Red-Bellied or Jardine's - great birds?

After looking at all the info I can find on parrots for about a month now, I feel like a red-bellied is probably the perfect bird for me, with the Jardine's a close second. Before I make a commitment though, I'd like to hear some feedback from owners.

I'm in an apartment with my wife and adult son. We're pretty quiet folks and mostly like to hang out a home. Son and wife work part time, so there's usually someone at home since we all have different schedules.

I'd like a cuddly and playful bird, while my wife is smitten with talking ability. My son just kind of thinks it would be cool to have a pet, so I think he'll be happy with any bird that will be friendly to him.

From what I've been reading, these birds can be unpredictably bitey and I'm hoping we can train most of that out. If it's not possible, then most likely I'd be the only one handling the bird since I feel it would be mine. I'd be willing to take a bite now and then as long as it wasn't hateful or too frequent.

The bird will have plenty of attention and out of cage time, as well as a nice big cage with plenty of toys. We're all pretty soft-hearted and I expect the hardest thing for us will be not to spoil the bird with too much attention.

Any other cautions about these little guys that I may not have noticed? Any others birds you may recommend instead based on our situation and desired traits in a pet?

The Poicephalus genus definitely has my heart . I can tell you about Robin my male Red Bellied who will be 22 in July, and I've had him since he was 3 months old.

I think there is a lot of individuality in Poicephalus even within the same species, but this is is the only genus I can think of where if you have a cuddly one, they can at the same time be extremely independent. Usually if a bird is cuddly, you'll have to compromise with it tending to want to be on the more clingy side. What I found with my Pois is that they have less of a hard time than some other species if you need to set them down and have them go play by themselves. Of course not being overly spoiled and being shown an independent routine from the beginning is important, but I think these birds are just naturally inclined to adjust to being independent. That's not to say all of them are hands on cuddly, but I think you'll find that fairly commonly they are if handled from a very young age.

To address your question of biting... Although there are training techniques you can do with any bird to reduce the tendency or learn 'gentle', I don't believe you can 100% train it "out". Pois seem to have more of an automatic "knee jerk" reaction to biting than many other species. Generally speaking, both of my Pois tend to be displacement biters and fear biters, and despite being 'trained' and bite pressure trained, tend to strike out more readily than some other species. Don't get me wrong, it's not as if it's all the time . "Most" of the time when I hear of people saying their Poi "never" bites, it is not sexually mature yet. Although I've heard of plenty of biting females, depending on the individual, it might be a bit more common to hear of a mature female who is more gentle by nature.

Don't let that deter you though... all parrots can bite hard of course, and all parrots can be trained to be mindful of it to some extent. Some individuals and species more easily than others. The rest is up to the human to know when a bite might be more likely to occur, and to avoid it. From what I've experienced and heard over the years about others' Pois as well as my own, they tend to also have a less overt body language as a warning before striking, and don't always give a warning nip before a hard bite. But I've learned to read Robin's very subtle signs, and can usually avoid a potential bite nowdays, only because I've had him over two decades! Robin has significantly reduced his tendency to bite, as he is a middle aged to older bird now. When he was younger and his hormones were in full force, I had taken many very painful deep bites, and these birds have a large strong beak for their body size. FYI, Poicephalus breeding season is in winter here in the US, when daylight gets shorter.

Pois are considered a quiet species. Robin 'can be' quite vocal, but when he vocalizes it is not what you'd call loud. The natural sounds are whistles not squawks. Some might say Pois are loud, but if you've ever heard a large species or most conures at full blast, there is absolutely no comparison!

I know you are asking specifically about Red Bellied and Jardines, but IME, personally as well as hearing about and observing others, you'll probably find more of a difference between Pois by individual personality. I can't wait to hear what you end up bringing home!

Thank you!

What we end up with is still up in the air. A Jardine's would need to be air shipped from out of state, and I'm a bit hesitant about that. I wouldn't want the shipping trauma and I'd also really like to meet the bird at least for a little while before taking him (or her) home. I may be able to get a Red Belly from a place about 4 hours drive away, and also last week I submitted an application to adopt from a bird rescue place about an hour and a half away. The rescue has a Meyer's, Senegal and an Indian Ringneck needing homes so there's a chance I may even end up with a parakeet instead of a poi. If they even accept me, the rescue's rules are very strict!

I'm kind of leaning toward making the 4 hour drive for the red belly at the moment but one of the adult birds at the rescue place just might steal my heart. I do also have a feeling that starting out with an adult bird might be a really good thing too. The Jardine's seems to have great reputation as a talker too, and I also like the idea of having a larger yet still apartment friendly bird.

It will probably be several weeks before I become a parront, so I'll get plenty of studying done before then and will probably ask a lot more dumb questions before there is the patter of little birdy feet at my place

Your questions aren't dumb, ask away! Oh, and to answer your question in the title... YES great birds !

I've had several birds shipped over the years, as have many bird owners. Breeders who do it know what they're doing. The airlines who do pet shipping (lots of birds) are experts at it too. The shipping itself is not a problem. The last bird I had shipped was my Pionus Raven. When he stepped out of the carrier and met me for the first time, I think HE was rather disappointed... He has since warmed up to me and I believe he loves me, but it had taken a couple years for him to realize I'm an okay person .

That's very comforting to know about the shipping, thank you.

I'll definitely be posting pics of the fid when we have one =)

I have a Senegal and I agree wholeheartedly with Julie. Mine is both independent and snuggly and displacement biting definitely happens. I also agree they are a great choice.

We have a sennie that I adore to bits. She just turned a year, so ask me in another year or so how sweet she still is LOL Dax is very friendly and gets so excited to see us coming.

We have a Cape coming home this coming Monday, she is being shipped from Oregon to Michigan! Im fretting because its just what I do.

I love the independant nature of the picephalus species. Its my understanding that with Jardines they go through a fairly lengthy bitey period and for many people it gets to be to much. There is no real way to tame that response out of birds, but I do believe its managable.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info Anita =)

After quite a bit of research though I decided a cockatiel will be the best fit for me. In fact I have a baby tiel at the bird shop right now and I get to pick him up on Saturday! Can't wait =)


Here's my little boy...

Looks like a girl to me...

witchbaby said:

Looks like a girl to me...

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The DNA tests are supposed to be pretty accurate but still not quite 100%! You may be right but I'll keep calling Dusty a boy unless one day he lays an egg for me

TexasWade said:

witchbaby said:

Looks like a girl to me...

Click to expand...

The DNA tests are supposed to be pretty accurate but still not quite 100%! You may be right but I'll keep calling Dusty a boy unless one day he lays an egg for me

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I'm definitely 'not' an expert on cockatiels, but I also thought that usually the males had clear (lighter color) faces, but maybe that's not until after the adult molt? I've heard of DNA sexing mistakes, but it's pretty rare I'd bet.

I'm also no expert on tiels or any birds, lol. But the majority of stuff I've read indicates that they can't be sexed by looking at their first set of feathers. Let's see how he looks next year =)

Jardine’s is a wonderful choice for you！Oh，I do not know whether you bought them already or not

guobowan said:

View attachment 16911Jardine’s is a wonderful choice for you！Oh，I do not know whether you bought them already or not

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The OP has already gotten his bird. a Cockatiel . I'm closing this thread now.