Beginners senegal questions

Hi- Was over in the cockatoo thread earlier but to recap- I will be getting a new bird in the next few months and really want one that can bond with me- I was considering a macaw or cockatoo but they both have very stringent care requirements, and cockatoos even with the proper care are still prone to plucking, macaws are just huge. Both seemed to love to be with their owners and have thier heads preened tough and thats what I want in a bird- an affectionate one (I dont care about talking abilities or anything) Whenever I read about parrots, people seemesd to highlight how well they talked or look or did tricks but said they werent so keen on scritches and such, but I came across senegals and they seemed to fit what I'd like in a bird and vice versa. Right now I have two cockatiels, theyre absolutely perfect (Im lying but I love them anyway) but would like a larger bird to hangout on my shoulder (my tiels prefer my laptop as a perch) So, to make this quick, what do Senegals tend to be like, are they somewhat affectionate and do you have any advice? Thank you

maddieatrisk said:

Hi- Was over in the cockatoo thread earlier but to recap- I will be getting a new bird in the next few months and really want one that can bond with me- I was considering a macaw or cockatoo but they both have very stringent care requirements, and cockatoos even with the proper care are still prone to plucking, macaws are just huge. Both seemed to love to be with their owners and have thier heads preened tough and thats what I want in a bird- an affectionate one (I dont care about talking abilities or anything) Whenever I read about parrots, people seemesd to highlight how well they talked or look or did tricks but said they werent so keen on scritches and such, but I came across senegals and they seemed to fit what I'd like in a bird and vice versa. Right now I have two cockatiels, theyre absolutely perfect (Im lying but I love them anyway) but would like a larger bird to hangout on my shoulder (my tiels prefer my laptop as a perch) So, to make this quick, what do Senegals tend to be like, are they somewhat affectionate and do you have any advice? Thank you

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Sennies are notoriously one person birds, but if you are looking for a bird for you, a sennie can be a great choice! We have placed many senegals at the shelter and they truly pick their person and are usually fiercely loyal and devoted to their person.

I live with one too, he picked my husband at the shelter while he was helping me photograph birds for petfinder. From the moment Mali and Byron met, Mali was a jerk to every adopter we introduced him to and over that next year, Mali would leave every adopter in blood. Tho I didn't want to bring home another bird (I knew I'd get stuck with cage cleaning and such), it was clear that Mali was not going to accept another person and my husband was his person. But with how much Mali loves my husband and he does pretty well with my brother, Mali absolutely hates me and goes for flesh all the time.

So, if you go to a shelter / rescue and a Senegal picks you as their person, you will have a best friend for life, but you have to be prepared that the bird may be very protective of you to the point of being aggressive with every other person. They are awesome one person birds, super intelligent and Mali can mimic just about any sound. He talks a bit and is very funny. I stick trained him so I can take him out of the cage and let him hang out on the java stand in the window when my husband is not home, very easy to train.

With starting college and needing a bird that is independent and is more flexible with schedule and such, a Senegal might be a great option! But I would highly recommend looking into adopting an adult, you want an adult that has an established personality and no worries about what may or may not happen or change after sexual maturity. Definitely keep these guys as an option for birds to meet!!

Every parrot is different. I can tell you about my 15 years living with a senegal.

Kiwi was a one person parrot in the end. She picked me. She was ment to be a family pet. Well she grew a very strong dislike for my mom who loves birds. A few times kiwi would fly on to my mom and bite her. No reason just because she wanted my mom gone.

I took kiwi with me when I moved. Kiwi went cross country with me and I think that trip changed her for the better. She never hated anyone after the move. In fact she grew to love one of my roomates. He was the only other person she really liked. Kiwi loved to just sitting on my should and be with me. She would regergitate for me, clean my teeth and preen my hair. She was not a cuddley bird or playful. She was an independent bird.

Kiwi was full of weird habits and dislikes. I knew her well I could tell what she would do before she did it. This helped me deal with her weirdness. She would get defensive and angery if you opened a drawer. She would bite you if you did not share with her. Just to name a few. She hated toes. She was weird. She pooped a lot and just let it rip. My conure now is very polite about pooping. She never made me bleed she never bit me. She bit my mom bad a few times. I knew her very well and respected her. So I was safe. In the end I learned to trust her and she trusted me. It was special.

Kiwi was quite but also loud. She was silent most of the time. She did Learn to talk a bit but she was the master of making sounds. She was good at the squeeky door sound to name one. She did have a loud flock call.

I could not trust kiwi with everyone or little kids. When I had my daughter that is when having kiwi got hard. I could not give kiwI the time she needed because the new baby took all my time. So kiwi started to scream more. Once my baby got a little older it got better but not really. Kiwi bit my daughter hard when she was 2 years old. These birds are not good with kids. Not a family bird.

Personally I loved kiwi and learned a lot from her. I would not get a senegal again. I have a special place in my heart for them. I will stick to the conures they are amazing. Senegals make good one person birds or attach birds.

Think about the future this is a parrot that can live to be 25-30 years old. Do you want kids in the future? My parrot got sick and I lost her at the age of 15.

This isn't actually about senegals as I have no experience at all with sennies (never even met one!), but I've been watching your threads and I wanted to give you my two cents on finding what you're looking for in a bird. Just some take it or leave it advice here, but hopefully it will be helpful!

I think it's awesome that you've done so much research looking for your perfect bird, but since your main quality is that it have a very strong relationship with you, I would worry less about the specifics of the bird type and start looking at actual birds themselves. As an example, Quakers are one of my favorite birds and the best buddy bird that I EVER had was a Quaker. You may have seen him around this forum--his name's Sammy and he lives with Allee and her other kiddos now because I moved to Honduras for a year and wasn't able to take him out of the country with me. Some Quakers are amazing like Sammy was, some drive me nuts--I like them all, but I don't count on them being a certain stereotype just because of the kind of bird they are. Each bird is SUCH an individual that it's crazy, so if what you want is one that is going to bond REALLY strongly with you, I would look for that quality in the individual bird rather than the type itself. The generalities of a species are just that: generalities and stereotypes. These are based on truth, but don't apply to every bird. If I were in your situation, I'd keep a very open mind on the kind of bird and start looking at individuals, analyzing their unique personality. We all have certain kinds of birds that we want, but if you make up your mind based on type of bird, you guarantee yourself a certain species but make a sacrifice: you have to be willing to take what you get. I have always wanted a rose breasted cockatoo, for example, and I am getting one next week. The breeder has told me a lot about her and she seems awesome, but I have accept that she will be the bird that she is, no matter what personality she comes with, because I am buying her from out of state. So I get my dream bird in type, but make the sacrifice of choosing an individual bird in person. She may bond instantly to me or she may hate me right out of the box--no way to tell. That's fine with me, but I can tell from your posts that having a bird who is your best bud is your main goal (since that seems to be what you're basing the bird type search on). So if I were you I would worry less about the individual species and start thinking about where you might be able to VISIT birds that are for sale or up for adoption to find one that you REALLY mesh with!

Anyhoo, not being critical or anything, I just don't want you to end up picking the perfect species then actually getting the bird and finding out it's the one out there who doesn't match all the stereotypes of the kind! Good luck in your bird search!!!

snowflake311 said:

Personally I loved kiwi and learned a lot from her. I would not get a senegal again. I have a special place in my heart for them. I will stick to the conures they are amazing. Senegals make good one person birds or attach birds.

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Just for the record, I second this: conures are amazing!!! Have you considered conures? Total bundles of love in my experience!

Awesome points Puck.

I want to add I too did a lot of research and from what I read senegals sounds like the perfect bird. Haha in reality not all parrot read the book on how they should act or be.

I agree worry less about the type of bird and find the one that fits your personality.

Have you looked into the mini macaws? A hahns macaw is not much bigger than a sennie or a conure. Yellow collared macaws are just a touch bigger than that. Or even conures hemselces; they are very closely related with macaws and have a similar temperament.

My first Senegal was an absolute darling. Shoulder snuggler who loved to be scratched. She spent almost every minute of the day riding my shoulder or sitting near me. Very friendly to anyone who picked her up. My current one is almost always the total opposite. Extremely independent. I won't let anyone interact with him because he is so unpredictable and might viciously bite. The rare times he wants scritches, usually late in the evenings, the session only lasts about 5 minutes or so before he wants nothing to do with it any longer. Both were adult birds when I adopted them. But in their behavior, complete night and day differences.

Let a bird adopt you rather than the other way around. No snap decisions made during the emotion of a first meeting. The more time you can get to know a bird before you make a decision to bring one home with you the better. And if you are going to a rescue, get to know all the birds that are there. You might find "The One" in a species you were not even considering. I have adopted three birds from a rescue situation. All three turned out to be gems. Though Sidney (my current Senegal) is more of a diamond coated grinding wheel at times.

One thing I would caution you about Sennies based upon my own experience. Most of the time they don't like other birds at all. Sid will aggressively attack my Blue Crown conures given half a chance. When he is out, I have to keep a constant eye on him. My first Senegal exhibited aggression towards other birds the one time that she was near some budgies as well. Both acted like they are stalking them. With your smaller tiels who like to hang out near you on your laptop monitor, I would be concerned about their safety. Sennies have powerful beaks for their size and could do a lot of injury to your tiels should they come together. I've passed up adopting a tiel because of Sid's aggression. I think I would not have any issues with my conures but the tiel would not have been safe with Sid's behavior.

I have to agree that you need to actually be ready to bring a bird home, and when you are absolutely prepared to bring one home THEN you need to go out and look at rescues, bird shops, wherever you're planning on buying/adopting one, and interact with ALL the available birds. If you truly want a bird that is going to form a strong bond with you and be your best friend and vice versa, you need to be open to any and all breeds. You might go to a rescue specifically to see a Senegal you know they have, and while you're trying to get the Senegal to simply step up for you or even stop trying to nip you, a Patagonian Conure might just fly over to you, land on your shoulder, and start beak grinding away. You just don't know what a bird is going to be like or how it's going to react to you. Green Cheek conures are supposed to be "Velcro birds", and many are, but I know of one that absolutely hates being touched. She's a beautiful bird and she happily plays with her toys all day long and will sit on her owners shoulder, but the minute he tries to scratch her he gets a nip. It's just her personality.

I have a Quaker and I absolutely love him, he's a very loving clown that always has to be with me and in the middle of everything. I also just got a baby Senegal, he's 4 months old and he's also a loving little cuddle buddy. He is on my shoulder right now, beak grinding and wishing I'd lay down on the couch so he can lay on my chest and snuggle his head into my neck. He's the perfect little cuddly Senegal that loves me...I got lucky. But I will tell you, the longer he is here the more he despises my other birds, so we have rules about who is out with me and when. I live alone so there's no competition from humans for him, and he has been sweet to everyone he's met so far, but he's still very young. I won't be surprised if he gets protective and jealous of other people, that's how Senegals are. But the point is that there are many exceptions to the stereotypes, so you must meet individual birds to make sure you're both a good fit for each other.

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I have an order in to purchase a Senegal in the Spring. This is a parrot that I have always wanted. I have had a Nanday Conure in the past - bad experience, as he was very loud and very possessive, so I knew that I did not want another Conure. I also had a Lovebird - she hated me. So, after reading this thread, I know that when the time comes for me to go to the Bird Store to see the Senegals, I will have to find one that takes to me and picks me. So thanks for the info shared in this thread. It has been very helpful.

While I'm happy for you, I can't help but feel that you've done exactly the opposite of the advice you asked for. Just because one particular Nanday conure didn't work out, you ruled out all conures? That makes absolutely no sense. A Nanday is very different from a green cheek, they have nothing in common at all, and a Patagonian conure is very different than both and so on. A lovebird is a totally different type of bird all together....

One thing that scares me a bit is you used the adjective "possessive" as a negative reason you no longer have the Nanday...well, from my own experience right now and every person that I've known that has had a Senegal, you will not find a more possessive bird. Ever. I'm just worried that this Senegal that you're "ordering" (whatever that means, I know it means you won't have met him before you take him home) is once again not going to be this idea you have in your head of the "perfect bird", in fact he may be the exact opposite from what you've said, and then he will end up like your Nanday and your lovebird...

Not trying to be critical or harsh at all, but it happens far too often that a person comes on a forum and asks experienced bird people what bird would be perfect for them, and when the answer they get is "there is no such bird, you must go out and meet and interact with individual birds", the person then just does what they were thinking to begin with. And there's another bird in a rescue, a shelter, or rehomed again and again.

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