Hello! I am not currently a bird owner, but we are hoping to change that soon, and I could use some advice.
My 10 year old has her heart set on a pet bird and would actually be great with one. We’ve been visiting local rescues/stores and watching her learn to handle the birds has been a real joy. But I’m very concerned about down the road when she goes to college/moves out since I know many of the large parrots are “one person” birds. If we got a bird, I’d need it to be one that can be socialized with the rest of us and would accept a "new" owner when my daughter goes to college. I know even the smaller birds usually have someone they prefer, but they can often adapt if that person becomes unavailable. Basically, I’m thinking of this as a bird for me that she’ll be able to do most of the training and interacting with for a while. We’ve been doing a ton of research, but I always find first-hand knowledge is usually more accurate than books and articles, so I’d love input on the species we’re considering. (BTW, I kept birds myself about 15 years ago, so I do know what we’re signing up for, but I also feel my knowledge is pretty out of date.)
The current list is: budgie (English or American), lovebird, cockatiel, green check conure, or jenday conure
We had pionus, brown-headed parrot, and Meyers parrot on the list as well, but they’ve been crossed out based off of info we’ve gotten from the local breeders.
Cockatiel and conure are probably at the top of our list for the moment, mostly because of the interactions we’ve been having with them at the stores. I’ve owned cockatiels before and really they’re spot on what we want in personality, but I have big concerns around the night terrors (the bird would be sleeping in my kid’s room) and the dust since my kid already struggles with allergies/asthma.
Other pertinent facts – the youngest kid in our house is 7 years old, and while I’d describe our household as happy and lively, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s loud. Right now we’re all home all the time thanks to covid, but down the road, the bird would need to be able to stay home alone for 2-3 hours a couple days a week, and for two 8 hour days each month. We are leaning toward getting a rescue/re-home bird although we all think the hand fed babies are pretty darn cute. And we are open to multiple birds if the species prefers it/we find a bonded pair we’re interested in.
So any advice would be very welcome! I’d love to hear why those species might be a good or bad choice or suggestions for birds we haven’t even considered.
My 10 year old has her heart set on a pet bird and would actually be great with one. We’ve been visiting local rescues/stores and watching her learn to handle the birds has been a real joy. But I’m very concerned about down the road when she goes to college/moves out since I know many of the large parrots are “one person” birds. If we got a bird, I’d need it to be one that can be socialized with the rest of us and would accept a "new" owner when my daughter goes to college. I know even the smaller birds usually have someone they prefer, but they can often adapt if that person becomes unavailable. Basically, I’m thinking of this as a bird for me that she’ll be able to do most of the training and interacting with for a while. We’ve been doing a ton of research, but I always find first-hand knowledge is usually more accurate than books and articles, so I’d love input on the species we’re considering. (BTW, I kept birds myself about 15 years ago, so I do know what we’re signing up for, but I also feel my knowledge is pretty out of date.)
The current list is: budgie (English or American), lovebird, cockatiel, green check conure, or jenday conure
We had pionus, brown-headed parrot, and Meyers parrot on the list as well, but they’ve been crossed out based off of info we’ve gotten from the local breeders.
Cockatiel and conure are probably at the top of our list for the moment, mostly because of the interactions we’ve been having with them at the stores. I’ve owned cockatiels before and really they’re spot on what we want in personality, but I have big concerns around the night terrors (the bird would be sleeping in my kid’s room) and the dust since my kid already struggles with allergies/asthma.
Other pertinent facts – the youngest kid in our house is 7 years old, and while I’d describe our household as happy and lively, there’s no getting around the fact that it’s loud. Right now we’re all home all the time thanks to covid, but down the road, the bird would need to be able to stay home alone for 2-3 hours a couple days a week, and for two 8 hour days each month. We are leaning toward getting a rescue/re-home bird although we all think the hand fed babies are pretty darn cute. And we are open to multiple birds if the species prefers it/we find a bonded pair we’re interested in.
So any advice would be very welcome! I’d love to hear why those species might be a good or bad choice or suggestions for birds we haven’t even considered.