Need help choosing what species

[Disturbed]

I am really interesting in getting a pet bird. It seems to fit me the best, so now I just need to figure out what species.

The few I was looking at goes as follows

cockatiel
conure
love bird


I want to be able to bond with the bird, and be able to hold it. I want it to be my little buddy. I have a full time job, but I will still have time to care for the bird.

I also want to make sure whatever bird I choose isn't too loud. I am open to any suggestions, I am eager to hear from you.

 

[Allee]

Hello and welcome! Considering the qualities you are looking for, I would personally choose a cockatiel, although the lovie would probably be the least noisy of the three. Good luck with your search. Let us know what you decide.

 

[EAI]

All really great species! But if your'e thinking about Conures, I'd suggest Green Cheeks and other Pyrrhura Conures because they are quiet for their species. There are quite a bunch of different subspecies but they generally are "alike".

Are you settled in a house or an apartment? And if you're in a house, is it close to neighbors?

 

[LeaKP]

Whatever you choose will be great! I've owned all three and loved them all. My tiels were vocal but not loud, they whistled a lot. They were cuddly and fun but if you have allergies they might not be the bird for you as they can be "dusty." Lovebirds are beautiful and canbe cuddly but need more interaction than the other two to remain cuddly. Mine were a bit louder than the tiels. My green cheek conure is generally the quietest one. He's also cuddly and not dusty as the tiels can be. He doesn't whistle like my tiels tho. His voice is low and gravely. Sometimes he will call for me when he sees me around and wants attention.

All three love cuddles and attention. I work full time as well but have my bird out at least 4 hours a day (sometimes more).

Good luck!

 

[Birdman666]

My suggestion would be green cheek conure. One of the best Trick trainable birds out there, attention oriented, pair bond bird, love the "conure spot," If properly socialized will go to anyone. Not very loud for a conure. Least loud of the conures.

I've had bad luck with lovebirds myself.

 

[4dugnlee]

I've never had lovebirds but they are beautiful little birds. I had cockatiels years ago and they were great...not too noisy...but as others have said very dusty. As for conures I can say with certainty if you don't want noise don't get a sun...lol. I, too, would say if you go with a conure make it a green cheek or the like. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Roanoke]

I don't know much about lovebirds, but your options are all great for beginners! If you don't have very much time to play with the bird then I'd go with the cockatiel. Conures and lovebirds, from what I've heard, can become very ill-tempered f you don't spend enough time with them.

 

[Disturbed]

So I just wrote a long post on my phone, and it failed to post. So here I am on my laptop re-writing what I was trying to say.

I thank you all for all the support and suggestions. I appreciate it very much. Im starting to think I might want the green cheek conure. The other day when I was at my local petsmart I saw one in a cage there. Seemed like a really cool bird. Currently I am living in a house, but will hopefully move into an apartment sometime soon. If all the birds I mentioned are pretty quiet for the most part though, would it matter if Im living in a house or an apartment?

And I guessing if I do decide to go with the green cheek conure, I should find one somewhere other than petsmart right?

 

[RainbowRose]

Lovebirds can be kind of loud and hit or miss in terms of bonding. I have had several lovebirds and never really clicked with any of them like I have with other birds. They're beautiful birds though.

Conures I personally never owned, but I do know they are loud. Good to bond with, but loud. Greek cheeks I have heard are the quietest, as some have stated already. However I would suggest going on youtube and listening to a conures "scream" so you can think about it. Same with lovebirds. Cause mine used to screech sometimes, it got kind of irritating at times and one bonded less the more I was in school and work full time.

Cockatiels I would suggest is the best for a beginner bird. They do whistle a lot. I've never heard one screech or scream, I don't think they tend to do that. They are definitely cuddlers and will bond. I don't think they will be as taken back if you are gone for extended periods of time.

I would suggest a cockatiel

 

[RainbowRose]

I don't know much about lovebirds, but your options are all great for beginners! If you don't have very much time to play with the bird then I'd go with the cockatiel. Conures and lovebirds, from what I've heard, can become very ill-tempered f you don't spend enough time with them.

Yes this is what happened will all of my previous lovebirds, which is why I stopped keeping them as pets because I felt bad that my schedule would be hectic and sporadic at times. They only distanced themselves from me after that.

 

[Birdman666]

I had three conures, two amazons and a macaw in an apartment setting.

No noise complaints.

 

[LeaKP]

My green cheek is not loud at all. I do spend lots of time with him, playing and just hanging out. I've also taught him to be at his play station or cage while I'm home so he doesn't overbond. I think something we parronts need to do is interact enough with our birds it seems to keep them happier, sociable, and not overly screechy for attention.

 

[cassiepengo]

Well i have a lovebird and trust me she is LOUD. I can hear her in the parking lot even though we are on the fourth floor!! But other than the noise part, they are amazing. Same as what everyone is saying, they do actually need a lot of attention. I cant say much about conures but maybe a tiel would be fine get whatever you feel like, ALL birds are special in their own way

 

[Abigal7]

To be honest I had a green cheek conure and cockatiel growing up. They would both fit the bill in a lot of what you would want. My cockatiel was fine and alright when waiting for me to get home from school. If you get a conure I would make sure the bird has plenty of toys to play with until you can come home to spend time with it. A cockatiel is not loud but from my experience they are for the most part never quiet and if you get annoyed easily a cockatiel that whistles almost all the time might get old. As already stated conures can be loud but conures such as green cheek conures are not as loud as other species of conures. I never owned a lovebird but there are people on this forum that do and they love them. I only knew a couple of people (when growing up) that had lovebirds but they did not spend time with the bird or they put two lovebirds in together so the birds were only bonded to each other. I love both cockatiels and green cheek conures but in all honest I am more partial to conures for their more parrot like personality.

 

[andrea.b]

I recently got a green cheek conure. She's fantastic and super friendly, loves to be held and soaks up attention like a sponge. I would definitely describe her as a "buddy". However, just a note about the noise that I wish I would have known before I got her.

They say that Green Cheek Conures are quiet, and they are, in relation to other conures which are generally quite loud. During the day Connie is pretty quiet and doesn't screech often. She does, however, screech every morning and every night which is quite typical of most birds I think. I kept her cage in my room because I share my house with 5 roommates. I got used to being woken up at 7:30-8 and didn't mind it because I've always been a morning person. I actually stopped setting my alarm because she was such a reliable alarm clock.

When my roommates moved in with me in september they complained that Connie woke them up and she was too loud, even though she is relatively a quite bird. So now Connie lives at my boyfriends house who lives within a 5 minute walk from my house. I still get to she her every day. Im very lucky that I had a back up, but a lot of people arent that lucky and they end up having to sell their bird.

I thought that I was in a good situation to have a bird but looking back know that I truly know what having a bird involves I would rethink until I had a house of my own.

So, keep that in mind. I'm not saying don't get a Conure. I'm just saying, that when people say Green Cheek Conures are relatively quiet, the essential word there is "relatively".

An additional note, my boyfriend had cockatiels. He said that Connie (our conure) makes less noise through out the day (besides her morning and night screeching she just makes little grumbly noises that you can't hear unless your in his room). His cockatiels made noise all day but they whistled and made nice noises that weren't particularly loud. When I'm in my boyfriend's living room on the ground floor and Connie calls to us (screeches)I can hear her from his bedroom upstairs with the door closed.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

My green cheek is loud. Not as loud as my sun, but she is not quiet. She alarm calls when the postman comes around or someone rings our doorbell. She alarm calls if someone walks into the room with a large object, such as a guitar or big water bottle. She also screeches when me or kids leave the house and when we get home. We could care less about the noise, however others would be bothered.

I agree with Andrea above.

 

[veimar]

I have all three, and cockatiel is the cuddliest, the green cheek is most fun and inquisitive, and lovie is the cutest and smartest one. My gcc and lovebird are very tame, but don't like to be held though. My tiel is also very calm, and I take him to walks with me (in a harness).