Never had a parrot before, which type should I get?

[ravvlet]

I find taking care of an parrot to be kind of grounding? They do really well with routine, and as an ADHD person I’m really bad at keeping up with a routine for myself - but knowing he’s depending on me keeps me honest and makes me try harder.

 

[Truepacifist]

Thing is, even arguably the most domesticated parrots (budgies and I guess cockatiels?) Arguably really are not. So many posts on this site about completely wild and untamed budgies and cockatiels who will not be handled and run away from humans out of fear. Before I knew much about birds, someone told me budgies have been in captivity for so long, they would no longer survive in their native habitat in the wild.

 

[Truepacifist]

This thread has turned into My Parrot Thoughts lmao. Hope no one minds but with my autism especially I tend to hyperfixate on topics

 

[Cottonoid]

I am a research-to-death personality myself so no worries there

 

[Truepacifist]

Is it possible for a bird to just never bond with their caretaker? Even after years of effort, they only tolerate the human when food is involved, and never enjoy being around them?

 

[ravvlet]

Is it possible for a bird to just never bond with their caretaker? Even after years of effort, they only tolerate the human when food is involved, and never enjoy being around them?

Yep, it sure is. They have strong preferences just like people. I mean, I suspect they’d become more tolerant over time unless they’d had previous bad experiences that lead them to be reluctant to form bonds with people - so I don’t think it’s super common, but I don’t think it’s impossible. Kirby really didn’t like anyone at his previous house; he apparently did ok until they introduced him to another Amazon & he bonded to the bird instead of the people, and when they rehomed the second bird he had no interest in the people whatsoever. It was a weird situation and I might be misremembering it, but I’m certain they were not able to handle him when we came to get him.

 

[Truepacifist]

I feel like I've caught the parrot bug. I keep going back to the shop to spend time with my little one and also the other parrots. They're all so sweet and beautiful in their own ways. I'm shocked how charmed I am by the lovebirds and budgies, and I've developed a huge amount of respect for the macaw. After doing some research there's a woman who has 32 rescued cockatoos and macaws locally, who has people from the area help her with their care if they're interested. I reached out to her via Facebook and she said she'd love to meet me for coffee and I can help out with things like feeding if I want some experience caring for bigger birds.

 

[Truepacifist]

When people talk about the smartest animals which are most like humans, you'll usually hear apes, dolphins, maybe corvids, perhaps octopi, but people really rarely say parrots. I wonder why they don't come to mind as often? Imo parrots are on the same level as all those other animals.

 

[Truepacifist]

This article ranks grey parrots below cats and pigeons in intelligence. No clue how they figured that one out

Smartest Animals In The World: 15 Most Intelligent Ranked✔️

Ever wondered what the smartest animals in the world are? Explore the 15 most intelligent animals, along with examples of why each species makes the list.

safarisafricana.com

 

[Rozalka]

Such rankings aren't really reliable. For really long time I thought that African grey parrots have generally the best talking abilities among parrots because that's what many sources say.... but after more research I realized that they have similar abilities as "hot 3" amazons species. Another thing is that every person doing such rankings may have different understanding of the subject - for example budgies are able to learn many words but their speech isn't clear. A similar thing may be with intelligence

And another thing - nobody knows everything (eg all species). I've seen you writing that African grey are told to be the smartest parrots... According to researches keas are the first birds proven to be as smart as some primates, so if somebody would ask me about the smartest parrots, I'd say keas.

 

[Truepacifist]

Such rankings aren't really reliable. For really long time I thought that African grey parrots have generally the best talking abilities among parrots because that's what many sources say.... but after more research I realized that they have similar abilities as "hot 3" amazons species. Another thing is that every person doing such rankings may have different understanding of the subject - for example budgies are able to learn many words but their speech isn't clear. A similar thing may be with intelligence

And another thing - nobody knows everything (eg all species). I've seen you writing that African grey are told to be the smartest parrots... According to researches keas are the first birds proven to be as smart as some primates, so if somebody would ask me about the smartest parrots, I'd say keas.

I think a lot of people want to get the smartest, flashiest, "best" parrot for whatever reason. Like everyone's dream bird is a big or rare bird or one known for speaking etc. But then those are the mostly commonly rehomed birds.

 

[onamom]

When does your conure come home? We need to see pictures of your new baby!

 

[Truepacifist]

When does your conure come home? We need to see pictures of your new baby!

Saturday! I'm so excited!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

GUYS HELP

I went to visit the conure again today who I've already bought and paid for (waiting for all supplies to be here before I bring her home) and they had CLIPPED HER WINGS in preparation for her going to a new home?? Is this normal?? I did not ask for it!

Not normal to do it without asking! You paid for him, so he was YOURS! I'm not against wing clipping if it's done conservatively because it's safer for a bird if it can't get injured flying into things or escaping, so they may have saved your bird's life, but they should have asked first. However, I wouldn't make a huge stink about it. They will grow back.

 

[Truepacifist]

Okay so I couldn't wait and I went to pick her up last night... I used my friends bird carrier because mine won't be here until Saturday morning which was the last thing holding me back

Here is a pic I managed to get while transferring between the travel cage and the big cage

 

[Rozalka]

Congrats!

She's so cute! Looking like my Zenek

 

[Truepacifist]

I'm sooo nervous lol. She did try to bite me when I first opened the pet carrier but it was my fault as she couldn't really see what I was doing when I was messing with the zip, so I think she just lunged at the weird moving object. She's scared and in a new environment so I don't expect anything else! It was the evening so I just turned out the lights and went to bed. It's early here now but I'll get up in an hour or two and greet her... I have some of the food she was eating at the pet shop. Should I just give that alone or introduce a bit of the pellets and fresh veg from the start? Mixed in ofc

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Okay so I couldn't wait and I went to pick her up last night... I used my friends bird carrier because mine won't be here until Saturday morning which was the last thing holding me back

Here is a pic I managed to get while transferring between the travel cage and the big cage

View attachment 47479

Awww! What a sweetheart! Congratulations!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm sooo nervous lol. She did try to bite me when I first opened the pet carrier but it was my fault as she couldn't really see what I was doing when I was messing with the zip, so I think she just lunged at the weird moving object. She's scared and in a new environment so I don't expect anything else! It was the evening so I just turned out the lights and went to bed. It's early here now but I'll get up in an hour or two and greet her... I have some of the food she was eating at the pet shop. Should I just give that alone or introduce a bit of the pellets and fresh veg from the start? Mixed in ofc

I'd give her the food she's been eating. She needs something familiar to make her feel secure.

 

[onamom]

I'm sooo nervous lol. She did try to bite me when I first opened the pet carrier but it was my fault as she couldn't really see what I was doing when I was messing with the zip, so I think she just lunged at the weird moving object. She's scared and in a new environment so I don't expect anything else! It was the evening so I just turned out the lights and went to bed. It's early here now but I'll get up in an hour or two and greet her... I have some of the food she was eating at the pet shop. Should I just give that alone or introduce a bit of the pellets and fresh veg from the start? Mixed in ofc

Congrats!! And welcome home little one. Do you have a name yet? Keep her on the same food she is used to for now. You can start mixing in the food you want to change her to to in about a week or so depending on how she is settling in and eating.