Great Apartment Parrots?

IvanDiego · Jan 22, 2020

I’m sure this may have been asked before and I’ll definitely check, but I was wondering what kinds of parrots you would say make good apartment parrots?

I’ve done ample research to know what I’d be taking on and would only get a parrot when I know I am ready. Until then I’m curious to know what you guys would suggest? What parrots are generally quiet, or if they’re noisy which are not very loud?

I know each bird can be different but in general by species which ones would you suggest? Or which ones have you lived with in an apartment before?

Any tips, recommenda

noodles123 · Jan 22, 2020

They can all be extremely loud, but the bigger the bird, the larger the noise capacity. The small ones can still be heard through the walls when they get going though, so it would depend on your neighbors. The other thing to consider is if you have neighbors who smoke, vape, burn food, cook with Teflon etc, there is some risk for your bird there (less so if the HVAC systems are sealed separately).

In units where the HVAC systems are 100% separate, you can often still smell paint and smoke etc through the bathroom pipes/floors/ under doors (that has been my experience anyway). Upstairs neighbors used to smoke in their bathroom and it smelled like I was smoking in mine--incense burning is another hazard. When they mowed the lawn in the backyard (or smoked by the building) the smells came in through my closed picture window/porch door. If they paint the halls or spray for insects in a unit or right outside of a unit, that can also be an issue (even with separate AC systems etc).

If the apartment you move to requires pest spray, carpet shampoo etc, then you will need to consider that those are toxic as well, so you will need to make sure that they don't require you do that yearly or something.

Personally, I would rather not have a bird in an apartment if it could be avoided, BUT, if you do, NO large/medium birds. I would stick with something smaller. While they are all obnoxiously loud at times, a large bird is going to have the capacity for louder sounds and it will require more space for flight, toys, large stands etc. Just because you get a small bird does not mean they will be quiet-- it just depends, but my sister's bird was a parakeet and when it started screeching, you could hear it outside of our house with the windows/doors shut if you stood like 100 ft from the house. They aren't always that loud, but they can be.

You should also check on your apartment's noise complaint policy and have a plan in case you reach their maximum number of complaints---a place that was bird-safe that you could keep your bird while moving.

GaleriaGila · Jan 22, 2020

What Noodles said!

Rozalka · Jan 22, 2020

I think it would be easier to suggest if we ask if you want the parrot tamed, untamed, able to talk etc. One of the queiest parrots are Bourke's but they won't talk and untamed ones won't be tame (they have to be tame since a chick). I also live in an partment and have 3 types: Bourke's, budgies and a conure (my is gcc, bigger species can be too loud). There are also other examples which are quiet enough eg linnie, Senegal parrots... If your neigbours are tolorant you can have a bit louder parrot but first ask them.

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Laurasea · Jan 22, 2020

My GCC lived in several apartments with me. Neither she nor Ta-dah my current GCC made much noise. Except alarm call's which are very loud. I always got an end unit and a top floor unit. But results vary. Teachings a flock call helps, as does answering it. But I had to move my parrot out when they sprayed monthly for bugs. We didn't have bugs, probably because they sprayed every apartment monthly. It was a pain , but luckily my job let me bring her and keep her over at work.

Amsterdam · Jan 22, 2020

I think bourkee or normal parakeets would be the best pick

bug_n_flock · Jan 22, 2020

Budgies! Budgies, budgies budgies!!!

I had an amazon and a cockatiel in an apartment for a little while, and if my neighbors hadn't been some of the coolest people ever, that would have been a problem. Budgies can still shout their little hearts out, but it is *way* less loud than a tiel sounding off.

Boy budgies can learn to talk, both males and females can learn tricks and be tamed. IDK why, but some people think pet shop budgies(and hens in particular) can't be tamed, but I haven't had trouble with that. I find budgies naturally want to interact, and as long as you interact with them and are kind, eventually they will become your new best friend. They are like little feathered gems in their colors, and I just ADORE their sassy-yet-sweet HUGE personalities. Budgies, most all of them, are "too big for their britches" and have the BIGGEST personalities. I cannot say enough good things about them, they are basically perfect in my (totally biased) eyes.

noodles123 · Jan 22, 2020

Just to be clear though, "quiet" to a bird person is often loud to a non-bird person...so if quiet is important, I'd avoid birds in general because 1) there is no gaurentee, and 2) they are not quiet by most people's standards, even if MUCH quieter than larger birds.

bug_n_flock · Jan 22, 2020

Noodles is right about that last part. My dad could stomach the "loudness" of my mom's grey, but her parakeets were too loud and shrill for his ears when they got to screaming. It *is* all subjective.

Laurasea · Jan 22, 2020

Lol my parakeets can get in my nerves too. They aren't that loud but they always chattering. ..

Rozalka · Jan 23, 2020

noodles123 said:
Just to be clear though, "quiet" to a bird person is often loud to a non-bird person...so if quiet is important, I'd avoid birds in general because 1) there is no gaurentee, and 2) they are not quiet by most people's standards, even if MUCH quieter than larger birds.

I don't agree. If somebody lives with a person who don't like birds, then it's right but id they are neigbours, there are few species which are very quiet and the neigbours won't know about them. Example is bourke, I have them and I know what I write. Believe me they never are loud. I live in an apartment and I have 6 parrots. I definietly disagree that the best solution is not having parrots. You have a cockatoo, they are loud but Bourke's are more quiet than you think. In their case it's impossible to talk about any loud sounds

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noodles123 · Jan 23, 2020

In many apartments, you can hear it if a dog whines, child cries or if someone is watching tv, footsteps over-head, loose change falling, keys tossed to the floor, upstairs neighbors box-spring when laying down on a bed, vacuums, phones ringing, conversations etc...I am not that familiar with bourkes specifically.
I just know that all of the standard parakeets I have ever known would have stressed me out in a traditional, multi-level apartment setting because their constant chirping/chattering and occasional screeching would have been heard by many--even though it isn't cockatoo-scream loud. I also had a real issue with smells entering my units (I even tried taping around pipes etc).

Most of my apartments in the US have not been very sound-proof (then again, none were built prior to the 1950s). I slept with silicone earplugs every night and still could hear certain late-night activities with them in.
My neighbor used to work-out with some sort of rowing machine and the repetitive scraping sound drove me insane...I never did anything about it, but it was super annoying.
I could tell you about my old neighbors bathroom habits, love-lives (ew), illness (coughing etc), family troubles, pets, musical-taste etc...and I lived in a pretty decent complex by US standards...Unless you are living in a turn-of-the-century solid brick box with very thick walls and floors, the walls will likely be fairly thin...Something like frequent chirping could easily become bothersome to a non-consenting neighbor.

I had a pair of wild doves that lived outside of my unit in a tree or maybe on the roof, and even though their cooing was quiet, I could hear it clearly ALL DAY and at like 3am (it would only ever stop for like 5 minutes and then start back up)-- I was ready to lose my mind because of the repetition...I never thought of them as being obnoxious because in small doses, the sound is pleasant...but my goodness....not all day everyday.

I didn't mean that it couldn't be done (a bird in an apartment) but again, it is really going to depend on the bird you get (including species, individual personality, and its level of happiness), your neighbors and other apartment policies (such as noise-complaint rules and often mandatory maintenance requirements, like insecticide in units etc). I just meant to say that if possible noise is going to be a deal-breaker, getting a bird seems like a big risk if moving,eviction or re-homing the bird = only solutions following noise issues. I lived in an apartment with my bird for a bit out of necessity and it was a constant source of anxiety.

In terms of general noise, a duplex situation might be somewhat better---or one of those single-story rows of apartments that are connected but do not require neighbors above or below<--- that was actually the quietest style of apartment housing I have ever lived in because I only shared 1 wall on either side of the apartment and it was an older set of buildings (not old by construction standards, but built in the 50s).

Cardinal · Jan 23, 2020

IvanDiego said:
I’m sure this may have been asked before and I’ll definitely check, but I was wondering what kinds of parrots you would say make good apartment parrots?

I’ve done ample research to know what I’d be taking on and would only get a parrot when I know I am ready. Until then I’m curious to know what you guys would suggest? What parrots are generally quiet, or if they’re noisy which are not very loud?

I know each bird can be different but in general by species which ones would you suggest? Or which ones have you lived with in an apartment before?

Any tips, recommenda

Finches - either Estrildids-(Waxbills and Munias) or Fringillids (Canaries and relatives) may be more suitable than Parrots for Apartments.

But among parrots the ubiquitous Budgie :greenyellow:

is perhaps the most suitable as long as the number you keep is reasonable - 6 to 8 is a good number. Any thing more will create noise. Anything less will not give them a "flock feeling". You may get lucky with Cockatiels :yellow1:

too. But Agapornis :rainbow1:

lovebirds are a big no because their calls can be ear piercing.

chocobyted · Jan 24, 2020

The male birds are usually more noisy than the females in case you know the bird's gender (sometimes not possible to know just by looking at the bird).
My female cockatiel barely makes a noise and the male just starts singing the moment he sees you.

Never even think about cockatoos, period. I live in a house with additional insulation to keep the noise out/in and checked that the builder actually did this. However the moment the cockatoo starts, someone outside can hear it as if there are no walls and someone summoned a dinosaur screaming like there is no tomorrow. Training the cockatoo out of it is probably impossible in an apartment because you have to ignore it... It takes a while... a long while and maybe never...

Ezekiell · Jan 24, 2020

I second everything above. Another species to consider would be a caique. We live in a townhouse and have a caique, he’s pretty quiet 90% of the time, although is flock and alarm call can be quite loud. We trained him to whistle instead of flock call which has helped, but that won't stop him alarm/flock calling when startled or annoyed sometimes. We can hear him outside from the street, but he sounds like a very far away bird, not one that is in a house.
We’re also lucky because living in Australia people are far more tolerant of bird calls since there are wild parrots everywhere.

noodles123 · Jan 24, 2020

Cardinal said:
IvanDiego said:

I’m sure this may have been asked before and I’ll definitely check, but I was wondering what kinds of parrots you would say make good apartment parrots?

I’ve done ample research to know what I’d be taking on and would only get a parrot when I know I am ready. Until then I’m curious to know what you guys would suggest? What parrots are generally quiet, or if they’re noisy which are not very loud?

I know each bird can be different but in general by species which ones would you suggest? Or which ones have you lived with in an apartment before?

Any tips, recommenda

Click to expand...

Finches - either Estrildids-(Waxbills and Munias) or Fringillids (Canaries and relatives) may be more suitable than Parrots for Apartments.

But among parrots the ubiquitous Budgie is perhaps the most suitable as long as the number you keep is reasonable - 6 to 8 is a good number. Any thing more will create noise. Anything less will not give them a "flock feeling". You may get lucky with Cockatiels too. But Agapornis lovebirds are a big no because their calls can be ear piercing.

8 budgies in an apartment where noise is a concern??? Depending on the circumstances, 1 could be loud enough for a noise complaint, let alone 8! Plus, that would require a tremendous amount if space and it's unlikely they would all be able to come out of their cages at once because 1) 8 birds are not as likely to bond closely with a human if all living together and 2) 8 small birds would be very difficult to keep safe if all out and about at once...which would require a tremendous amount of time if you had to rotate through all of them, as they are highly intelligent and do require additional stimulation.

Am I missing something? I just know how loud ours was growing up...can't imagine 8 in house with shared walls/floors and without massive aviary-type cages.

Rozalka · Jan 24, 2020

Noodles, I read the previous your post - I understand why you see a problem. You had a lot of problems, your arguments about how it really depends from birds, neigbours etc are so right but believe me they all have to be so strong negative to not being able to keep any parrots.
Yep, having 8 budgies may be too loud but it really depends from your mentioned arguments before. For example my friend had in an apartment about 100 birds including parrots (budgies, 'tiels and lovebirds + non-parrot birds) Possible? Possible!! When I heard it for the 1st time I couldn't believe in it. I thought it is impossible because of the noise but it was true.
My parrot number record was 13 but most of them were Bourkes - 10 Bourkes, 2 budgies and one GCC. Then I also lived in an apartment (I've never had own house)

noodles123 · Jan 24, 2020

Rozalka said:
Noodles, I read the previous your post - I understand why you see a problem. You had a lot of problems, your arguments about how it really depends from birds, neigbours etc are so right but believe me they all have to be so strong negative to not being able to keep any parrots.
Yep, having 8 budgies may be too loud but it really depends from your mentioned arguments before. For example my friend had in an apartment about 100 birds including parrots (budgies, 'tiels and lovebirds + non-parrot birds) Possible? Possible!! When I heard it for the 1st time I couldn't believe in it. I thought it is impossible because of the noise but it was true.
My parrot number record was 13 but most of them were Bourkes - 10 Bourkes, 2 budgies and one GCC. Then I also lived in an apartment (I've never had own house)

Agreed--- my thing is, plan for the worst and hope for the best, because if the worst-case-scenario is a deal-breaker, it isn't really fair to the bird/birds. So, if OP attempts to get some quiet birds and they turn out to be too noisy, he has to have a plan other than re-homing the birds (and that is easier said than done). His main concern was noise being an issue, which makes me think it could be a problem if the best-case-scenario (quiet-ish birds) didn't work out. Add to this the fact that (correct me if I am wrong) OP hasn't had birds of his own before (which can lead to other unexpected issues/realizations about their needs/noise/costs/behavior etc).

That is crazy that your friend had 100 birds! Dang...I can't imagine.

Cardinal · Jan 25, 2020

noodles123 said:
Cardinal said:

IvanDiego said:

I’m sure this may have been asked before and I’ll definitely check, but I was wondering what kinds of parrots you would say make good apartment parrots?

I’ve done ample research to know what I’d be taking on and would only get a parrot when I know I am ready. Until then I’m curious to know what you guys would suggest? What parrots are generally quiet, or if they’re noisy which are not very loud?

I know each bird can be different but in general by species which ones would you suggest? Or which ones have you lived with in an apartment before?

Any tips, recommenda

Click to expand...

Finches - either Estrildids-(Waxbills and Munias) or Fringillids (Canaries and relatives) may be more suitable than Parrots for Apartments.

8 budgies in an apartment where noise is a concern??? Depending on the circumstances, 1 could be loud enough for a noise complaint, let alone 8! Plus, that would require a tremendous amount if space and it's unlikely they would all be able to come out of their cages at once because 1) 8 birds are not as likely to bond closely with a human if all living together and 2) 8 small birds would be very difficult to keep safe if all out and about at once...which would require a tremendous amount of time if you had to rotate through all of them, as they are highly intelligent and do require additional stimulation.

Am I missing something? I just know how loud ours was growing up...can't imagine 8 in house with shared walls/floors and without massive aviary-type cages.

Click to expand...

True that is why I said that some species of finches are better for apartments.
And among parrots -Budgies are best. Budgies are more comfortable in a flock and I think 6 is a good number and 8 could be too with a little stretch but nothing beyond 8-then it would be a cacophony. A pair of budgies is fine too but they are best enjoyed as a flock.

noodles123 · Jan 25, 2020

Gotcha-- I haven't ever had more than 2 around so I can't speak for how they behave in large groups (other than what I have seen at bird shops etc)

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