New in VA

Hello, my name is Drew and I am currently looking for a parrot that would be good for me. Never had a bird before. I understand they are alot of work and I'm here to do my research to see which would be right for me. Wish me luck and hope to learn about these amazing creatures from all of you.

Welcome,

I'm sure each of us could offer some guidance; with any luck we won't all guide in different directions

I tend to ask two questions of someone interested in making a parrot part of their life: what do you want out of the relationship; and what can you or can you not put into it?

Hey there Drew,

Welcome to Parrot Forums. We can help you out in finding the right parrot for you. Yes they can be a lot of work, but it pays off. A healthy parrot is a happy parrot.

Have you researched any of the species at all, or have any in mind? Is there a preference in size or what kind or species group you'd like?

If you tell us a bit about your self and your living arrangements then we may be able to suggest a parrot for you.

Conures are great birds, i'm sure Texdot33(Jason) can fill you in on those if you are interested. However most of them are can get quite loud. So if you live in any kind of housing where you are sharing a wall with someone else(ex. apartment, condo town house etc) you may want to choose something known to be a little quieter. If you have kids or have a lot of people coming and going, or want the bird to be a family bird, then i would say no to the poicephelous(sp?) family, which include, senegals, meyers, jardines etc.

I would look into the pionus family of birds. Many beautiful species, the blue headed pionus, or maxi pionus being some of them. Overrall i would say they fit with alot of people, being that they're fairly quiet, not always the most outgoing, but still tolerates 'strangers'or people that aren't you basically being around.


Meghan

A little about myself. I am getting married next month and we are buying a house with-in the next few months. I've been actively researching Yellow Naped Amazons as well as Double Yellow Headed. I've been reading on CAG's TAG's and have been spending a lot of time with both Amazons and Grey's as well as visiting peoples homew who own them. I recently have found interest in white bellied caiques and am actually starting to lean that direction.I don't mind moderate vocalization, but do not want a screamer. Since we are buying a house its not that big of a deal dealing with nieghbors and stuff. Messyness isn't a big deal as I have had sugar gliders in the past and they are extremely messy. They both lived 10yrs and where my best buds. I work days and time given and spent to which ever bird I choose will be no problem. I will have to look into conures but the vocals may be a prob. Thanks for the replies.

Hey Drew, welcome to the site. Glad you could join us as a potential parrot owner!

Generally Amazons are not the best choice for a first time parrot owner, and Greys can be challenging as well.

In contrast I think caiques are seen as a great bird for someone new to parrots and they are generally good with families - which should not be overlooked as some parrots would stay with you longer in your home than the kids you may not yet even be thinking about having.

If I were looking to get another bird a caique would definitely be on my short list.

Auggie, I am actually leaning towards the caique. I actually am looking at Sun Conures as well. The Mrs. wants an Eclectus which I'm not arguing about. She also likes the Rose Breasted or Umbrella Cockatoo. So, who knows. I'm still liking the White-bellied caique.

drewbird said:

Auggie, I am actually leaning towards the caique. I actually am looking at Sun Conures as well. The Mrs. wants an Eclectus which I'm not arguing about. She also likes the Rose Breasted or Umbrella Cockatoo. So, who knows. I'm still liking the White-bellied caique.

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Caiques, i have heard are GREAT birds. They can be VERY playful, i think they are pretty similar in personality with the conure, only quieter. There are two species of the Caique. The Black Headed/Capped Caique, or the White bellied caique. Both i think about the same in personality, i think its just the visual colour that's different.

Captivating Clowns

Sun conures are great too, however they are LOUD. lol Another that is VERY loud are any of the cockatoos. So if you dont want a screamer i would cross those off your list.
If you liked the sun conures personality but wanted something not quite as loud, perhaps try looking into the green cheek conure. Again they have some really pretty mutations.
Eclectus's are definitatly one of the birds that i would love to own some day. The males are green, and the females are red. So right away you would know exactly what gender your getting. They do need somewhat of a specialized diet. They're metabolism is a little slower than other birds so you need to feed them pellets or foods that are low in fat. An all veggie/fresh foods diet is even better. This can be with mashes or whatever. They also have a few health concerns that can come along if they do experiance an unhealthy diet such as 'toe tapping' can be common in them. However this can usually be corrected again with a good diet again.

I haven't had a chance to take a good look at this website yet, but i've been told that this website is VERY helpful for eclectus owners, or future owners.
Eclectus Parrots

also an article on Toe Tapping
"toe-tapping" in Eclectus Parrot

There are also i beleive three different sub species of the eclectus.
This link just explains the differences between the three.
Subspecies ID

Thank you Meghan. I've been reading on both caiques and eclectus all afternoon and I'm pretty sure I want them both. (more like male and female eclectus and a white bellied and black headed caiques). It's going to be a hard decision I think. I guess I will have to continue my research and try to spend some time with both species at the pet stores in the area and see if I can visit some at an owners house like I've done with Amazons and Greys. So, we shall see and thank you for the links.