Greetings from the east coast!

My wife and I are the proud owners of two adorable budgies. Perry is our male and about a year old. Peep is our female, and is closer to 6 months old.
I'm surprised by just how attached to these birds I've become, and am quite glad that my wife insisted we purchase them.
In fact, I have become so obsessed with them that I am now debating on whether to buy another (larger) bird in the coming years. If I do, I think I want a macaw, but have not decided on which one yet.

I look forward to learning from everyone!

Hi there, ChocoboFun, and welcome to the forum, along with Perry & Peep.

So happy to hear you are enjoying your budgies so much. They are adorable and sweet feathered bundles of joy, aren't they?

If you're thinking about adding one of the big guys/gals to your flock, I'd truly recommend you visit as many stores and/or rescue centers as possible, and spend some time with them. I'm owned by 2 big macs - and wouldn't want it any other way.

Hello there! Welcome to the forum! Very cute budgie names. We'd love to see photos of Perry and Peep.

Welcome to the forum!

Welcome! I'm pretty new to the forum but yes... Once you have one or two feathered friends what is one more?

I am currently searching for breeders in the area so that we can go looking around. I've found a few sites that list breeders throughout the country, but none of them have been updated in several years unfortunately. Hoping to get a solid lead soon. I'm a little iffy about pursuing pet stores, as the staff usually doesn't have a clue

I'll get pictures up as soon as I get my camera charged.

If you are willing to clarify where about you are located on the (big) East Coast, some of us may be able to help you find some breeders.

I'm in Jersey and know of a breeder of macaws (I got my Niko from her).

I have a picture of them up on my Album now
Poor little Peep is tired after a training session.

I'm about a 3 hour drive south of Jersey, in Maryland.

Oh your budgies are both BEAUTIFUL!!

How far are you willing to drive? :54: Niko's breeder was an hour south of me, and I visited 2-3 times a week while he was being handfed and then weaned. Put a lot of miles on my car, but it was worth every single one. When it was time to bring him home he already knew me, and he adjusted beautifully to his new home.

Anyway, Niko's breeder is Ursula Berg (from Fancy Feathers, yes she has a bird shop, too). She's located in Blackwood NJ.
Welcome to Fancy Feathers!

Then there is Bird Paradise, also located in NJ. It's an enormous Birds Only store, and they have a boatload of birds year round. (I know, you said no pet shops, but I have to throw this one out there. I got my Ripley, Green Wing Macaw from them, and couldn't be happier wth him)
Bird Paradise Exotic Birds - Companion Bird Supplies - birdparadise.biz

You can go to www.birdbreeders.com There you can directly search for breeders in Maryland.

Welcome to the forums!
I also started out with two budgies, then started accumulating more. Now I'm getting a congo african grey this summer

I really suggest doing a ton of research about various species of parrot. It took me several months of research and deliberation to come to the conclusion that a grey was the perfect companion for my lifestyle. The bigger they are, the more complex their needs tend to be (generally). For example, a macaw is too big and too loud for my apartment. They also have incredibly sensitive respiratory systems and can live for 70+ years.
I haven't been there myself yet, but Winging It Aviary on Long Island is incredible. I'm in contact with a ton of NYC-area bird owners who got their macaws (and smaller birds) from them. It's technically a bird store, but they expanded into that after being only an aviary. Not all pet stores are created equal

I will say that after acquiring my budgies, I got a cockatiel, then (accidentally) brought two green cheek conures into my home (one was a rescue; the other stole my heart in a small pet store that hand raises baby birds). Despite their relatively small size, my monsters are truly larger than life.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from getting a macaw! I just want to show that the smaller species are really quite wonderful. I'd hate for you to accidentally get in over your head with such large creatures.

Thanks for the info!

I definitely plan on taking my time to decide on exactly what kind to get, and would love to meet a few in person beforehand for sure! Currently, I'm digging up as much info as I can, so that I can make the most informed decision possible months (or maybe a couple years) down the road.

I will need to peruse for the sensitive respiratory tidbit, and see how close in line it falls in with my own sensitivities to chemically scented stuff.

Yay! Another east coaster welcome!!

I'm in md as well. Got my GCC from a nearby shop that has breeders that supply him...He had a macaw, a cockatoo, a grey, caiques, conures, etc. well kept bird only small store.

Welcome to the forum!!!

You say you know of some a little closer here in MD? I'd be interested in getting in contact with them.
Sorry if my comment about the pet stores threw people off, but its just that all i've come across thus far are your standard chain stores.

Also, I must be pronouncing this species wrong, because every time I see 'caique', I think of a yummy dessert! Adorable birds though.

Looky here, it's in MD and has a rather good reputation. As far as I know they do birds only

Exotic Birds, Bird Cages, Bird Food, Bird Toys - M&D Bird World

And here are some more I found:

BirdBreeders.com :: Feathered Companions, Salisbury, MD

BirdBreeders.com :: Love your bird, Catonsville, MD

BirdBreeders.com :: DJ Feathers Aviary, Chantilly, VA
Looks like these guys have good reviews as well and aren't terribly far. I suppose I have a lot of leads on places to check out!

Thanks for all the help!

So I ran by a place today and checked out the birds they had. Was kind of nice since they had an open area full of birds just roaming around and doing their thing. I got to play with a bunch of them, which was nice. Lots of adorable birds.

There was one surprise there. One of the males of these:
Lexicon of Parrots

It was adorable and wanted to get on my arm right off the bat. After a few minutes, sat him back down and moved on to the macaws. When we were wrapping up and walking back into the primary shop area, he just hopped onto my wife's shoulder and refused any attempt to dislodge him. He REALLY liked her hair and earrings! After about 30 more minutes of playing with him, we finally managed to get him to get back on his cage (through some small bit of trickery). As we tried to walk away this time, he exclaimed to us "Heeeeyyy!" and we turned around and he said "Cody is a gooooood biiiird! Good bird Cody! Come back!". That almost turned into an impulse buy hahahahaha.

Aww sounds like your bird picked you . How sweet. Such a pretty bird. I have never seen one before.