Questions about new budgie…

[mkc1911]

Hey, guys, new here. I had some birds as a kid, but this is my first time having a bird as an adult. I just got a new parakeet, and I have a couple of questions.

1. He seems to be extremely well-adjusted; when I got him home and in his cage, he almost immediately started exploring, playing with toys, eating the food. He showed no sign of being afraid or anxious. He also doesn’t startle when I come up to the cage, change his food/water, or open the cage door. Now, he doesn’t want to have physical contact with me just yet, but I don’t think he’ll take long to warm up. Anyway, is this normal? I’ve seen birds that just lay on the floor of the cage, cowering, for hours after they’ve been brought home. I’ve never seen a bird that was so instantly “at home” in a new cage.
2. I talk to him a lot. Sometimes he sits and listens, other times he just goes about his business, seemingly ignoring me (is this a bad thing or is it normal?). When he does listen, he frequently closes his eyes while I talk. Sometimes he grinds his beak, and a few times he’s “talked” back, just little chirps and tweets which seem to be in response to my talking. What does all this mean?
3. He seems very curious, and sometimes I see him looking at something and it’s obvious he’s working out a problem in his head. This makes me feel like he’s intelligent; are curious birds generally more intelligent than others, or is it unrelated?

Thank you all for taking time out to answer me!

 

[Jcas]

Congratulations on your new bird!
It’s great that he is already starting to settle in! I have both bought and adopted parakeets ( budgerigar is technically the species most commonly referred to as parakeets so I’m assuming that’s what your bird is 🙂) from different circumstances and in general they seem to settle in pretty fast.

Talking to your bird is great and the fact that he is closing his eyes and beak grinding when you speak is a sign that he is very relaxed in your presence. Birds will sometimes do their own thing so don’t worry if he doesn’t always want to interact with you; budgies in particular are very high energy and like to be moving and doing! If he’s chirping back to you, that’s his way of engaging in conversation!

I feel like curiosity is a sign of intelligence and the more opportunities an animal has to figure things out ( like puzzle toys for example) the more they are able to expand their natural intelligence. My first parakeet, Bogey, was probably the most curious bird I’ve had and probably the most intelligent budgie I’ve owned. Sometimes the smart ones get into more mischief if they don’t have enough to do!

It sounds like you have a really lovely little bird and I hope the two of you develop a beautiful relationship ❤️

 

[clark_conure]

Things sound great!

I let mine out in my den (man cave) aviary, then at night I flash the lights on and off and they know to go back to the cage where they feel safe. Longest its ever taken is maybe a few minutes.

This is how funny they can be.....

 

[Free as a bird]

Hey, guys, new here. I had some birds as a kid, but this is my first time having a bird as an adult. I just got a new parakeet, and I have a couple of questions.

1. He seems to be extremely well-adjusted; when I got him home and in his cage, he almost immediately started exploring, playing with toys, eating the food. He showed no sign of being afraid or anxious. He also doesn’t startle when I come up to the cage, change his food/water, or open the cage door. Now, he doesn’t want to have physical contact with me just yet, but I don’t think he’ll take long to warm up. Anyway, is this normal? I’ve seen birds that just lay on the floor of the cage, cowering, for hours after they’ve been brought home. I’ve never seen a bird that was so instantly “at home” in a new cage.
2. I talk to him a lot. Sometimes he sits and listens, other times he just goes about his business, seemingly ignoring me (is this a bad thing or is it normal?). When he does listen, he frequently closes his eyes while I talk. Sometimes he grinds his beak, and a few times he’s “talked” back, just little chirps and tweets which seem to be in response to my talking. What does all this mean?
3. He seems very curious, and sometimes I see him looking at something and it’s obvious he’s working out a problem in his head. This makes me feel like he’s intelligent; are curious birds generally more intelligent than others, or is it unrelated?

Thank you all for taking time out to answer me!

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new budgie.
I'll try and address your concerns
1. Every bird is different in character some are more shy than others but yours is settling well by the sounds of it
2. They love being spoken to, sung to, being looked at, they love that attention even if it may look like their ignoring you at times.
3. I would say curiosity is a sign of intelligence and those little creatures have definitely got some level of intelligence.
I'm not sure if your bird was hand raised. If it is then it will be easy to handle if it's not then it will be difficult to tame but not impossible