spends with them. If it was a single bird then yes human interaction is the only interaction they get. With a flock of other birds as "roomies" the individual birds will depend less on human interaction. Even my longtime pet like to get back on her perch (if she's on me) when the other birds have their vocal times during the day. She so loves to yell along with the rest of "her flock". With multiple birds you may find that you are not the most important thing in their life. Which is something you need to consider when adding other birds to your "flock", you could lose your pet to another bird. Especially if it's not well bonded to you.

I've often though the same thing, I feel that people with 10+ birds really need a lot of extra time(and money for the vet) but if they manage to pull that off they are often very happy and kind people. One day I would like to have another birdie, either a amazon, Congo African grey, or another cockatoo. But not for a long time XD

MeganMango said:

MollyGreenCheeks said:

In fact today Molly said Peek-a-boo for the first time. Every time I cover up my face or Molly's I hear "peek-a-boo"! I love my babies!

Click to expand...

I would love to see a video of this!

Click to expand...

I'd love to make a video but Molly is so very camera shy. Every time I get out the camera, video cam, or cell phone Molly just freezes up. maybe I'll get lucky one day.

I take in any and all animals that need help. I clean them up get them.vetted and fatten them up for their new homes. At one point i had macaws amazon cockatiels and parakerts. Everyone found a new home except the macaws and they stayed with me for a couple of years. When i was about to do some renovations i had to consider temporary foster or adoption as the dust and debris would have killed them. I found a woman who does rescue and lives for the animals was interested and they bonded to her. After not having any birds for couple of years i missed them. This time i wanted small parrots to make it easier to travel with to a cabin upstate ny. I was looking for a cage on Craigslist and i know shelter has cages sometimes that are donated to them to raise funds. This is how i got a cockatoo. I am not familiar with them and knowing their needs i am not sure if i am the right person for him. I took him anyway because he was in a shelter with lots of cats and the guy who runs the place asked me to take him. The shelter was relocating and not equipped to handle birds.

After couple of days i stopped at a sidewalk sale when i saw a big cage. It was filthy but strong. So for $20 i got a cage and an unwanted cag. She is chatty and extremely friendly but something is off. The vet said it can be neurological or lead poisoning. She sits looking up all the time
She is healthy and fully feathered otherwise.

I was in the process of adopting a male jardine that had been brought back to the shop he was purchased from. His owner was devastated to give him up because he preferred men now and she broke up with her bf. He is social confident and beautiful

If I were to start over with pets, my wife also agrees we would have had only parrots. Currently we have 2 dogs a cat and 4 parrots.

I have 5 dogs and 3 cats besides the parrots. My oldest dog is almost 15 followed by 2 12 year old pug and then a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old american bulldog mixes. All of them showed up and just stayed. The cats are the same - showed up/dumped at my doorstep.
It is a lot of animals and sometimes it is too much but the effort is worth it as I dont have any children and these guys are it.

I have a flock of 7 parrots and there is no plan to add any in the foreseable future as I do believe I've hit the maximum I can take care of properly at the moment.

My smaller guys (Lovebird, Senegal, Red-bellied parrots and Meyer's parrots) come out at the same time and generally can coexist reasonably well. Their out of cage time is always supervised though, as accidents can happen.

My bigger bird (the Cape) come out on her own as the size difference between her and the others is too large.

Having my partner participate actively in their care helps a lot, as he takes care of Léa in the morning while I'm with the Littles, then when we come home from work, I spend time with Léa while he's with the Littles and in the evening, after dinner, we both spend time with all birds (Littles first, Léa second), so that we try to get the birds out for at least 3 hours a day, more on week-ends.

Having one of the Littles injured over the summer and requiring his own time out of cage has reinforced my belief in no more birds for a while, should another addition not get along with any of the current flock members, adding more time slots of birdy time is not a viable long term plan for me at this time.

If we are home Mango my red belly wants to be with us. I think he would get very upset if we got another bird and he had to go in his cage while we played with it. He is never locked in his cage when we are home, if we got another bird they would have to get along. Since its possible for them to hate eachother, we just keep resisting the temptation. It is VERY tempting though.