Re: Cockatiels and African Grey as beginner birds?
There is no such thing as a "beginner" parrot, unfortunately. That's like asking if there is a good beginner child to practice on before you have one of your own. Parrots live a long time. They are very intelligent and require a lot of interaction and attention, toys to play with and chew up, proper nutrition, expensive veterinary care for their fragile systems, and more human contact than you might expect. In nature, they live in flocks, and are very social animals. You will be their only flock and if they don't get enough attention, they can develop unwanted behaviors like screaming, biting and plucking out their feathers. These behaviors sometimes get them moved into more distant parts of the home where they are even more stressed and lonely and might go insane. It is a tragic thing that happens far too often.
So, don't think of the bird as something to practice on, think of it as a living companion that could live as long as you do, and will be completely dependent on you for everything, like a three year old child forever. If you still feel drawn to one, consider these things:
You must find a certified avian vet near you where you can take the bird in an emergency as well as for yearly checkups. By the time a bird looks sick, it is always an emergency because they hide their illnesses.
I have lived in Kuwait, and the UAE is too hot for an outside aviary. The birds must be inside.
The birds must be in the same part of the home as the humans. If they are on another floor or distant room, they will hear you but not see you and will call, scream, and become stressed at being apart from the rest of the "flock".
Birds can start off loving and interactive, then decide they hate you, bite you, and fall in love with the maid or with someone in the family who doesn't want to interact with them. They can decide to hate everyone. They can switch the person they love. They can love one person and hate everyone else. You have no control over this.
They require special diets and scrupulous cleaning of the cage.
I know some people keep small flocks of colorful finches or other small birds in indoor aviaries. They enjoy the beauty of the birds. The birds need the same care in diet, veterinary care, etc, but they interact with one another in the flock and don't require or want much interaction with the people. I have a friend who had several cockatiels, and they were only interested in each other and didn't want anything to do with the humans. But then you don't get the talking, the interaction that makes parrots so interesting.
In sum, parrots are very high maintenance, can be very rewarding but need a spectacular amount of time, money and attention to flourish, and even then there is no guarantee the relationship will work. It is not an arrangement to be entered into lightly.
