What type of parrot do you own?

Hi, I would love to hear all about what breed you own, what you like and don't like about them.
Maybe even who you would recommend the breed to and why

I don't yet own a parrot, but have been looking around for years for the right breed/breeder

Welcome to you! With 100 replies,you will get 100 different answers! You really need to hang with birds and let it develop from there. Same way with dating/courtship!
It is that strong of a relationship!

What FLBoy said!

CanineLizz said:

Hi, I would love to hear all about what breed you own, what you like and don't like about them.
Maybe even who you would recommend the breed to and why

I don't yet own a parrot, but have been looking around for years for the right breed/breeder

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First, welcome to the Parrot Forums! As part of the Parrot Forums are Species Specific Forums. With in each is contained Threads on a wide cross-section of Topics regarding that Species.

Selection of a Parrot is more involved that just gathering what Species of Parrot others own. There are major differences that have to be taking into account, the majority of which revolve around you, your family and home. How much room you have, what experience you have, and what total upfront costs your budget can handle. There is also the issue of how much time you have to commit to this Parrot, per day, per week, per month, per year, per decade, per six decades! The vast majority of Parrots can out live either a dog or cat, with many living near as long or longer than you! There is also the question as to whether a young Parrot or and older Parrot is better for you!

Welcome to the forums, thanks for joining! Because birds can have extremely long lifespans, we often view them as children who never grow up. Hence, the term FIDS - Feathered Kids! Many refer to them as companions, and view them as far more than owned possessions!

I have several species, including different types of cockatoos, an eclectus, an african grey, and a blue front amazon. Love them all, though each species has different personalities and qualities. The cockatoos are extremely friendly, love to be cuddled. Not so much with my african grey or amazon, but they are excellent talkers and can be very animated. My eclectus is somewhere in the middle.

I'd encourage you to read through the species sub-forums to learn more about each type. You can also Google a particular species and find a summary of characteristics.

I always go ahead and recommend cockatiels to people looking for their first bird because they have a tendency to be so sweet and have all the traits of some larger birds without the price tag or serious difficulties. I know they are not usually what people want, though, so I definitely agree with FLboy about needing to seek out what you are best with. I also love budgies--they were my first birds years ago--another great choice with less drama. Of larger birds I am a fan of too many to express, though I am currently biased toward my darling RB2! You have to find what you love, though, that's what's important for a parront looking for fids!

EEK!
Where were my manners?

Yes, welcome!

I have a Patagonian Conure... the largest of the conures at 18-20 inches and nine ounces.

I invite you to see him in action by viewing one of the links below. He is a creative mimic and a real character in general. Fully flighted, fearless, and a total terror. That's my bird!!

Welcome!

There are species characteristics, but individual birds can be anywhere. We had an amazon, and he fit the profile of communicative, active, self assured, intelligent, maybe a little stubborn. I think they tend to be more one-person birds, and it took a while for me to be accepted, but I could never pet him. Some well socialized amazons are good with everyone, and some can be evil ... not their fault, there's always a reason - but I've seen ones that just absolutely hated everyone but the main person and would attack at any chance. Now we have a rescue blue and gold macaw ... he seems to be more bonded to one person, but allows me to serve him and scritch him, and he's way more cuddly and laid back. Not as bitey thank goodness, that BEAK ...

If you are thinking of getting a bird some day, think about stuff like .... will you be home enough to give a grey the attention they require ... can you keep a macaw supplied with enough stuff to destroy ... do you want to fuss a lot with diet and hormones for an ekkie... and if you plan to also have a significant other or kids one day, will a strongly bonded aggressive bird become a problem...will you always have a space where a bird that yells - I mean a Moluccan Cockatoo is UNREAL ... won't get you kicked out?

So many stories I hear about people rehoming birds because their lives changed, not because the birds changed. It's impossible to know where life will take you, so make your best guess and think about what kind of birds could be happy with that.

Well said, Kentuckienne.

Of course, you can always be like me, and sacrifice your sanity, welfare and lifestyle to keep your bird no matter what.

I like how you said "about people rehoming birds because their lives changed, not because the birds changed".

Lots of great posts already. I'll just jump in to somewhat answer what you've asked for fun:

Shiko, the Indian Ringneck Parakeet
- Cuddly as could be and loves scritches, though only from your right hand!
- Can't stand it if you're mad at him and will immediately suck up to you
- So, so easy to train because of how smart he is
- A beautiful colour of blue
- His tail tickles my face when he turns around because it's so long
- The cutest little voice
- 100% a mommy's boy
- In the near 3 years I've had him, I've never once been bitten

Now, for the "bad"...

- Will destroy EVERYTHING. Any new material is a challenge and will be gleefully torn apart.
- Because he's attention orientated and so intelligent, he will SCREAM, SCREAM, SCREAM if he has not been stimulated enough for the day. This will happen even if he's been out all day with me. As soon as he feels he isn't busy enough, he lets you know and often right in your ear.
- The cost of providing him new toys to destroy or puzzles to figure out is very heavy on the wallet. It takes a lot of creative DIY sometimes, which I don't always have time for.
- Be prepared to be terrified when he moults, because it looks like he has PBFD and is losing all of his feathers in one spot at a horrifying pace! Definitely went to the emergency vet out of fear for this, just to walk out shaking my head for not knowing how strongly the species moults.

I would recommend and IRN to someone who likes fast-paced birds, enjoys lots of interaction with their birds, and who enjoys a challenge and has patience. Also to someone who isn't too concerned about a physical connection, as IRNs are known to be hand shy and to not necessarily enjoy cuddles.

Avery, the Green Cheeked Conure
- My cuddly little couch potato
- Very intelligent and fun to train
- Has beautiful little chirps and whistles and says 5 adorable words
- Loves to just stare deeply into your soul with her deep brown eyes, making you melt into a puddle
- Very light chewer and easy to entertain
- Loves people and being near them
- Quiet and calm

Her "bad" points...

- Prepare to bleed randomly at any given day because oh-dear-goodness-you-looked-at-me-wrong-way-now-here-have-a-bite-and-go-bleed-and-cry
- Because she's so loving, she's easily overly-bonded and will displacement bite me, so all shoulder privileges are a no-go
- Easily hormonally stimulated, making it hard to physically interact with her and cuddle her
- Because she's a coach potato, she's become pretty cage territorial and sometimes in a way cage-bound. She'll happily come out, but there's times I'll leave the cage door open for hours and she'll just sit in her cage because she's a little green potato. It doesn't seem like a bad thing, but it does bring up the issue of what she finds more stimulating - the outer environment or her cage.
- May possibly be a secret little maniac, as she whistles and chirps the happiest during movies where there's lots of gunfire and terrified screaming...

I would recommend a GCC to someone who enjoys smart parrots that thrive on attention and being cuddled. Not all enjoy it of course, but your average joe GCC loves being with you and around you. Green cheeks are also relatively quiet in the parrot world, making them lovely friends for those who have difficulty with loud screaming (but don't get me wrong - they CAN and WILL scream!).

I love hearing about your parrots.
they all sound like such joys! It makes me a little jealous to be honest q:

Also, I think there's some misunderstanding here, I'm not asking about your parrots so I can take what you say and go out to buy one myself, I'm simply curious and love to hear about others pets.

I've been looking around a lot and I've determined that I want a smart trainable bird, I don't really care if it speaks or not, but I want to teach tricks! I love to spend time with animals, and I work from home, so time wouldnt be a problem. I'm also ready for how destructive they can get.
I would love to be able to bring them with me when I go out for walks too. I practically live outside.
Although I wouldn't mind a smaller breed, I probably need a larger one because I have a dog with pretty high prey drive, anything smaller than a rabbit is fair game for her, although I haven't seen her react to a bird before, I wouldn't want to take any chances.

Any suggestions? (Note that I would never get an animal that I know nothing about. This is just for fun to see what breed people think would fit me)

None yet, I am still in the research stage but may have narrowed a few species down.

As far as suggestions would a conure or Quaker work? (unsure of your location.)

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Well as far as the dog thing goes, it really shouldnt matter how big or small the bird is because the two should never be left together. Even a large bird can easily be killed by a dog, as well as the fact that the saliva of mammals can be deadly to birds, even yours. Birds do not have the same anti bodies we have to fight gram negative bacteria and can easily get a serious infection if licked or touched by the paw of a dog, or if they eat of your mouth or ingest your saliva. Birds and dogs, cats, and any other prey animals should always be seperated. Some people allow supervised limited interaction but even that can be risky.
With that said, if you want a larger bird regardless, check out the different amazon and macaw species. Both species require LOTS of time, attention, patience, training, and devotion or otherwise could develop behavioral issues. Any bird can be harness trained and brought outside, you just need to buy a harness (aviator is a good one) and have them get used to it. Just do lots and lots of research before you decide, and google "the good, the bad, and the ugly about __insert species__ and you will see what people have to say, both good and bad. I have a sun conure and he is awesome. They can be super loud and kind of nippy but absolutely adore their human and can be trained easily.. any bird can really. Theyre beautiful and rather small, though not tiny. A rabbit may be larger though, depending on species ahah. Some can be cuddly, some not. You get in large what you put into them.

Thank you, I didn't know that dogs and birds don't go together.
would you say that it's okay as long as I don't let them interact with each other?
I don't want to take any risks.

The biggest reason I said that a bigger bird would be better is to not stress my dog out, but I see where your coming from

The horror stories are available to show that dogs/cats and birds do not mix. A moment's distraction on an owner's part and a predator can cause awful damage or death for a prey animal (parrot).

CanineLizz said:

Thank you, I didn't know that dogs and birds don't go together.
would you say that it's okay as long as I don't let them interact with each other?
I don't want to take any risks.

The biggest reason I said that a bigger bird would be better is to not stress my dog out, but I see where your coming from

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Its fine to have a dog, not saying you cant have both, they just shouldnt be allowed to interact much. Never ever unsupervised, and if supervised should be from a distance. My family has a dog and the most interaction I allow is to have Loco on my shoulder while say on the couch and the dog sitting next to me where they can see each other and be curious, but never really allowed to physically touch. While you are not home, they should be kept in seperate rooms. I dont cage Loco, so when I go to my familys place where there is a dog, I leave his cage in a bed room with the door closed so the dog cant get in. If you have a room you can make safe (search how to bird proof room) then they can be seperated safely and the bird doesnt have to be caged when you are gone. If you dont have a room where you can bird proof and plan on having him or her in the cage when gone, first make sure you get a very very spacious cage (the bigger the bird, the bigger the cage.. amazon and macaw cages are huge and expensive and need to be lathe enough for them to easily flap their wings and fly from perches. Second, still make sure the cage is out of reach of the dog. Even if the bird is in the cage and the dog cant get to him, the bird could take a chunk out of the dogs nose, and also, the bird has nowhere to run if the dog scares it and could panic and be terrorized if the dog gets wound up and the bird thinks it is being attacked.

I have a quaker, he's a wonderful sweet little guy that is attatched to the point of screeching (a little) whenever I leave the room and sometimes just when I stand up if he thinks I might go. He hasn't shown any signs of wanting to build yet but I give him plenty of things he could build with if he wanted. Drinking straws and paper mostly. He does like to chew the straws and shred the paper though. He's just 5-1/2 months old though so I'm not really expecting any adult behaviors for a while. He has started trying to talk though and can say "I'm a cutie" fairly well. He's definitely right when he says it! I'm still trying to catch him on video but he clams up when the camera comes out =p. He also likes to play peekaboo and sometimes, rarely will give a little squawk when I uncover him. One time he actually said eek-a-oo! Have to get that on video too eventually.. he doesn't mind being picked up in my hand like a ball, and he'll lay on his back in my palm but he's not super cuddly. He'll accept some head scritches on his terms, mostly at night when he's sleepy. He's smart and willful and will sometimes have a bit of a fit when I won't let him do what he wants. Amazingly, he will sometimes stop what he's doing when I tell him NO.

Before the quaker I had a cockatiel. Such a sweet little boy he was! He chose me at the bird shop when he was such a tiny thing. Barely had his first feathers and raced across his little his little box ahead of his siblings when I visited the store before he was weaned. On one of the last visits before he was ready to come home, he flew out of my hand to the other side of the room, and back to my hand. I decided at that moment that he needed to fly and told the people at the store not to clip him. He grew into such a sweet little bird, constantly flying onto my shoulder or head and calling for me if I was out of sight. He was a quick learner and picked up the tune "tequila" and was starting to get the Addams Family tune. Sadly, one day I wasn't as careful as I should have been and my little tiel got past me to go explore the big sky and I never saw him again =(

Both wonderful birds that I have been blessed to have!