New & Need help choosing the right bird for my family?!

[kdn24]

Hi,

My family is currently looking for the right bird for us, I'm an experienced bird owner and have hand fed and had a parrotlet, sun conure and budgies. I had a very hard divorce and had to let go of all of my pets because I knew I wouldn't be able to afford them so I found each of them loving homes. My father has my Sun Conure and one Budgie that leave peacefully together and now that life has taken a turn for the better I'm interested in getting another Bird. They have a wonderful home with him, he lives alone so I wouldn't dream of taking them away from him. They've lived with him for 4years now.
Back to what we are looking for. My family consists of me, my fiance and my 6year old son. I work part time and he works full time and we all understand Birds can be noisy and have bouts of being very loud. However, we are looking for a quieter species of bird, but one that is very playful and personable. The bird will have a lot of out of cage time and we are just looking for a bird that won't screech and scream at all hours of the day. I was thinking of a parrotlet, quaker, or lineolated parakeet. But I;m open to many differen kinds of birds!
My dads Sun Conure is a wonderful bird but boy when he gets in the mood he can scream for hours on end even when you try everything in the world to figure out what he wants!

I have a 24"x24" cage I believe 36" High I know it is quite a ways taller than it is wide. I don't mind to buy a larger cage if I were to get a larger parrot, but I'm thinking this should suit most smaller-medium sized birds since we also will be letting the bird out quite a bit & will have a play top on top of the cage. I make my own bird toys too so there will be plenty to do in his cage.

Any suggestions?
Look forward to being apart of the forum and meeting everyone and their birds.
Thank you!

 

[Captsteve]

I would add cockatiels to your short list, they are very common for good reason. They are friendly, easy to handle and can talk. Best of all they are on the quieter side and a pair of them would keep each other company and quiet and still fit in your cage.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

A cockatiel would be a great family bird, and maybe a green cheek conure could be added to your 'maybe' list.
So often in the end it comes down to the individual family and the individual bird, but it seems you are looking in that general size range and these birds fit in nicely!

 

[kdn24]

Thank you, I had looked at the Green Cheeks but I was worried they would be to loud, I know they are supposed to be quiter than their sun conure cousins. Are Cockatiels and Green Cheeks as playful as say a parrotlet? Little parrotlets are just to funny! I think I am pretty set on a parrotlet but I am still very open to others.

What can you tell me about personal experiences with indian ringnecks? I have read they can be pretty loud, just wondering about personal experiences with them.

What about quakers?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

Being from NJ, my experience with quakers is from books, magazines and this forum!! Parrotlets are very endearing, for sure. I am somewhat partial to the green cheeks because i have a fondness for conures in general. In my opinion, they are not loud (but i had a sun conure. That is LOUD.)

Indian ringnecks are one of the most beautiful birds (i think) and i sometimes have 'envy' and wish i had one, but i have no personal experience with one. Someone else could better answer that.

 

[MikeyTN]

Green cheeks are very playful birds! Cockatiels are playful in my book but some people don't think so. Quakers are super smart playful birds. IRN can be very noisy same with Quaker, but some people consider parakeets to be noisy. Dunno what your noise tolerance level is as most birds can be noisy.

 

[sofiaee]

Green cheeks can definitely be loud and quite often for attention. But they do have really great personalities. I haven't had a sun conure though so maybe in comparison it isn't really as loud as I think?

I think indian ringnecks are so interesting! I wish I could have all the birds I was interested in but that would be overwhelming. I've heard that they aren't as cuddly as a whole but there are quite a few that are still cuddly. They have very interesting feathering. Mostly I watch videos of Bowie on youtube haha

 

[Calace]

I too was going to suggest a cockatiel. They are gorgeous birds and in my experience (the 2 I have owned" they LOVE playtime. My Zac couldn't get enough scritches and absolutely loved to snuggle and even "wrestle" with my husband. They are not too noisy (except when calling for you- generally when they first see you after getting home). Loved my cockatiels! Oh and they were great with my kids too. Not too bitey and if they did bite it was more a soft 'beaking'. Never drew blood (at least not the hand raised ones!)

 

[kdn24]

Thank you for all the suggestions and information!!
I found a semi-local breeder that breeds cockatiels and lovebirds, she has handfed babies available of both and I am really thinking about getting a baby bird from her. I'm just still so undecided about what bird I want. After all the reading and videos I have watched I am really leaning towards a cockatiel. The beautiful colors of the lovebirds and parrotlets and GCC are more appealing to me but in the end it matters about personality and other qualities that will make a certain bird the best bird for our family. She has a male cockatiel baby that is 9weeks I think that has been hand tamed but not worked with a lot at this point and then 5 babies that will be ready in 3-4weeks! I'm just still so undecided. I unfortunately do NOT have many local birds breeders of any kind in the area so it's exciting to find a breeder I'm just trying my best not to jump into a decision.

The lovebirds she has are BEAUTIFUL! Then the cockatiel babies that will be ready in 3-4weeks will be lutino, gray lutino?, some pied colors as well. She told me I just dont know much about the color mutations of cockatiels.
I really like that cockatiels are more laid back, they can possibly be better talkers than plets/lovebirds, they arent AS nippy and if they do nip their bite isn't as painful (I've got a 6yr old), They enjoy human interaction if continually worked with and trained. Now just to stop being so indecisive! lol Anything else I should know?

She said this particular cockatiel baby was handfed and worked with BUT she clipped all the tiels wings and they werent as interested in her and unfortunately she hasn't continued to work with them as much. If I were to take this male I'm wondering how hard it would be to tame him? Or maybe it would be best to wait on the younger babies.

 

[sofiaee]

I don't think you could go wrong with a cockatiel. Plus they seem to be able to learn songs pretty well and their voices are freaking adorable

For instance : [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=O7D-1RG-VRk]?????????????cockatiel singing Totoro - YouTube[/ame]

Hope it's okay to include video links!

About hand taming, it honestly just depends on if you're willing to work with him. I just got a new green cheek from a couple who lost interest in their birds and she had hardly been taken out of cage the past couple months. I've only had her for a bit over a week but she's already beginning to trust me a bit more and is doing fairly well being trained. I suggest barbara heidenreich's good bird inc blog to get lots of good training info. I can't imagine such a young bird would be that hard to work with though.

Again I don't know all that much firsthand about cockatiels though

 

[DallyTsuka]

cockatiels are pretty easy to hand tame, compared to birds like lovebirds.


lovebirds can pack a hard bite, especially hormonal hens.


as for tiels, generally the males whistle and might talk, but the females do not generally do so. its extremely rare, but can happen. both make great pets.

you can hear my male talking here:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnpOOQn238k]Tsuka Talking January 2013 - YouTube[/ame]



but not all of them will talk. my male tiel is a horrible whistler too LOL he's a talker though.

but tiels are so gentle and laid back.


my female tiel enjoys little kids too, she is extremely laid back

you can see her here being pet by multiple younger kids (ages 4-12) when she was out for a walk a few years back

 

[MikeyTN]

To me she didn't socialize them enough, wing clipping wouldn't bother them to be socialized if she trained them properly! I clip my babies too and they're just as sweet before being clipped! Unfortunately even if they were handfed to begin with if she doesn't socialize them to begin with they can become quite mean in a very short period. I have one that ended up being mean, it happened when I was super busy with my backyard project. Then I was very ill.....

 

[kdn24]

To me she didn't socialize them enough, wing clipping wouldn't bother them to be socialized if she trained them properly! I clip my babies too and they're just as sweet before being clipped! Unfortunately even if they were handfed to begin with if she doesn't socialize them to begin with they can become quite mean in a very short period. I have one that ended up being mean, it happened when I was super busy with my backyard project. Then I was very ill.....

Miley - you are probably right! At 9 weeks old I'm not sure how often she handled them. I know some people think just handling them long enough to hand feed will be enough but it isn't. Her lovebird babies are very tame I've gotten pics and stories of them all over the family and playing with them.
I've had question after question about her lovebirds and she said hers are no overly loud, she said if they were she couldn't take it. She did mention males are more vocal and like a lot of attention while females tend to be more independent in thinking compared.

Off topic, I found beautiful yellow split to blue parrotlet just a 20-25min drive from me! Oh how tempting they are just gorgeous! But I'm going to try to look at it like this if everything goes well with the cockatiel, then we don't have to completely limit ourselves to one bird. I'm going to speak to my fiancé today and see what he thinks before really deciding.

 

[kdn24]

I don't think you could go wrong with a cockatiel. Plus they seem to be able to learn songs pretty well and their voices are freaking adorable

For instance : ?????????????cockatiel singing Totoro - YouTube

Hope it's okay to include video links!

About hand taming, it honestly just depends on if you're willing to work with him. I just got a new green cheek from a couple who lost interest in their birds and she had hardly been taken out of cage the past couple months. I've only had her for a bit over a week but she's already beginning to trust me a bit more and is doing fairly well being trained. I suggest barbara heidenreich's good bird inc blog to get lots of good training info. I can't imagine such a young bird would be that hard to work with though.

Again I don't know all that much firsthand about cockatiels though

cockatiels are pretty easy to hand tame, compared to birds like lovebirds.


lovebirds can pack a hard bite, especially hormonal hens.


as for tiels, generally the males whistle and might talk, but the females do not generally do so. its extremely rare, but can happen. both make great pets.

you can hear my male talking here:

Tsuka Talking January 2013 - YouTube



but not all of them will talk. my male tiel is a horrible whistler too LOL he's a talker though.

but tiels are so gentle and laid back.


my female tiel enjoys little kids too, she is extremely laid back

you can see her here being pet by multiple younger kids (ages 4-12) when she was out for a walk a few years back

Thank you both! I love hearing a bird being 'gentle' & 'laid back' I have a 6yr old who is exceptionally good with animals and he does listen but I need a bird who are both of these things. The Tiel also looks and sounds comical and fun and they seem to really meet all our criteria and the possibility of talking or maybe at least some whistling sounds fun to! I loved the video and the pics of the Tiel with the kids is just amazing!
Are you taking your Tiel outside on a walk? I always wanted to with my birds but my sun conure hated the harness I had bought him so during warmer months we just say their cage outside for some outside time.

 

[Captsteve]

A Teil will take a lot of patience to get them to talk. you have to talk to them and repeat things over and over and over. It's a get job for a 6 year old to take on and there is a fantastic reward at the end!

 

[Seagulls]

I know you've already semi-decided on the breed but, here's my two cents.

Personally, I am a HUGE fan of the humble quaker. They may not be the prettiest parrot, but they just have such intelligence to them. Incredibly smart birds, whose vocabularies can rival an African Grey's. And like a grey, they can use their learned phrases in proper context.

They are also loving, playful, cuddly and have a great sense of humor. I had to keep my Frankie locked in his cage using a padlock, because he was quite the escape artist! Though I am not sure if they are legal where you live. They can also be cage aggressive, though mine never was except to strangers. Still a bird species to consider!

Of course, no small parrot species is going to really be "gentle" and "laid-back", that more depends on individual personality. All small birds tend to be nippy, and care should always be taken when mixing children and birds. Most tiels I've ever known are high-strung. Like, really high-strung.

 

[kdn24]

I know exactly what you mean about no bird really being gentle and quiet, however the consensus is that the tiels tend to be a little more so than say a parrotlet or lovebird. I've had a parrotlet and while I LOVE them I know how wild and nippy they can be and somewhat hormonal acting at times. The one I had wasnt all that loud until I moved it in with my dads sun conure and then he had a shrill that sounded like we literally had a car parked in our home with its ALARM going off! lol I understand this can be any bird and each bird no matter the species is going to be different as individual but I'm trying to choose off from the general consensus of what others have experienced or what the particular species is known for or not so known for.
I don't need a bird to talk or whistle or anything else, its a bonus but if it does not that isn't a big deal to me at all as long as its friendly and a personable bird then we will be happy. I just don't want a constant screamer lol

I will let you guys know what I decide, I have to say watching those little plets are just comical though. My Plet was super sweet but things were on HIS terms, he would have made me a good bird I think but going through a really bad divorce I didn't spend enough time with him. He LOVED my son though and even though he wanted things on his terms he would always land on my sons shoulders and head. Of course my son was 3 at the time and would run away lol but he just stayed on for the ride.

Anyway, enough rambling thanks everyone for the help on this decision! I'm just going to read some more, watch some more videos and go from there. I haven't even bought a thing for the cage yet, I still have my big bag of various bird toy parts I plan to make some here soon.

 

[kq_fan]

My GCC is not as loud as their cousins. They are vocal but not as screechy as the SC or JC. SC are the loudest in the conure family because they are the brightest.

 

[DallyTsuka]

well, if you are getting a young bird, work with the harness from a young age, they'll be more open to it, regardless of species you choose.

my male tiel is nippy when he is hormonal, but my female tiel has never bitten anyone, and she is incredibly gentle and friendly. kids of all ages can hold her and pet her. she doesnt mind even if they touch her feet or wings or tail she just sits there and puts her head down to be pet.

i have yet to meet a high strung tiel, and i've been around many. they are great family birds and are very gentle compared to others. their flock calls can be loud, but not any louder than a GCC in my opinion.

their pretty gentle on their toys too, but they like to play. they may not have the energy like a lovebird or parrotlet, they may not roll around and wrestle with their toys like a lovebird or plet, but they like to forage, they like to chew, and i find a favourite game of theirs is to take their foot toys, carry them to the side of the cage and then drop them onto the floor for you to pick up. their version of fetch, only YOU are the one who is fetching lol

they can live 15-25 years as average, but can make it into their 30s possibly with exceptional care and luck.


in my opinion, they are among the most gentle, easy-going, laid back and generally well-rounded parrots out there. not saying they are the best, but they are definitely a good one to consider. they aren't "one-person" birds either. sure they got their favourites, but they will go to anyone for attention and are not likely to attack any "rivals" to their chosen person like some other parrots do.

GCC, plets, quakers, linnies, and parakeets are all very good choices too.

also black capped conures are great too like GCC, only they're a bit more docile and a bit more calm.

 

[kdn24]

Even though the Tiel sounds like a great and wonderful bird, I just couldn't not say no to a Parrotlet after watching the youtube videos and reading about all their comical antics. I understand they can be more nippy than a tiel but we will deal either way.

This little guy will be coming home to us This weekend. He is a yellow split to blue and is from the person who has my original Blue parrotlet He to this day will NOT accept a mate so she just keeps him as a loved pet.
I'm very excited to share the news with my son after work today and get started making some toys for him and picking up a few other things for him to for his cage.

Anyway here is a picture of the little guy I am getting, the picture quality isn't the best but I asked if she could send some more if she had the time. She is about a 25ish minute drive for us so that makes things more convenient as well. He will almost be 7weeks when he comes home to us.

& Thank you all again for all the help.