Talk to me about smaller kid-friendly birds...

Pookamama

New member
Jul 10, 2012
509
3
Oregon, USA
Parrots
Pepper, a Timneh African Grey
OK, so I am trying to make a list of possible kid-friendly fids. There's a bird rescue local to me so I'm open-minded to adopting eventually. I will know when the time is right, but I'd like to know about birds in the meantime. I know a lot depends on the bird and hopefully we'd do a 'trial period' before making a permanent decision.
Oh, and they must tend to get along with other birds as well. I know this is a given but I thought I read somewhere quakers have a tendency to not get along with other bird species, but I haven't found it anywhere since!
Prefer smaller than Timneh, but would go up to Timneh size!
Prefer to avoid tendency to bond strongly to one person
Be able to handle a noisy busy house!
smart enough to clicker train
Here's what I have so far:
Cockatiels
Green-cheek conures (although it seems a lot of people have nippy problems...how bad is it? Is it just a stage?)
budgies
quakers possibly?


OK, so this is the maybe list, not sure on these ones with the above tendencies so asking here:
senegals
meyers
jardines
other conures?
lovebirds

I'm certain I am missing some. So fill me in!
 

MikeyTN

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Feb 1, 2011
13,296
17
Antioch, TN
Parrots
"Willie"&"Lola"B&G Macaw,
"Dixie"LSC2, and "Nico" Scarlet Macaw.
It's NOT a easy thing to choose a kid friendly bird as ALL birds will bite to a certain extent. They all can tolerate a busy household depending on how they were raised in the first place. Each individual bird is different, no two is alike! And a lot of birds only bond to one person especially when you get into the bigger parrots. Even some of the smaller ones are like that! The easier ones are handfed Cockatiels and Budgies as your other listings can all have potential issues. But when it comes down to it, I have to say my ekkies are the best out of ALL of our birds!!! They both love either one of us, never nip at us after I got them trained. Not very noisy at all and they can learn to tolerate busy household once they're settled. You can NEVER expect birds to get along with one another cause they're like people, do you like to be put with someone new and expect to get along even if you can't stand them? With kids in mind, just remember, even the most friendly hand raised bird can and will bite. Even the little Lovebirds can do some damage when they decide to attack, trust me they give a really nasty bite and they do NOT let go easily!
 

lene1949

New member
Sep 26, 2011
1,701
1
Brisbane, Australia
Parrots
Cory: Short billed Corella -
Echo: Galah -
Max: Alexandrine -
Skye: Yellow Sided conure -
Luka: Green Cheek Conure -
RIP Shrek: Quaker
My alexandrine loves children, even though he doesn't see them often.

ETA: If I were going to give a child a bird, I would go for a tame baby cockatiel...
 
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Conuregirl

New member
Jan 16, 2012
219
0
New Jersey
Parrots
Oliver the nanday conure (rescue), Suki the green cheek conure, Picabo the Hahn's Macaw, and Big Bird the dove
i think the lovebirds and all those pois might be too nippy and stubborn. keets, tiels, and maybe a green cheek or suns, jens are friendlier and family oriented but have to be trained. doves are very friendly by the way, but more stoic. they dont play the way a parrot does but mine is a complete cuddle bug.

i was thinking about getting a jardine for me but i'm not sure it's an easy, happy go lucky personality. i've read jardines are not for an inexperienced bird person or the faint at heart because they want to dominate or turn wild with lack of training/interaction.
 

brianlinkles

New member
Aug 17, 2011
740
1
Oakwood, Ohio
Parrots
i am the mom of three parrots:
Dorothy- African grey (cag)
Bowie- blue and gold macaw
Nellie- hyacinth macaw
Reggie- hyacinth macaw
Marnie- white bellied caique
I say go for the cockatiel! I was in the same boat, I have my cag, our amazon and even thought my children could interact and handle them (especially the cag) they wanted a bird of their own. My oldest got a linnie (great little bird) she has sadly unexpectedly passed away. I almost cannot talk about it as she was only one and was fine in the morning and was found at the bottom of her cage not breathing by afternoon. She was a great bird for kids however we got two cockatiels for our youngest (12 year old daughter) they actually were birds that I never really had on my radar however they have become one of my fav. breeds! They wolf whistle to her, love to hang with her. They enjoy cuddles and are just one of the cutest little birds I have ever met! Again, not a bird I ever thought of however now I am just smitten with them!
 

evesta

New member
Mar 22, 2012
305
0
Nebraska
Parrots
House and Wilson-Lineolated Parakeet Brothers
I have Linnies and small children. House loves playing with the kids, rarely bites and when he does it isn't that bad. Wilson on the other hand hates kids and just avoids them by hiding or sitting on my shoulder.Look for an outgoing Linnie that likes to explore and play. Half of it is teaching the kids to read their body language and how to handle the bird.
 

KBEquine

Member
May 19, 2011
359
21
South-central PA
Parrots
From little to big - currently 6 Linnies; 2 Budgies; 1 BHP; 2 CAGs; 2 Zons; 1 GWM. Formerly in the flock: 1 LSC2 [fostered/rehomed] RIP: 1 budgie 1 WCP & 1 sweet Pan Am
My vote depends on the kids, but my 3 finalists are cockatiels, budgies & lineolated parakeets.

One difference between small & large parrots is that often, the smaller ones like whoever likes them, whereas you just can't love a big parrot enough to guarantee it will even give you the time of day! [Just ask "my" Grey, who adores my husband & treats me like the dim-witted hired help.]

Birds take a gentleness that lots of kids haven't learned, and of course they can be hurt by thoughtless handling. In general, I'd want the kids to be at least 7 years old before even beginning their education on a pet bird. Having uttered THOSE words of caution:

In general, and assuming no asthma issues, I would go with a hand-fed cockatiel, and it doesn't have to be a baby. There are plenty in rescues & that's a good lesson for kids. They seem fairly easy-going & will have less of a bite than a larger bird.

Then it would be personal preference between a budgie & a lineolated parakeet. The linnies are quieter. The (male) budgies are better talkers. Some companion budgies are constant companions (in fact, you need to make sure the kids don't try to sleep with their pets - many budgies are lost that way!)

They are all much easier to care for, than a larger parrot.
 
OP
Pookamama

Pookamama

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Jul 10, 2012
509
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Oregon, USA
Parrots
Pepper, a Timneh African Grey
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Thanks everyone! I do know any bird can/will bite. Pepper's very gentle with the kids and they are very gentle with her, but it's pretty clear her more reserved nature makes her hesitant to interact with them as much. Especially my oldest-he is very enthusiastic to hold her and be around her and his enthusiasm makes her uncomfortable. I know she'll get more used to them over time. I was thinking for our next bird of getting something that can be a bit more outgoing with the kiddos. (And perhaps, starting with a newly-weaned chick would help!)
 

lokiNotis

New member
Jul 3, 2012
137
0
WV
Parrots
Loki-Green Cheek Conure
Otis-blue Quaker Bandit-YNA
I would probably not go with a quaker around children. My quaker Otis loves me and bites my husband. We have no kids but on the few occasions that kids have been around he screams and I mean screams. If they get near his cage he tries to bite at them through the bars. I'm not saying all quakers are that way but mine is. I can't expect much though because he has never been around kids. My GCC Loki basically hates me I think. He will bite the crap out of me. Loves my husband though. When we do have company adults or kids he hides. Now my YNA Bandit hasn't seen kids yet. Not sure how he would do. He is great with us but I don't want to risk kids around him just yet.
 

ConureCrazy

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Jun 13, 2012
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California
Parrots
Senegal: Oliver ~~
Yellow-Sided GCC's: Bella and Zora ~~
R.I.P Tweeters the Cockatiel<3
Um, to be honest, my GCCs aren't nippy at all. I have children at my house most of the time and they are great. My house is wild and noisy, too. Bella and Zora are great around anybody. They are outgoing and love to play. I'm not going to say that EVERY GCC is going to to be like that, but mine are wonderful around all people and all animals.
 

ConureCrazy

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Jun 13, 2012
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California
Parrots
Senegal: Oliver ~~
Yellow-Sided GCC's: Bella and Zora ~~
R.I.P Tweeters the Cockatiel<3
BUT, let me add on here, they can be timid due to the person. Some of my teenager cousins assume they can just grab 'em, and they'd chase them around the cage if they could trying to get a hand around them. They are not the kind of family I'd like around my animals... Or anyones, really. But if people pick them up calmly and not grab them with a fist they're fine.
 

Mozzie

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Mar 20, 2012
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Utah
Parrots
African grey (peppers)
Blue crown conure (Mozzie)
Sun conure (sunny)
Jenday conure (Bo)
Blue fronted amazon (Casey)
I would have to say cockatiel for a child. Just make sure it was hand raised and tame and used to kids. I bought one for 2 of my grand daughters ( they each got their own) and they are the sweetest birds you could ever imagine. They ride around on their shoulders all of the time, give them kisses, and are just so sweet! They bring them to my house when they have sleep overs here and I have fallen in love with them too!
 
OP
Pookamama

Pookamama

New member
Jul 10, 2012
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Oregon, USA
Parrots
Pepper, a Timneh African Grey
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Thank you everybody!
There is a local bird rescue and they seem to have an abundance of cockatiels. So that would be a good easy route when we are ready! It's good to know about the linny parakeets too, I didn't know about them! We'd probably take the kids to meet the bird before the trial period and see what birds would do well with stepping up and such. When I was there they also had GCC and blue-crowned conures, a quaker, and an interesting assortment of other birds!
 

brianlinkles

New member
Aug 17, 2011
740
1
Oakwood, Ohio
Parrots
i am the mom of three parrots:
Dorothy- African grey (cag)
Bowie- blue and gold macaw
Nellie- hyacinth macaw
Reggie- hyacinth macaw
Marnie- white bellied caique
The linnie (lineolated parakeet) is a great little bird as well. They are about the size of a budgie. They are fun little birds with a big bird personality. They can learn to speak, probably not as well as a budgie. However I have heard of them speaking quite a number of words. They love to play and can be a very snuggly little bird. They have all the mannerisms of the bigger parrots, eating with their feet, etc. The cost of them is a little more than double of the cockatiels (at least around here) about 225 and up.
 

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