Which parrot should I get: Senegal / Conuer / or other

[SuzanneB]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to purchase a bird for under $500 that is a good talker, funny, is nice to the entire family, and is not too loud. I have been researching this and found the Senegal and Conure but have no experience with either. Would someone mind explaining which is a better talker, which is funnier, which will bond with more than one person. I truly appreciate your help. Thanks!

 

[Lori]

I have a Senegal. He is young, starting to talk a lot. I have a friend with an 8 Y/O Senegal who says nothing. Its an individual thing. Some will talk some choose not to. My bird is friendly but hates one of my sons. He loves the other one. He will go to most people but if he dont like you thats it no changing his mind. He is learning to come on command, very playful. Will lay on his back and play, will eat anything and steal food from my kids if he has the chance. He is not loud his only bad habit I can think of is he likes to through food at my B/F for attention. He is the only one this happens to.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Just as Lori said the characteristics you are looking for vary greatly even within a species. But conures and senegals could each fit the bill, I am a bit partial to conures...

Another bird to consider, while this is definitely not my forte, would be Quaker parakeets. Generally these can make good family parrots with talking ability in that price range.

 

[TexDot33]

I am looking to purchase a bird for under $500 that is a good talker, funny, is nice to the entire family, and is not too loud.

Hi Suzanne ... I wanted to give you my input on this topic. I, like Auggie's Dad, am very partial to conures ... I have two, one of which is a sunny. I love my sunny, she is a sweetheart and one of the 'feathered loves' (and she loves ... LOVES to cuddle) of my life. I do not, however, think that she would, in any way, fit into the description you have up here.

Firstly, a sunny is LOUD, no two ways about it, she squawks/screams/screeches and doesn't talk. I know that sun conures fall into that "talking parrot" category, but I have yet to see one that actually has recognizable speech. Does Hamlet talk, oh yes, is it human words and understandable, not really.

Secondly, conures as a species do tend to be one/two people birds if not socialized correctly. Hamlet will lunge at people who she doesn't know, if we have visitors over, or family over, we have to be very careful with her. Hamlet is very bonded to me, and will tolerate my fiancee when it's necessary (or on her terms) ... Now, is this because we raised her incorrectly? No, because our other bird, and another option that I might suggest isn't really like that ... I think that Hamlet's attitude has a lot to do with how she was raised and hand fed from her breeder.

Have you looked into a Green Cheek Conure? Mac-Mac is my other conure, he's curious, loves people, has recognizable speech, and isn't as loud as Hamlet ... might be a breed that you might want to look into ... another thing that want to put out there is how "loud" is "loud", because "loud" is really a relative term ... is Mac quiet, no. Does he make as much sound as Hamlet, YES, because he goes through his vocabulary more often ... so, noise levels are relative to the bird and to the household.

Please feel free to ask anymore questions you can think of ... we would love to help you out!

:50:

 

[danewillow]

Have you considered adopting a bird? You can get most any kind of bird for much less than buying one as a baby. With an adult bird you'll know of its talking ability, whether it likes men or women or both, how loud it is, etc. The rescues around here seem to have pretty much every kind of bird you could imagine.

Julie

 

[SuzanneB]

THANK YOU EVERYONE for your great input.

I have thought about a Green Cheek, but didn't know about Mac-Mac's - thanks I'll look into that. I haven't thought about adopting because this bird is really for my 12 year old daughter (who is very responsible) and she really wants to work with and teach the bird to talk. We do need a bird that will like the entire family or I think feelings will get hurt. All the animals love me, probably because I feed them, but I am expecting my daughter to be the primary care giver. Loud to me is LOUD, not just talking or babbling, but LOUD screams/screeches/ the ear piercing kind of stuff. I know my hubby couldn't handle that.

I am prone to buy the Senegal; however, I "think" Conures are more goofy - clownish. That is my only hold back.

Also, our family plans to go on a three week vacation down the Grand Canyon River in June, so I am NOT planning to purchase a bird until after we get back. I assume that is a good plan??? However, I have found a Senegal that I think is real cute but she is 3 months old already and I'm concerned about her getting older without constant handling and attention. Should I be concerned about this?

Thanks again for all your help!

-Suzanne

 

[TexDot33]

I have thought about a Green Cheek, but didn't know about Mac-Mac's - thanks I'll look into that.

Look into that one all you want, you'll never find a "Mac-Mac" ... that's just his name ... my Green Cheek Conure's name is Mac-Mac ...

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I wanted to mention a couple things to be prepared for, while you sound like you are gathering good information already getting a bird is a big decision and you need to be prepared for anything.

"LOUD screams/screeches/ the ear piercing kind of stuff. I know my hubby couldn't handle that."
Screaming and screeching is part of parrots life. They are used to calling to flock-members at the other end of a loud forrest... then we put them in our home. You can absolutely train them to minimize it, and many birds get on a fairly good schedule - but every parrot I know of has at least one screaming time per day that the owner either needs to enjoy, or just suck it up and deal with it. I'm of the latter camp, and it sounds like your husband
will be too - just make sure everyone in the home knows that birds ARE ear-piercingly loud on a regular basis. Again, with a good home and training it will be far from constant and it may even be predictable, but it will be part of life.

Next, as far as training a bird to talk... In my experience of leading many pet training classes I have learned that many children can be very responsible when it comes to caring for and training pets, often more so than the adults so I do not doubt that of your daughter. But if training a parrot to talk is her goal make sure she is prepared for the reality that there is a good chance the parrot you pick will not talk much, or perhaps not at all. Conures and senegals absolutely CAN learn to talk, but it is not their strength, and some go through their very happy life never learning a single human word. My conure Auggie, after a couple years together, can now say 3 or 4 words, but I doubt anyone but me would recognize them as words. There are other parrots who are much better at talking (I think African Greys would be one such bird) but they don't meet your other criteria. In other words you should all be prepared for the fact that teaching a bird to talk is nothing like teaching a dog obedience. With the right techniques any dog can be taught basic obedience in a relatively quick period of time and the owners can SEE the progress. In contrast training a bird to speak, especially conures, can be a lifelong journey that may or may not have noteworthy results.

Whatever goals one MAY have in mind for a relationship with their parrot the parrot has other goals. Owning a parrot is an incredibly rewarding experience that is full of surprises... go in expecting the unexpected and you and your family will get great joy from owning a parrot who will display their own individual personality every moment of every day. In this way owning a parrot (or being owned by one) is more like having a child than having a pet - they will not be who you expected them to be, but they will be wonderful just the same.

 

[Tracy842]

Well I have a senegal and love her to pieces, she is quite clownish and acrobatic just a blast to play with and watch. She can talk moderatly but tends to pick up stuff I didn't intend on her learning. She can be noisey at times but that comes with the territory of any bird. Have you considered a cockatiel?

 

[TexDot33]

... She can talk moderatly but tends to pick up stuff I didn't intend on her learning ...

Oh Tracy, you have ruined my image of you ... I didn't think you said those kinds of words ... :18:

 

[birdcrazy]

hi welcome to the forum!

I don't want to discourage you but from what i have read a bird really doesn't sound like the right pet for your family.

the good talker can never be guaranteed no matter how much your daughter works with him. Make sure she loves the bird for who he is. Although talking is cool in my opinion it should not be considered when picking out the individual bird. If this is the main thing that attracts you to birds buy one that already talks.

nice to the entire family and not too loud are also factors that can not be guaranteed.

even with proper socialization the bird is almost for sure going to pick a favorite person

my expereince with my jenday conure

he is ear piercingly loud for over an hour a day - just because he's a conure
he loves me barely tolerates my dad and goes out of his way to attack anyone else. His bite is VERY painful and the bite wound if it breaks the skin almost always gets infected.

he is funny - usually when the ear piercing screaming is going on.

please realize that birds are a lifelong commitment. What else is your daughter looking for in a pet? maybe i could suggest something a little quieter and friendlier to everyone.

i got my first bird when i was 12 - and still have her today as i am getting ready to off to college. you are doing the right thing thinking everything out keep up the good work.

 

[Tracy842]

Oh Tracy, you have ruined my image of you ... I didn't think you said those kinds of words ... :18:

LOL Well she don't use those words but she just won't pick up the things I want her to learn like good night, i love you. Her favorite thing to say is come here.

 

[Riley's mom]

I have both, a senegal and a green cheeked conure. They are both fantastic birds. Quiet, great family birds, but the conure talks, the senegal sometimes. Good luck.

 

[Tomsde]

You might want to try a cockatiel first. I had one cockatiel for 9 1/2 years and another for 10 1/2 years. Hand fed baby cockatiels are inexpensive and very affectionate. Males are more likely to talk, but don't have a huge vocabulary. They are low maintaneance compared to other parrots. It is a good beginners bird; the green cheeked conure would be my 2nd pick, definitely go with a hand raised one though--they are very affectionate. Green cheeks aren't great talkers either though.

If talking ability is important to you, I echo the above sentiments, get a bird that is already talking since there is no guarantee that your bird will talk.

 

[parrotqueen]

A senegal might be more ideal for you.

The reason why is, they have clearer speech like you wanted, and they aren't quite as loud as the conure. Not to say that Senegals don't scream, it just isn't as bad. A well entertained Senegal will go on to be a quiet, sweet little bird.

The only problem that the Senegal develops is that it commonly will bond with only 1-2 people. This can be fixed by socializing it with everyone while it is still young.

Conures are still really cuddly and interactive, and enjoy a lot of rough-housing (but not too rough), thus making them popular too.

 

[Spiritbird]

Since this is an old thread I wonder which one she did get.