Anything Poicephalus!!

Hello!! I've been quite interested in Poicephalus parrots for a bit now and wanted to know the different personalities of these birds! I'm definitely finding conflicting information about these species!!

I absolutely LOVED my sun conure personality! He was definitely a cuddler which i find to be the best trait in a bird for me! i love cuddling lol How is this species in that department?

Please feel free to tell stories and ANY information you'd like to share as I'm trying to learn as much as possible about these birds! I'm currently looking for a blue crown conure and i've read that poicephalus parrots are a little less noisy? how would you compare any of these species to conure's in general?? How would you compare poicephalus species to each other?? I'm basically a dry sponge right now waiting to soak in new information! lol thanks for reading

Poicephalus are natually inclined to be more independent, or have an easier time adjusting to having to be independent for longer periods. That's not saying that conures can't be independent, but I feel that conures are a natually more gregarious species, and will be more persistent about attention, and less flexible about not getting it.

Pois have a quieter voice than a conure. They use a variety of sounds, such as whistles, peeps, chirps, as well as being fairly talented mimics. Some people complain that the high pitch whistle can be harsh, but compared to a conure's powerful scream there is no comparison.

Pois tend to have a nervous streak. Gernerally speaking, they will 'freak out' and be set off more easily than most other species. They are also "beaky" by nature. They communicate through little nips, and must be taught preferably when young about bite pressure. Many times regarless of training, a Poi will have a quicker bite response than most other species, and when mature, they can bite very hard for their size, due to the oversized beaks they possess!

Some individuals are cuddly, some are not (same as conures there).

Poicephalus are inclined to being one person birds, and even when socialized young, some might still be resistant to accepting others. Might be easier depending on the individual, but in general they're harder to socialize to a variety of people than some other species might be. It is also rare that they get along with other birds. Something to keep in mind if that's important to you, although you know you can never guarantee friendship no matter what species.

That's what I can think of off the top of my head. Any other questions just ask! I'm sure more Poi people will come along.

Not too much more to add, other than Conures tend to be quite cuddly (on average) for smaller parrots.

My Poi does not appreciate cuddles. She likes to be scratched on her own terms, but will never be content being "held" or pulled close to you. Very very independent birds.

Hilarious though.

My poi is incredibly cuddly. She will sit for long periods of time on my shoulder. She is nervous by other people handling her, but won't bite. Usually if someone else picks her up, she'll immediately fly over to me.

greytness said:

My poi is incredibly cuddly. She will sit for long periods of time on my shoulder. She is nervous by other people handling her, but won't bite. Usually if someone else picks her up, she'll immediately fly over to me.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if we're on the same page regarding cuddliness. When I think cuddly, I think like GCC 'hold in your hand and stroke it, while it rubs back against you' kind of cuddly. Pois will sit on your shoulder, or accept lots of loving head scritches, but you don't often see them enjoying being held (particularly when your hand covers their wings).

YMMV however.

I've seen and heard of Pois being both ways. Robin will let us enclose him in our hands and practically smother him, pet and touch him anywhere. Griffin used to be very handleable too, except something is happening with him as he gets older, he is getting very nervous like he is reverting to wild much of the time which is not usual for a Poi. Anyway, a good number of them are cuddly, but some just aren't. Just like you hear of conures.

Both my red bellies I wouldn't consider as cuddly but one of mine makes up for it by talking and he talks all the time. Yes, they are more independent type birds which is what I like about them and they're not loud.

Grraarrgghh said:

greytness said:

My poi is incredibly cuddly. She will sit for long periods of time on my shoulder. She is nervous by other people handling her, but won't bite. Usually if someone else picks her up, she'll immediately fly over to me.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if we're on the same page regarding cuddliness. When I think cuddly, I think like GCC 'hold in your hand and stroke it, while it rubs back against you' kind of cuddly. Pois will sit on your shoulder, or accept lots of loving head scritches, but you don't often see them enjoying being held (particularly when your hand covers their wings).

YMMV however.

Click to expand...

Well, I guess I'm very fortunate! My Jardine's will sleep on my chest with my hand covering her wings for as long as I leave her covered. Whether it's 5 minutes or 50 minutes. She licks my face, leans her body into my neck, and enjoys her scritches.

Yes I'm referring to "conure cuddlyness" i would actually hold my sunny like a baby in my arms and rock him to sleep! i just love the way feathers feel lol and i love just basically being in physical contact with them. which I understand not to force them or anything else that may or may not be traumatic, but you know what i mean? lol

I've been reading a lot of positive information about greater Jardine's! What would your thoughts be on this species in particular and the single trait I'm hoping for! lol I don't care about anything else actually, doesn't matter if they have great talking ability or flashy feathers i just want a baby that will show physical affection I'm perfectly fine with "velcro" babies also! my personality works well with these bird personalities. lol any poicephalus meet any of those traits more than the other?? are they all pretty similar??

Well, I've had two Senegals over time. My first named Kelly was an absolute love bug after she learned that people were OK. She was rescued out of a bad situation and terrified of people. It took a while but she came around to love people. Constantly on my shoulder snuggling into my neck or inside of my shirt. Loved being scritched. She did not like being left alone. Not independent at all. She would go to anyone that wanted to pick her up and after a short time getting used to them she would be happy with them as well. Easily the sweetest bird that shared my life. I still miss her.

However, my 2nd Sennie is totally opposite. Very independent. Kind of psychotic. Can have a temperamental streak at times. Likes personal contact only at certain times of the day and only on his terms. If he gets mad, watch out cause he will bite with intent to injure. Does NOT like my blue crown conures but at least I have gotten him used to them enough that he won't attack unless one of them invades his personal space. He will accept scritches occasionally and I can touch him anywhere on his body or hold him on his back in my hand though he will start to squirm and want to get upright after a few seconds. My biggest problem with him is he is a floor runner and a chewer. Strong foraging instinct that I try to foster but I have to be very aware of where he is at all times. He is very amusing with lots of beeps, peeps, whistles and assorted noises. He is a rescue also that I think was just left in a cage all day long outside in Florida with little interaction so I forgive some of his negative traits.

Senegals are in comparison much quieter than my blue crowns but they can let out an ear piercing noise that goes through walls. I can hear a Sidney down the street contact calling but won't hear the blue crowns until I'm outside of my place. Below is an example of Sidney growling and squealing one night recently.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSMVNsiiKQ4"]Grumpy Senegal Parrot - YouTube[/ame]

You also mentioned looking at blue crown conures. I love my pair. They are fun birds. Tootsie is getting elderly and is a little strange. She was a cuddlebug until Rosco came along and took over the preening duties from me. Now she will fly over and preen me though she does not want me to return "preen" her. They are intelligent, very interested in what is going on around them and love to play with stuff. I'd call them more adventuresome than either of my Senegals. Rosco came from a rescue and has a distrust of hands (which I have made a lot of progress on) but he loves being near me or standing on my knee or leg. Right now, he is perched on my laptop monitor watching me type and talking to me a little. Tootsie was rehomed from my brother because of her noise and general bad (though not hostile) attitude towards the rest of his family. She is VERY vocal, though. Constantly making some kind of noise though I think she is an exception to blue crowns in general. She accounts for at least 75% of the noise made by all three birds and her squawking is usually the reason Rosco makes most of his.

As for noise, blue crowns have a somewhat harsher squawk than other birds. Here is a video of the pair sounding off one evening. They don't do this all the time but be aware that they do have their morning and evening desire to make some noise and will be at full voice. That is what happened in this video. Stopped as quickly as it started.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n82pHloOcx8"]Tootsie and Rosco make noise! - YouTube[/ame]

From what I've gathered over the years from others, and with my own 2, the Poicephalus species are similar as far as general characteristics go, but can vary pretty widely between individuals as far as personality. Just like the Conures have basic similarities but will vary from bird to bird.

Raven my Pionus' breeder mainly specializes in African species, and she stopped breeding Jardine's (lesser) because in her opinion, they're even more prone to being biters, and even the lesser is a bigger bird than most of the other Poicephalus. Could just be the particular stock she had, I don't know.

yes i definitely understand the whole individual personalities thing.. I'm just trying to see what the probability of me getting my preferred personality trait is, lol the blue crowns are a little less obnoxious than my sunny. definitely handleable though. Im pretty tolerant with screaming. i just absolutely CANNOT stand a cockatoo scream lol that where i draw the line!

DannyA93 said:

yes i definitely understand the whole individual personalities thing.. I'm just trying to see what the probability of me getting my preferred personality trait is, lol the blue crowns are a little less obnoxious than my sunny. definitely handleable though. Im pretty tolerant with screaming. i just absolutely CANNOT stand a cockatoo scream lol that where i draw the line!

Click to expand...

Is being cuddly that personality trait you're talking about? We just cannot say one species of Poicephalus has more or less of a tendency to be a cuddler than another. It's just so individual Danny . If you get one young enough (hand fed and just weaned) you "should" be able to mold them to become accustomed to cuddling and learn to enjoy it. Then again, others here have hand raised their Poi from a baby and mentions she isn't a cuddler despite that. No species of Poi is less cuddly than another, that trait is just more particular to the individual. If you really want the best chance of it, I'd find a local breeder who will let you interact with and pick out a chick so you can get a first hand idea of the chicks reaction with you. Other than that, it's just a chance that we take, 'hoping' they'll be everything we always wanted and more, and if they fall short, well, we love them anyway .

I based my personality expectation for Sidney on my previous experience with Kelly and my first two meetings with him where he was sweet and gentle and preened himself while on my hand. I had no idea of the little devil that was waiting inside ready to be unleashed. For the first few weeks after I got him home and out of quarantine I was overwhelmed and wondered what the heck I had gotten myself into. I got the better of him but to this day he still tests and pushes beyond the limits every single chance he gets.

When comparing Kelly and Sidney, the only thing that I learned that was predictable with bird personalities is that they are totally unpredictable.

I have a 3yo female Jardine. She is perfect for our family.... Multi-person bird, she actually is all over new people that visit, in a friendly way. Independent, yet prefers to follow us around the house, but settles down if she has to be in her cage, which isn't much if we are home. She is curious and interested in learning new things. We just started target training and jumps for the target stick to the point I have to hide it sometimes!

Our Jardine is not cuddly, but wants to sit on or near us. She likes her head scratched but that's it. We are good with her minimal interest in serious cuddles... That's what our dog is for.

However, we did express to our breeder what we were looking for and she did pick this bird for us, as I explained I wanted a more confident bird to go on outings, trick training and be a more multi-person bird. She matched us with ours versus a more shy Jardine from the clutch.

Hope this helps?

My Red Belly Poi named Gaugan is a very affectionate girl and is so tame I can touch her anywhere. She loves to be pet and during moulting times is almost insatiable. She will play independently for long periods of time. She has lots of character and will show you how she feels one way or another and she has lots of moods. She is a very good talker with a large vocabulary and is not shy to speak in front of strangers. She loves me unconditionally and has never bit me and is very bonded to me. She does form relationships with others but she only allows them to do certain things for her. She has a tendency to over bond to me and so I like to have a second bird, as she is better to the other humans around if she has another bird to think about....lol....I can take her anywhere, and her favorite thing is going for rides in the car.

thank you guys for sharing your stories! I hear a lot of people mention that they don't cuddle their bird because that is what their dog is for lol i agree! except that I'm not a furry pet person lol! and i loovve how soft feathers are and not to mention its super adorable!!! lol I was thinking maybe i should go to just get another sunny as he will be different from my kyro. not physically but i'm sure they will differ in personality!! but then i hear stories about other species like yours Seagoat and if i can find another species with the cuddly aspect of a conure i'm all for it!

Its difficult especially that everyone always whips out the "of course it depends on the individual bird" statement which i'm very well aware of, I'm just trying to explore new species besides the very popular species and of course i would meet a few times to get a feel of the personality of the bird and if we "click".

but you know how every species has that general trait? conures are known for cuddliness, greys are known for talking, etc. we all know individuals will vary but for the most part you can bet you will get even at least a tiny aspect of these traits.

I have very cuddly red belly Poi. She will let you touch her anywhere. She flips upside down and playfights with me. She like to be pet and can be insatiable and makes the cuttest noises. She is a very good talker. She is a lot more cuddly than my daughters conure. I tuck her inside my jacket to take her out to the car. She loves car rides.

My Red Belly female is as cuddly as you can get. At night especially she want to cuddle and will put her beak on my lip or chin and want to be scritched or just plain pet for up to two hours at a time when I am watching a movie...lol...She is very mushy and makes cut little sounds. She is also independant and will paly long periods by herself My Meyers is affectionate but not near as cuddly as my Red Belly. A SenegalIi had years ago needed lot of attention and like lots of petting, but my Red Belly is the queen of mush.

From my research brown headed parrots are real snuggle bugs! Anyone on the forum own a brown head baby??