Canary as a bird buddy for a conure?

[Fishguy]

As per my intro post, my girlfriend a I acquired a GCC a little while ago. He is settling in nicely and we are both having lots of fun with him. We are able to spend a fair bit of time with him daily however as is the case in other homes, so sometimes our work schedules dictate that Romeo is left on his own for 9 hours or so. He has toys and plenty of perches to keep himself occupied.

We had been talking about getting a second conure with the plan to keep them caged separately but near each other for some company. We have since decided that we realistically don't have enough time to spend with them both equally and don't want to cage them together. Then the idea came up about possibly getting a second bird who would not require as much interaction such as a canary. The second bird would be caged separately of course, but still nearby the conure so that they could see and hear each other. We are wondering if there is really any benefit to doing this, would they act as flock mates so to speak, or would they simply exist without even acknowledging the other is there?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[RavensGryf]

Well they'll know the other is there . They're such different species, I feel it would be like getting a cat so your dog won't be lonely by himself all day. Not sure that's a good analogy lol, but I think the conure will just see the canary as another living creature to liven up the house and keep it from being too quiet and boring. There's nothing wrong with getting a canary. Certain types sing beautifully. There is another member who is here occasionally who has a single GCC and a canary.

Also, have you considered a Budgie?

 

[thekarens]

Our canary is extremely personable and I truly think Steve could become handtame if we put the effort into it. And I love love love his song. However, I don't think my parrots could care .02 about him. Get one if you would enjoy it, but I'm not sure your GCC will care.

 

[Fishguy]

Well they'll know the other is there . They're such different species, I feel it would be like getting a cat so your dog won't be lonely by himself all day. Not sure that's a good analogy lol, but I think the conure will just see the canary as another living creature to liven up the house and keep it from being too quiet and boring. There's nothing wrong with getting a canary. Certain types sing beautifully. There is another member who is here occasionally who has a single GCC and a canary.

Also, have you considered a Budgie?

My girlfriend does not want to go the budgie route again.
I did like the cat/dog analogy actually!!

 

[Fishguy]

Our canary is extremely personable and I truly think Steve could become handtame if we put the effort into it. And I love love love his song. However, I don't think my parrots could care .02 about him. Get one if you would enjoy it, but I'm not sure your GCC will care.

Very interesting... Are the Conures and canary housed near each other? We were looking at having the cages just a few feet apart.
Is this the case with all parrots; not caring about other birds around them? Or just Conures?

 

[Fishguy]

Also, is it that the canary is a small bird and would not be paid as much attention by the Conure? Would that be said of any small bird placed near him? Would the Conure need another Conure specifically to feel like they are a flock of sorts?

 

[RavensGryf]

I've had my Red Bellied parrot for a couple decades, and during that time there were long periods (a few times) in Robin's life where he was the only bird. He's always shown displeasure at the addition of other birds. Over the years I think he got a little more used to it. Even though parrots are "flock birds" I think Robin secretly liked it better when he was the only one. He's learned to manage jealousy pretty well over the years, but sometimes he still has a hard time hiding his jealously with Griffin and Raven. Robin (and many other Poicephalus family parrots) really do well as an only bird.

Conures on the other hand, are more social with others by nature. In the wild (or feral flocks around where I live) I've seen HUGE gatherings of I think Mitred conures.
Even if you got another GCC there's no guarantee they'd get along. I think conures are likely to, but you never know with individuals. I still think Romeo would be fine in the situation you have now, since he seems well adjusted and has plenty to do.

Since Raven and Griffin are friends, I find they 'babysit' each other and keep each other company to the point that they usually don't even seek out attention from me! Most of the time, "I" have to be the one to innitiate one on one with them. Raven actually prefers not to be handled, just talked to. In this situation, it's so easy. Two birds feel like one. They're more independent species than conures though.

I think a Canary would be just fine as a companion too.

 

[thekarens]

Our canary is extremely personable and I truly think Steve could become handtame if we put the effort into it. And I love love love his song. However, I don't think my parrots could care .02 about him. Get one if you would enjoy it, but I'm not sure your GCC will care.

Very interesting... Are the Conures and canary housed near each other? We were looking at having the cages just a few feet apart.
Is this the case with all parrots; not caring about other birds around them? Or just Conures?

We actually have Senegals and a mac along with the canary and finches. IMO the sennies and mac acknowledge each others existence, but they don't seem to notice the canary or finches at all.

 

[Fishguy]

It was funny....this morning I was playing some YouTube videos of canaries singing loud enough for Romeo to hear. He was intently listening and even started chirping in response. It was very cute! Made me think maybe he would appreciate some other bird sounds in the house.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

My Grandmother has a canary who is very hand tame. I still think it's a female since it's never "sung" a note, but it was sold to her as a "singing" male.

Every time I or my Mother go visit Grandma we let it out. It sits on our shoulders, arms, fingers and chirps at us, then goes to the windowsill where Grama keeps her collection of beanie babies and proceeds to kick some beanie baby butt!

It's easily caught and put back by offering Broccoli (his favorite) and he will jump on my finger and I put him back.

There are no other birds there so he is alone with Grandma the majority of the time, but I thought I would share just so you would know they can be hand tame.

 

[thekarens]

Be warned, not all canaries are "singers" in case that's what you wanted. We got a timbrado specifically because we wanted a singer.

 

[michellebaughman]

I have an orange wing amazon,a quaker parrot,a blue crown conure and a budgie parakeet...they all def. Notice each other.I'm a stay at home parront but whenever I go outside etc. I will notice the amazon scoots closer to my quakers cage.my budgie is only a lil baby but she tries to get real close to the other birds and my blue crown thinks she is the only bird allowed to make sound,whenever one of the others do their calls,she looks at em and says..why don't you shut up? I personally think your bird would like the idea of another bird in the room....PS. all the birds are jealous of each other,mommys only suppose to give olly attention,or binky or sassy etc...lol

 

[Fishguy]

I have an orange wing amazon,a quaker parrot,a blue crown conure and a budgie parakeet...they all def. Notice each other.I'm a stay at home parront but whenever I go outside etc. I will notice the amazon scoots closer to my quakers cage.my budgie is only a lil baby but she tries to get real close to the other birds and my blue crown thinks she is the only bird allowed to make sound,whenever one of the others do their calls,she looks at em and says..why don't you shut up? I personally think your bird would like the idea of another bird in the room....PS. all the birds are jealous of each other,mommys only suppose to give olly attention,or binky or sassy etc...lol

That's so cute! Just like little kids!

Seems as though adding a second smaller bird could go either way. Some seem to feel their birds aren't really acknowledged by the other parrots, yet some are.

 

[RavensGryf]

Seems as though adding a second smaller bird could go either way. Some seem to feel their birds aren't really acknowledged by the other parrots, yet some are.

Yes . That's why I'd only get another bird if YOU two want another bird as a pet. You're right, it could go either way. Something to think about since your GCC does seem to be doing fine now.

 

[Fishguy]

Yes, maybe we need to rethink the whole idea. Maybe a second bird isn't needed. I just ned to convince myself Romeo is fine on his own as things are. I tend to go way overboard in an effort to do everything I can for my pets. My girlfriend feels the same although maybe a little more realistically so!