How did you get into parrots?

foxgloveparrot

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Aug 30, 2021
5,724
6,998
Indiana, USA
Parrots
Ziggy, Kai, and Seiji (blue, yellowface, and dilute budgies)
Jasper (yellow-naped amazon)
Lilla (senegal parrot)
Snowberry (yellow-crowned amazon)
Cricket (pacific parrotlet)
Title says it all.

I got a bird book for my 7th birthday. I was reading it, and then I reached the page on bronze-winged pionus, and I was OBSESSED, lol. I starting doing a lot of research on parrots, especially pionus, and I was begging my parents to let me get one.
After 8 years of non-stop “CAN WE GET A BIRD??” they finally gave in, lol.
…yeah.
 

Rozalka

Well-known member
May 23, 2018
8,582
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61
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8,759
Poland
Parrots
Bourke's parrots, green cheeked conure
I got budgies on my 10th birthday. That's the beginning of my obsession. Later my mom showed me videos of a talking African grey parrot (in Polish) and I loved watching him, it's prob the only time when my parents learnt me a new parrot species 😝 I think this also made my obsession a bit but the main reason are Limonka and Szafirek (the first budgies)
 

BirdyBee

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Jan 7, 2022
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8,062
South Africa
Parrots
Griffen, John, Pippen, Snowy, Sunny
Dunno. Always liked animals, especially birds. I think it started with a feather obsession when I was about 4. Then I got some budgies(RIP) because I was obsessed with animals and begged my parents for a pet(I was 5). When I was seven I got Kiki(RIP). After years of being birdless, I really wanted another bird, and Pedro came into my life, but got rehomed shortly after. Then when the birdlessness(is that even a word?)feeling came again, I got Jeff, and the flock continued getting bigger. Now I have 5 birds, one more waiting to join the flock soon.
 

zERo

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Dec 9, 2021
2,026
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2
5,049
Texas
Parrots
Tony-Green QP(M)
Tom-Pineapple GCC(M)
Milly- Sparrow (F)
Well i don't remember that well, but I was 14 or 15 at the time and suddenly I realized...WAIT!!!! BIRDS CAN BE PETS??! So I got my first cockatiel for that christmas and then I was told one of my family members had a poor old cockatiel that they could hardly stand to care for or have anymore and he came to live with me the following year...hmm when did all of the other birds happen? LOL
The old poor bird is Romeo btw
 

onamom

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Staff member
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Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 9, 2022
1,843
5,838
Indiana, USA
Parrots
Ona: Dilute Green Cheek Conure
I became obsessed with the idea of owning a parrot after I visited Parrot Mountain in Pigeon Forge, TN (USA). I loved that place so much and was endlessly amused by all the birds. Ever since the idea of becoming a parront was in my head until I finally took the plunge.
 

PrimorandMoxi

Well-known member
May 29, 2015
472
653
New Jersey
Parrots
Max (23yo) Blue and Gold Macaw,
&
PRIMOR (8yo) Red Lored Amazon,
&
ABBA (33yo) Red Lored Amazon - RIP
Wow those all are amazing stories.
I barely knew what a parrot was when I got one.
I definitely thought it lived in a cage and you threw seeds at it every once in a while.

Someone randomly gave us an Amazon. It was seven, fearful of hands and his new daddies.
I read up on what it would take to make this creature happy and fool him into thinking his captive existence was completely normal.
He was pretty gullible and it worked.
Primor seems to be well adjusted, has good temperament an easy going bonded birdie.
(unlike my B&G a freaking monster)

By the time I joined this forum I was hooked.
 

texsize

Supporting Member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Oct 23, 2015
3,886
Media
4
4,781
so-cal
Parrots
1 YNA (Bingo)
1 OWA (Plumas R.I.P.)
1 RLA (Pacho R.I.P.)
2 GCA(Luna,Merlin) The Twins
1 Congo AG (Bella)
5 Cockatiels
My Wife is from South America and in the early part of our marriage she would visit her relatives yearly.
This in the early 80’s.
Well someone gave her mother several Amazon parrots 4/5 (I don’t remember exactly) and we had one of those full size VHS video recorder.
They were so much fun to watch (and this was long before internet and YouTube) we decided we needed a pet bird.
We knew nothing, we did not even suspect anything.
We lived in a no pet apartment.
How much noise can a little bird make.

We bought an Orange wing amazon for $175.
The rest is history.
 

Terry57

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Nov 6, 2013
47,496
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38,649
Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada
Parrots
Hawkhead(Darwin),YCA(Dexter),VE (Ekko),OWA(Slater),BHP(Talli),DYH(Calypso),RLA(Kimera),Alex(Xander)CBC(Phoe),IRN (Kodee,Luna,Stevie),WCP (Pisces),CAG(Justice)GCC (Jax), GSC2(Charley)
My first birds were a pair of Zebra finches when I was little, maybe 6 or 7?
When I was in my twenties my fiancé at the time was really into birds and we got some large ones (Cockatoo, Macaw, Amazon). When we split up a few years later the birds all went with him, as they were way more attached to him.

Finally, I I had just turned 50 and wasn't working for the first time in my life, and thought I'd love to have another pair of Zebra finches. Found one for free on Kijiji and when my husband picked up the cage he got him a mate.
After they had babies, I got a large flight for them, but before they were ready to go into it I had gotten a pair of Bourke's and more finches, so we needed a second flight cage.
My husband Reg had only had budgies once as a kid and had no experience with anything any bigger so we added a parrotlet, then an Yellow Crowned Amazon and a Blue-headed Pi. Reg also fell in love with birds and we started taking in birds who needed a home and that's how we ended up with a houseful. Lots of work, but the joy makes it more than worthwhile.
So my story begins and ends with a pair of Zebra finches:) They are a gateway bird, at least for me!

Great thread, Fox!
 

Chenetaqwa

Active member
Jul 16, 2022
74
118
Parrots
Winston ... 6 month old green cheek conure
4 budgies ( parakeet)
When I was about 6 my father decided we were going to have a hobby together ... we made cages and he bought budgies from a lady who had lots .. ( I think all males lol) we never got babies and that didn't last long ... later I bought a goffin cocatoo and a mulican cocatoo ... that started everything...
And I now know how little I knew back then... thank God for the information you can get off the internet
 

Chenetaqwa

Active member
Jul 16, 2022
74
118
Parrots
Winston ... 6 month old green cheek conure
4 budgies ( parakeet)
When I was about 6 my father decided we were going to have a hobby together ... we made cages and he bought budgies from a lady who had lots .. ( I think all males lol) we never got babies and that didn't last long ... later I bought a goffin cocatoo and a mulican cocatoo ... that started everything...
And I now know how little I knew back then... thank God for the information you can get off the internet
BTW...I now have 4 budgies and 1 green cheeked conure
 

𝕾𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖞𝕻𝖎𝖈𝖆

Well-known member
2x Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 2, 2021
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Vermont, USA
Parrots
Stormy(M): blue Australian budgie
Picasso(F): green Australian budgie
Apollo(F): sky blue dominant pied Australian budgie
suddenly I realized...WAIT!!!! BIRDS CAN BE PETS??!
Yeah, basically my story. I’d always admired budgies in pet shops and was super obsessed with them from age 9 on. I stopped begging for them for a few years, but when COVID hit I was able to get my first pair of budgies, Stormy (still very much alive, and a total rascal) and Sky (RIP). When Sky passed I got Picasso to be Stormy’s friend. I literally walked into the pet shop, saw her hanging on a toy, and knew she was the one. I didn’t even CONSIDER the other birds. From there, I got Pepper, then Apollo. Pepper passed away recently, leaving me with Stormy, Picasso (whom I frequently refer to as Cossie), and Apollo.
 

MealyZon

Member
Jun 14, 2020
8
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3
34
Southern CA
Parrots
Mealy Amazon-Georgia & Senegal-Kramer
As a child, my grandmother would escort me across the border into Mexico near Eagle Pass, TX in a rickety beat up bus from Mexico that traveled back and forth between TX and Mexico. I loved those trips. But what I loved the most were the raucous green parrots they sold as pets. As the bus drove us back to the border, there were always people on the side of the road holding large round baskets with small green parrots perched around the edges for sale. I wanted one SO BADLY!! Once my grandmother bought me a life size paper mache parrot from Mexico to appease me. I still have it.
I told myself I’d get one when I was grown up. So several decades later, I now own a big green Mealy Amazon. And I just love her! I love her green feathers, feet that can hold things & perch on my hand, her throaty parrot noises (I learned which ones are happy noises), her Amazon scent, and of course her intelligence.
She reminds of my grandmother too💕
 
Jun 1, 2022
55
Media
3
98
Previous-Sydney, Australia current-Utah, USA
Parrots
Senegal parrot(male)Percival
Green budgie(male) Buckbeak
Clear wing budgie(female) Rowena
I have always loved birds(and all animals) I had Guinea pigs as my very own first pet, when they passed I got a bearded dragon, then he dies but I loved bearded dragons so much I got another but when he passed I was very distraught and couldn’t get another (couldn’t look at reptiles without seeing death) so I started looking into birds I always wanted a Senegal so I did the research and found one then fell in love!
 

GaleriaGila

Well-known member
Parrot of the Month 🏆
May 14, 2016
15,038
8,732
Cleveland area
Parrots
The Rickeybird, 38-year-old Patagonian Conure
Oh, dang, y'all's stories are all so GOOD!

Okay, here's mine.

Dateline 1984.
I was an impoverished college student. No significant bird experience.
Walked by bird store in New Mexico.
Saw an adorable little baby in the window... went in. Baby instantly flapped/ran up my arm, hid in my hair, started whispering "oh oh hello oh mmm uh huh hehe oh oh" and various sweet little unintelligible nothings. What could I do? I tell you... I was enchanted... mesmerized... hypnotized.
CHARGED EVERYTHING ON MY VISA CARD, knowing I'd be eating Ramen Noodles for the next year, among other dire concessions. Drove home with Baby in hair. Sat on floor all night awaiting cage arriving next day. Faded in and out of sleep/dreams/nightmares, wondering what the HECK I had done. "oh oh hello oh mmm uh huh hehe oh oh"

Dateline 2022.
Well, here we are.
 

Rico_Tiel

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2022
1,817
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2,179
Ur mom’s car
Parrots
Ricochet - Cockatiel
Cricket - Budgie
I really don’t know. Although, I like to say that in my heart it felt right.

I guess, as a kid I always was deeply fascinated by birds. I would always sit outside and observe them as best as I could with my (already poor, and constantly deteriorating) poor eyesight. At my grandma’s condo, she had a bird feeder on the deck that overlooked a lake. I would see so many birds that I always called “chickadees” or “birdies!”. Looking back, it was mainly redpolls, chickadees, and nuthatches, but I’d occasionally see a woodpecker. I would always watch them with such fascination and wonder, wishing I could fly with them through the trees. I didn’t really know that you could have any bird as a companion until I was about six or so years old. I always wanted to have a pet bird. I particularly wanted a black capped chickadee. Then, when we moved, we went to a pet store to get fish (I know, you can imagine the horrors those poor fish lived through. It was bad.), and I saw the budgies and I. Went. NUTS. I would Ooh and ahh and aww at the budgies. I would always stare longingly at the blue pied budgies. I would ask if we could get one every now and then but I always knew the answer. When I was about 9 or so, I was watching budgie videos RELIGIOUSLY and I saw a budgie care video and I fell down the rabbit hole and watched them so much. And I do admit, I didn’t watch the most reliable channel (AlanAXP wasn’t super great at the time, but it was fairly good. The only thing I don’t really agree with is the extreme breeding he does. It doesn’t really sit right with me. at the time, he would put around 3-5 budgies in a cage fit for one budgie.) but it got a lot right. Like nutritional things for example. And when I was 11, I got my first budgies after begging and presenting my research and agreeing to a really dumb thing.



TLDR: I really like birds
 

ImaParrot

Active member
Apr 13, 2023
96
Media
1
199
Houston, Texas
Parrots
Turtle (my sister's budgie. Let's be real, I'm taking care of him)
Elvis (budgie)
Olive (budgie)
Niki R.I.P (budgie)
About two years ago, I read a series where the main characters had a parrot. She was a naughty, adorable, talking cockatoo. That's when I wanted a cockatoo, which lasted about a year until I had done enough research to find out that cockatoos are a handful and we wouldn't even have room for a properly sized cage, as well as the fact that I couldn't afford a cockatoo. Finally, I gave up and wanted a cockatiel for about half a year and then I fell in love with budgies.
Still want a cockatiel, at least whenever we have enough space for another cage.
 

angels123

Member
Oct 18, 2014
32
Media
1
21
toledo oh
Parrots
crimson bellied conure 3 yrs old
black capped conure 4 months old
When I was a kid I would sit outside with my dad and watch the birds. I was mesmerized. Then when I got older I walked in a store and there was a cockatiel with it's adorable little red cheeks and I was in all the way.
 

Jexnell

Supporting Member
2x Parrot of the Month 🏆
Jul 28, 2019
278
890
Portland Oregon
Parrots
Phoenix - Sun conure
It all started when I was just 8 years old. I loved birds and mom really feed into it. We lived in Houston so she had a massive aviary built for me in the back yard with probably 30 budgies. That lasted five years till we moved to Washington state. Next birds was in my 20s with a some more budgies. And lastly was Phoenix a sun conure.
 

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