First Parrot

[LordTriggs]

Sunnies ARE loud, thats species-wide. There aren't any sunnies that are not loud. HOWEVER, some sunnies are "noisier" than others. The noise can be curbed, but the loudness cannot. Unfortunately, their loud 'ear-piercing' screeches leave humans (including bird-lovers) with limited tolerance.

I find that having Skittles free-flighted has made an enormous difference in his noisiness. It's virtually non-existent now. When he gets noisy there is ALWAYS a reason and addressing that reason is, the issue is curbed. There ARE times where he gets noisy to get his way, but timeouts take care of those. He 'tries' to get away with naughty things on a daily basis. As cute as it is to see him try to be 'sneaky', my persistent re-direction and limit-enforcing keeps that from getting out of hand.

That's why having a great deal of 'free-time' to interact with your sun conure is so essential. The more time you spend with them, the quieter they are likely to be. As such, given my routine, going out for 2-3 hrs each day doesn't cause an issue with him. He gets PLENTY of out-of-cage time so he is fine while I'm gone, I just leave the radio on.

Good to know! I think, after hearing what I've heard, I'm leaning towards a GCC... If I do end up chosing a conure at all, that is! But thanks for the info!

I would definitely recommend a Green Cheek over a Sun from my personal experience. Suns whilst I adore (and greatly would love to have one) the noise is just too much, not just for my neighbors but for myself! Not to say Green Cheeks are super quiet, they can make a good racket when they want to so you do have to watch out for it but that sun shriek hurts my ears. A Green Cheek from my personal experience are the single most bratty, opinionated, cuddly, nippy, playful, clownish, attention seeking, possessive, moody little things going that will drive you to the absolute brink of madness which you'll love more than anything else on the planet (if they choose you as one of their friends).

But I do implore to take in all the info I put in my previous post. It's as much info as I can offer up to you. Heck even if you do what I did and get a feathered companion as soon as you move into your own place like I did there's nothing stopping that. I can only go by my own experience but I know looking for my first place and the initial couple of weeks moving I was barely able to look after myself, heck even now I barely look after myself!

Just remember people here are only doing what they feel is best for both the bird and also yourself, using the experience they have with their birds and like I said previously not wanting you to repeat the mistakes they wish they never made with their pets and with the text form of communication are unable to find themselves able to get across the necessary emotional quality of their words (something I have recently figured to be a major flaw of the written word).

As a final point to this current train of thought what I would suggest if/when you do decide it's as right a time to get a pet bird (there's never a 'right' time with these things) go to as many rescues as you can in a viable distance from your home and see what they have there, you may be pleasantly surprised. Baby birds whilst cute do change when they grow to adulthood and their personality can shift immensely, where as with a bird who's done that transition in a rescue you know what you're getting personality wise and the rescue can help you find a bird that matches up with you and the personality you want them to have, plus you will often be able to have on hand advice from them at any time unlike a breeder who as good as some are ultimately 99% of them want your money and nothing more

 

[MGMork]

MGMork I'm not trying to be pushy...just want to make sure you saw the post that described our lovebird?

I did! I did post a response to it... But I guess it didn't actually post? (I was out of wifi, so that may be why) I've actually met with some lovebirds as well, but I didn't click with them as much as I have with cockatiels/conures. Still very lovely, though.

 

[clark_conure]

I agree with lordtriggs but I differ in some ways saying my GCC is pretty quiet he's actually very well mannered, I dunno like a newspaper reporter.

I don't ever see him around though when he puts on his tights so i dunno about then.


Seriously though clark learned early on talking gets a lot more attention, so he grunts and chirps, the only time he's at all loud is his "DO NOT WANT" panic chirp.

 

[LordTriggs]

I agree with lordtriggs but I differ in some ways saying my GCC is pretty quiet he's actually very well mannered, I dunno like a newspaper reporter.

I don't ever see him around though when he puts on his tights so i dunno about then.


Seriously though clark learned early on talking gets a lot more attention, so he grunts and chirps, the only time he's at all loud is his "DO NOT WANT" panic chirp.

yeah Rio wasn't much of a screamer, he just had his moments of excitement where he had to let the world know he was having fun and if I went in the bathroom without him, that was a sure fire way to get him squawking. Outside of that always grunting and croaking

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yeah, sunnies loudness is DEFINITELY a drawback. I would NEVER recommend a sunnie for anyone who does NOT have a LOT of free time.

I cannot stress enough how much spending a LOT of time with your bird and having them free-flighted prevents excess noise.

I love Skittles little 'froggy noises' (as my friend calls them), she calls him "Froggy". He makes those a LOT but they sound more like duck quacks. lol. He also makes 'kissy noises' AND the morning screeches when I go to wake him up (and he is still covered) are adorable little peeps in unison (followed by kissy noises).

I absolutely LOVE birds and I HATE silence, I can't sleep if its dead quiet. But as much as I hate 'quiet silence', I have VERY limited tolerance for the 'alarming' screeches that sunnies have. THESE are the intolerable ones. When they raise their head feathers and go off in 'alarm' mode the sound is unbearable. Think of a VERY loud fire alarm.


I think going with a green cheek is a good plan, but I voted for cockatiel cause I think that is the 'ideal' fit. Tiels are VERY smart and just as affectionate as conures (I had tiels for over 20yrs, Skittles is my first conure).