Trying to choose a feathered friend

[Pajarita]

LOL - Yes, sunnies, jendays and sundays are the loudest along with the quakers. But even GCCs can be loud...

[Aphios]

Yes, but Sun Conures are often much louder. And though conures tend to be louder it really depends on the bird. As I said before, green cheek conures are generally rather quiet. Every bird has its pros and cons, we were worried about conures when we got them for the same reason, but I would say they are the best first bird. If you still think loudness is an issue though, you could try a quaker.

[Michael]

Keep in mind that different people have different perceptions of what a "quiet bird" is.

[Soven26]

I have had a few keets and a bourke parakeet in the past. I managed to get those to love absolutly everyone. to the point if one of them saw my wife in tears they would do everything in their power to be let out and be cute. They knew that cheered her up, and sometimes they would give me a glare thinking I did it somehow. So yeah I do have some experience with birds.

[Pajarita]

Quakers are one of the loudest species (they are technically conures, too) so I would not go with one if noise is an issue in any way...

[Aphios]

I have not had any experience with parakeets so I can't help there, only conures and quakers. Let us just say I have nothing but good to say about all of them and noise was never really an issue. What is good for one person is not for another though so I hope you are able to find the bird for you

[Soven26]

Couldn't have a Quaker even if I wanted one like many other things its illegal to own on in CA. Dumb laws make it so I cant have a Wallby too aka cuddly lawnmowers

[Aphios]

That is too bad. Well, good luck finding a bird. Wish I could have been more helpful.

[Elaihr]

Hi!

I'm no expert either, but I can tell you what I know about my own BH Pi named Penny.

1. Quiet - Hm, most of the day she is. Not inaudible, she does make some low chirping sounds and stuff, but compared to the budgies and lovebirds I grew up with, I'd deffo call her quiet. When she sees something interesting outside (especially dogs) she'll scream though, and she does scream pretty loud. So, if you want a parrot that's quiet for most parts of the day, it should be fine, although if you want one with a soft, non-piercing scream once it screams (because it will no matter what species you choose), then a Pi would be a big no-no. It is kind of ear-piercing.

I'm not sure this is what all Pi's are like, but Penny decides herself to go to sleep between 5-7 in the afternoon. With her, there's absolutely no danger of loud screams at night, thank lord.

2. Family friendly - I'm sure not all Pi's are the same, but Penny is very friendly towards strangers in general. It is obvious she prefers me over my fiancée or a stranger, but she's not biting or screaming at anyone, and as soon as my fiancée comes home from work, she flies to him to get some scritches. I'm not sure if this is a result of good socializing training from when she was very little, if it's just her personality or if it's a trait common to the species in general, but she's very easy-going around most people I can't say this goes for all Pi's though, I have read and heard about Pi's who have been very aggressive and/or completely non-interested in other people than their "mate". So, no guarantees! I recommend you have a look around the internet to find as much info about this as possible.

3. Good for a beginner/novice bird owner - This totally depends on what you mean. Like I said I grew up with lovebirds and budgies, but I still felt like a novice when I got Penny, as I had never had a bigger parrot before (not big compared to a blue and gold macaw, but compared to a lovebird she's huge). Therefore I'd call myself a medium-sized-parrot-beginner, but I do admit I've had a lot of use of the experiences I had with my lovebirds, even when handling a bigger parrot. If you have never had a parrot before, I think maybe it's better to start off with a smaller one, if you don't know what a bite feels like you'll be surprised how hard even the smallest beak can bite... (Although I, of course, recommend you try to avoid giving your parrot a reason to bite you regardless of his/her size, it's preferable you never end up in a situation where your parrot feels like it has to bite you).

And, there's one thing you should know. Penny (and I believe, Pi's in general, at least from what I've heard) are usually very sweet and gentle. However, Penny is stubborn as all h*ll! Once she has her mind set on something, it can be very hard to stop her. For example, she's extremely curious about biting my phone's charger cord. And this is even if I give her another piece of rope or other similar object to chew instead. It's like she won't see anything else, but the cord, once she's fixed her eyes upon it. Last week it was my headset, this week it's the cord. No idea what triggers those obsessions So if you're not a very stubborn person yourself, beware. Of course, this may be her being different from other Pi's, but I don't know. She's not very demanding most of the time, but once there's something she wants, she wants it badly. Maybe it would be easier with a parrot that's more easily distracted by other fun things?

Also a very important thing about them being "easy" or not to care for; they are especially prone to aspergillosis (more so than other species, I've heard), so you have to be very careful and make sure you give a Pi all things necessary to keep their immune system in shape, and their environment clean. Although I wouldn't get any species of parrot if I couldn't provide them with this, and I don't recommend you do it either

4. More affordable - I don't know much about the prices in the US (I'm from Sweden) so I can't really say much about it, but compared to amazon's, macaw's or grey's on the Swedish market, she was cheaper. Compared to budgies or cockatiels, she was more expensive.

Like someone already mentioned a cage can never be "too big", but I guess the distance between the bars could be. I also don't have any clue about your measuring system (I'm sorry, but the metric system makes so much more sense to me ) so I can't tell if your cage is big enough or not, but I've heard Pi's can be perch-potatoes, so it's recommended to give a Pi a big and stimulating cage to promote activity and prevent them from getting overweight. And usually, bigger cages are more expensive, so it's deffo worth taking into consideration.

I hope I've answered your questions somewhat well, and that it has helped you on your journey to parrot ownership. Please remember that whichever species you go for, there are no guarantees, they are all individuals. I've just tried to explain what my Blue-headed Pionus is like, to give you some extra meat on your bones before deciding upon which species to get. And like I mentioned above, try searching the internet for more info about the species your interested in, there are many stories out there about parrots of all shapes and sizes

Take care and good luck!

Best regards,
Sara & Penny

[Harpmaker]

It is a mystery to me why no one else suggests Meyer's parrots . While every parrot is an individual, my Corsair follows the reputation of Meyer's in usually being quiet (for a parrot). She is smaller than a Senegal and heavier than a conure, being about 100g. Meyer's hens are the only parrots I have heard described as "social butterflies". In my case that showed when my son brought one of his friends over and Corsair decided that his head was the best perch in the room. Luckily, the friend was delighted.

Her flock calls can be quite loud, but only when she can't see her "flock".

A possible drawback is that many Meyer's parrots choose not to learn human speech, and when they do, their voices are so soft many people don't hear them. Corsair says "Hello" and whistles a lot.

They don't have flashy colors, like a lot of parrots. Just gray, blue, green, turquoise and yellow. Maybe that's why they get passed up.