Looking for a new parrot

[Viien]

Hello everyone!

I am planning on adopting/purchasing a new bird. But I think I should have some opinions from experienced owners

I am not new to parrots. I have had a female indian ringneck, cockatiels, a sun conure, and have taken care of macaws and cockatoos. My tiels passed away due to old age and the other birds stayed with my parents.

I am moving out soon. I’ll have a big apartment. It will just be me and my husband.. all of my previous birds have always been free roam birds except for bed time and when I’d be away.

This summer I’ll be home every day without work and have all the time to spend with my future little friend. Then from there on I will be away for 5 hours a day except for weekends.

I’d like a buddy who would like to hang out with me and explore with me (harness training, bird backpack etc). I know no species is specific to display a stereotypical personality and I an aware. My ringneck was very fiesty and so was my conure. But I would like to see which species would generally be more open to this.

I can handle noise and I can adjust to any food diet. No little kids around, just me and my husband I have also let the neighbors know I’ll get a bird and some of them have parrots too so are prepared for the noise. Size doesn’t matter too.

 

[John Field]

I have had my 33 year old Meyer's Parrot since she was a wee hatchling of 1 month old. She has full run of my small house and has never shown any interest in going outside. To my surprise, she laid her first egg at age 18. She is quite the little climber and chewer - good to plan in advance. I like to have things for her to chew on that I dont care about - like a stack of old magazines, different size cardboard boxes for the top of my bookcases.

She is definitely bonded to me, and can always find my shoulder, as I go room to room. I almost always wear an old sweatshirt when I am home - for when she decides to deposit a tiny pea size poop on me - easily cleaned up with an old toothbrush in the bathroom sink. 35 years ago, I had elderly clients that had an African Grey, and another with a Moluccan Cockatoo - too big for my taste - and big beak that kind of scared me.

Parrots are like small children that always want your attention, but do mellow out a bit as the years roll by. My bird is napping more, but is always curious whatever is on my dinner plate - and really enjoys multigrain bread. Is it a food, or just another chew toy to shred ? heh

 

[wrench13]

So you already know that every bird is its own, well, parrot. My Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty, is harness trained and when we are out, happily sits on my shoulder. But he is not friendly with strangers and with any Amazon, large or small, you get the basket of potential 'Zon attitudes. Its all potential with parrots, since a lot of it has to do with training and familiarization.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I have had my 33 year old Meyer's Parrot since she was a wee hatchling of 1 month old. She has full run of my small house and has never shown any interest in going outside. To my surprise, she laid her first egg at age 18. She is quite the little climber and chewer - good to plan in advance. I like to have things for her to chew on that I dont care about - like a stack of old magazines, different size cardboard boxes for the top of my bookcases.

She is definitely bonded to me, and can always find my shoulder, as I go room to room. I almost always wear an old sweatshirt when I am home - for when she decides to deposit a tiny pea size poop on me - easily cleaned up with an old toothbrush in the bathroom sink. 35 years ago, I had elderly clients that had an African Grey, and another with a Moluccan Cockatoo - too big for my taste - and big beak that kind of scared me.

Parrots are like small children that always want your attention, but do mellow out a bit as the years roll by. My bird is napping more, but is always curious whatever is on my dinner plate - and really enjoys multigrain bread. Is it a food, or just another chew toy to shred ? heh

Congratulations on having such a long happy relationship with your girl! She's a lucky bird to have spent so many years in such a loving home.

 

[miki]

Hello everyone!

I am planning on adopting/purchasing a new bird. But I think I should have some opinions from experienced owners

I am not new to parrots. I have had a female indian ringneck, cockatiels, a sun conure, and have taken care of macaws and cockatoos. My tiels passed away due to old age and the other birds stayed with my parents.

I am moving out soon. I’ll have a big apartment. It will just be me and my husband.. all of my previous birds have always been free roam birds except for bed time and when I’d be away.

This summer I’ll be home every day without work and have all the time to spend with my future little friend. Then from there on I will be away for 5 hours a day except for weekends.

I’d like a buddy who would like to hang out with me and explore with me (harness training, bird backpack etc). I know no species is specific to display a stereotypical personality and I an aware. My ringneck was very fiesty and so was my conure. But I would like to see which species would generally be more open to this.

I can handle noise and I can adjust to any food diet. No little kids around, just me and my husband I have also let the neighbors know I’ll get a bird andHi

Hi there! Thank you for the great post. As an owner of a loving captivity born and raised pet female Congo African Grey Parrot named Aziza,, I wish you all the best of luck in getting a pet parrot. Is this going to be your first pet bird, or have you owned pet birds before? Just wondering.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome! I have no credible advice... I bought my Patagonian Conure 40+ years ago on absolute impulse, and have since spoiled and indulged him beyond any sense, BUTTT I love him; I believe in the spiritual benefit of companion birds; and I am so glad you're here. Best site on the 'net. Stick with us!

 

[rheashard2]

Welcome! I have no credible advice... I bought my Patagonian Conure 40+ years ago on absolute impulse, and have since spoiled and indulged him beyond any sense, BUTTT I love him; I believe in the spiritual benefit of companion birds; and I am so glad you're here. Best site on the 'net. Stick with us!

As stated here. But I did research before getting my Congo Grey. Her behavior and attitude imply she's perfect. It's me, her human who has issues. Yes, at nearly 21, she's slowed down physically. But her mental acuity has increased. Have fun and welcome.

 

[Foxqlove]

Hello everyone!

I am planning on adopting/purchasing a new bird. But I think I should have some opinions from experienced owners

I am not new to parrots. I have had a female indian ringneck, cockatiels, a sun conure, and have taken care of macaws and cockatoos. My tiels passed away due to old age and the other birds stayed with my parents.

I am moving out soon. I’ll have a big apartment. It will just be me and my husband.. all of my previous birds have always been free roam birds except for bed time and when I’d be away.

This summer I’ll be home every day without work and have all the time to spend with my future little friend. Then from there on I will be away for 5 hours a day except for weekends.

I’d like a buddy who would like to hang out with me and explore with me (harness training, bird backpack etc). I know no species is specific to display a stereotypical personality and I an aware. My ringneck was very fiesty and so was my conure. But I would like to see which species would generally be more open to this.

I can handle noise and I can adjust to any food diet. No little kids around, just me and my husband I have also let the neighbors know I’ll get a bird and some of them have parrots too so are prepared for the noise. Size doesn’t matter too.

I’d recommend brotogeris species! In my experience, they’re snuggly and loving and curious and full of personality, and didn’t ever hold a grudge against any specific people, but I’ve heard the complete opposite from others. Keep in mind they’re small and like exploring underfoot and tight spaces, so there’s always the possibility of accidents like that. Think of them like a ferret sort of. Make sure you check under every pillow and blanket before you sit down somewhere. In my experience, they take a bit to get used to a harness, but love it once they get used to it.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello everyone!

I am planning on adopting/purchasing a new bird. But I think I should have some opinions from experienced owners

I am not new to parrots. I have had a female indian ringneck, cockatiels, a sun conure, and have taken care of macaws and cockatoos. My tiels passed away due to old age and the other birds stayed with my parents.

I am moving out soon. I’ll have a big apartment. It will just be me and my husband.. all of my previous birds have always been free roam birds except for bed time and when I’d be away.

This summer I’ll be home every day without work and have all the time to spend with my future little friend. Then from there on I will be away for 5 hours a day except for weekends.

I’d like a buddy who would like to hang out with me and explore with me (harness training, bird backpack etc). I know no species is specific to display a stereotypical personality and I an aware. My ringneck was very fiesty and so was my conure. But I would like to see which species would generally be more open to this.

I can handle noise and I can adjust to any food diet. No little kids around, just me and my husband I have also let the neighbors know I’ll get a bird and some of them have parrots too so are prepared for the noise. Size doesn’t matter too.

Hello everyone!

I am planning on adopting/purchasing a new bird. But I think I should have some opinions from experienced owners

I am not new to parrots. I have had a female indian ringneck, cockatiels, a sun conure, and have taken care of macaws and cockatoos. My tiels passed away due to old age and the other birds stayed with my parents.

I am moving out soon. I’ll have a big apartment. It will just be me and my husband.. all of my previous birds have always been free roam birds except for bed time and when I’d be away.

This summer I’ll be home every day without work and have all the time to spend with my future little friend. Then from there on I will be away for 5 hours a day except for weekends.

I’d like a buddy who would like to hang out with me and explore with me (harness training, bird backpack etc). I know no species is specific to display a stereotypical personality and I an aware. My ringneck was very fiesty and so was my conure. But I would like to see which species would generally be more open to this.

I can handle noise and I can adjust to any food diet. No little kids around, just me and my husband I have also let the neighbors know I’ll get a bird and some of them have parrots too so are prepared for the noise. Size doesn’t matter too.

There are couple things I noticed in your post that you may want to think about before chosing a new parrot.

You say you and your husband are going to be living in a large apartment and that you can handle noise. That's good because as you know all parrots can be noisy, but an apartment involves having neighbors beyond common walls. How do you know if your neighbors, now AND in the future, can handle noise? A screaming parrot can make even the nicest neighbors crazy.

You also say that you will be living with your husband and there will be no little kids around. I'm assuming you're fairly young because you refer to the birds you've had in the past now being with your parents. Are you never going to have children? I've heard many stories of young couples having to rehome their parrot because they decided that their babies and toddlers either wouldn't be 100% safe around a parrot or that as new parents they no longer had the time and energy to devote to caring for a parrot. You may say now that any future children would happily live alongside your parrot, but actually having children can dramatically change someone's priorities in ways they never anticipated.

You know that parrots can live a very long time. Some conures can live into their 40s and larger parrots can easily live past 50. Are you prepared to bring a young parrot into your life that may still be with you when you are elderly?

Have you considered adopting a rescue? The are many homeless parrots at rescues waiting to be adopted and they don't all have behavior problems. Many times
their owners died, became too old to care for them, or their housing or family situation made keeping them too difficult.

I hope you give these things some serious thought before adopting a parrot.

 

[Zilga]

I’d recommend brotogeris species! In my experience, they’re snuggly and loving and curious and full of personality, and didn’t ever hold a grudge against any specific people, but I’ve heard the complete opposite from others. Keep in mind they’re small and like exploring underfoot and tight spaces, so there’s always the possibility of accidents like that. Think of them like a ferret sort of. Make sure you check under every pillow and blanket before you sit down somewhere. In my experience, they take a bit to get used to a harness, but love it once they get used to it.

I have brotogeris and they are wild little birds! One is young because we got her as baby (Alistair - she's 2 and a half ish) , and the other is a rescue who's 3 or 4 (Gertie). The rescue is shy and is warming up to us glacially slowly but steadily. Alistair is really cage territorial but is a fun little clown when out of the cage hanging out with us.

A few things we've noticed:
1) Ours are much happier with a friend. I think a lot of birds are, but our brotogeris are much closer to each other than anyone else.
2) They're loud for their size. They make interesting noises, but you have to be okay with it
3) Alistair is happy to be handled but not easy to train. They're less food-motivated than our other birds and are much more interested in their agenda than ours, so we have had much less luck with training than with our other birds. That being said, we're not training experts - step up/recall/shake/spin is as far as we've gotten with any of our birds.


They're sweet little birds and you get the whole "acts like a parrot-y parrot" thing in a small size, without the shyness of some species. I also do think harness training specifically might not be as hard as some other species, just because Alistair really doesn't mind being handled. We haven't really tried it much because we like our birdie pouches, but I am pretty confident that she could be harness trained if we put the work in.

To be fully honest, they're not really my vibe (Alistair is technically my kid's bird), but I'm a huge fan of our Bourke's parakeets, which check absolutely none of your boxes!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I think a hand raised cockatiel is a great apartment bird and I've seen quite a few on YouTube wearing harnesses outdoors. If you start harness training one when it's first weaned it should work.

The easiest bird I've ever had or seen as far as being able to touch its body enough to put a harness on is a hand raised Goffin's Cockatoo. You could touch mine anywhere including giving it wing massages. The problem with them is that they're high maintenance and require an owner who's more experienced than I was with bigger birds and how to train them so they don't drive you crazy. They also make a lot of noise when they want something.

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

WARNING: TASTELESS, SENSELESS JOKE FOLLOWS!

Want a new parrot? I'll ship my wife's Patagonian Conure to you, free of charge, plus I'll include a $50 reception gift!
Okay, thank you for your indulgence.

JOKE OVER.