What I'm looking for in a bird

[LittleMissPetPerson]

Hey so I just can't decide what species is right for me! I'm not getting a bird for a long time but I want to do a lot of research first.

Ok here what I'm looking for
Easy to tame
Social
I'm ok with a bit of nipping
Some mess
Some noise
Talking/mimicking would be cool but is not a requirement
Sweet
Would like to sit on a shoulder
I have plenty of room for a large cage

So any suggestions would be awesome!

Ps I'm going to volunteer at a local bird rescue so I can see some personalities!

[Harpmaker]

A budgerigar fits every thing on your list except maybe long periods of shoulder sitting. I had one that used to hang upside-down off my husband's glasses and tickle his nose. She also would land on top of my kid's heads and fly to the next kid when the one she was on nodded. She never learned to talk, but some parakeets acquire impressive vocabularies. A big cage would hold more than one. (they are happier with a flock)

The trickiest traits on your list are social and (only) some noise. Most birds have a potential to be social, but it takes long and careful training to bring it out. And while budgies tend to chatter reasonably quietly all the time, larger birds will scream in comparison. If you can figure out what they need when they scream and give it to them, they will stop. But most of the time it is your attention, and you can't always give it to them. So you will have to teach them that you will come eventually, and get them to wait quietly.

You will learn what noise levels you (and family members ) can tolerate at your local rescue. In general, larger birds have louder voices, but even my little Meyer's can make your ears ring, and she is relatively quiet.

One of the birds that seems to have a lot of affection for shoulder-sitting is the green-checked conure. I gather they are big-time cuddle-bugs, but lean toward being one-person birds.

Any GCC Parronts are welcome to chime in here.

Of course, any bird can have a personality different that the subspecies norm, and the babies can change completely as they mature. That's why rescues can help you with a specific bird.

[LittleMissPetPerson]

A big cage would hold more than one. (they are happier with a flock)

Thank you so much for replying! Would budgies (or other parakeets) still bond well with me if I have 2? Because I heard that they would ignore you if you had more than 1. Also do you know anything about lineolated parakeets? They sound great from what I've heard! Are GCC as loud as other conure? Sorry for all the questions I just would like to know as much as I can.

[Wolf]

LittleMissPetPerson ;

I do not wish to be rude or anything like it, but I do have one request of you. Would you please consider not apologizing for your questions? Questions and then finding answers for the questions is what the forum is all about as long as it relates to parrots. If we did not have people like yourself asking questions we really would not have much of a forum, would we? I like this forum and so it goes without saying that I for one appreciate you asking questions.

[Pajarita]

Yes, sweetheart, two budgies can be as affectionate as a single one, it all depends on you, how you treat them, how much time you spend with them and how you train them BUT they are not known for sitting on your shoulder and they will not be real cuddly either.

GCC are VERY cuddly and, although people would say they are nippy, the four I took in (all given up because they bit) turned out to be sweet-tempered with the exception of one male which had been abused. Not that he was aggressive or anything after a while but he just did not like to step up (he did love to scoot down the neck of my top and take a nap in there -LOL). BUT, in order for them not to be nippy, they require A LOT of interaction and cuddling time which will be difficult when you go to school.

Tiels are great birds, too. They are beautiful, a nice size (not too small but not large at all), pretty quiet (as long as they have a mate) and quite friendly (they are, in my opinion, the sweetest-tempered parrots). You would need to get one and bond with it first, before you get the other one.

[Harpmaker]

Two budgies take twice the attention but they can be twice the fun as well! They are such clever little acrobats. I loved every one I had.

I don't know anything about linnies, sorry.

GCC's have a reputation for being one of the quieter conures, but conures in general have a reputation as noisy birds (possibly from people buying sun conures based on their gorgeous colors instead of their personalities)

I've never had a cockatiel or a GCC, so you should listen to Pajarita for information about them.

[Elaihr]

Hi there! Glad to see that you can provide a large cage for your bird, that's a good start

I have a Blue-headed Pionus, and have met a few other Pi's. As for the taming I don't know if it's particularly hard or easy, guess it depends on what you mean by "taming". My girl accepts anyone, she's extremely friendly. She's not the most cuddly though, she comes to me and my boyfriend for scritches, but she's not the type that would throw herself on her back, wanting to be scratched just anywhere. I guess one could say she has her integrity, but she's absolutely not shy, unfriendly or anything. She likes to sit on my shoulder and follow me around during the day, and if we have visitors she's quick to try and find out who they are. She's very social in that way!

She's not extremely playful, she doesn't initiate a lot of play on her own. If I "play" with something though, she's very interested in it. But she's not the clownish type that you can just sit down and watch for hours. If I just sit and watch her, she'll only play for a bit, then she just looks at me as if she wanted me to come up with something fun. So if you're looking for a bird to entertain you rather than a bird for you to entertain, I'm not sure if a Pionus is a good choice (I'm no expert, have only met mine and two others). The good thing about this is that her laid back attitude makes her less demanding, she lets me do other things (like laundry and studies) without going nuts.

She's not nippy, the only time she uses her beak is when preening me, or when she's playing (she never plays rough). Sometimes she decides to take a nap on our curtain rod in the living room (which I don't like because it's just above my boyfriend's speakers, he doesn't want poop on them), and when I go to pick her up and put her in her cage instead, she sometimes grabs my finger lightly with her beak, as if she was grumpy about me disturbing her slumber. But it's so light and happens so seldom I wouldn't call her nippy.

Mess? Yeah, guess all parrots are messy. She's a very messy eater, but aren't they all? Not much dust though, which is nice!

Noise-wise she's very convenient, the only times she'll scream nowadays (she screamed a bit before she had settled in properly) is if she sees something very interesting through the window (happens maybe twice a week, tops) or if she gets scared/over-excited, which doesn't happen often either. Most of the time she's just making low sounds, like beak-grinding and some chirping. She's also making some other funny noises, although all of them are pretty low in volume.

She's not talking, and I've heard Pionuses in general aren't very great at this, although they sometimes learn a few words, and often speak with a robot-ish voice. She has learnt to wolf-whistle though, and in the mornings she flies to her training perch and sounds like the clicker, so she does mimick a little bit

Sweet - YES! The sweetest thing ever! She's so extremely kind and friendly, my heart just melts. I might be biased though, but really, if you want a sweet bird, I think a Pionus could be good, see if you can meet one and I hope you'll see what I mean. The three I've met have been super sweet

Pajarita also has Pionuses so maybe she can give you some input on these species, I also think CML has one.

Good luck with finding a parrot that suits your personality and life!

[LittleMissPetPerson]

I have a Blue-headed Pionus, and have met a few other Pi's. As for the taming I don't know if it's particularly hard or easy, guess it depends on what you mean "taming"

Mess? Yeah, guess all parrots are messy. She's a very messy eater, but aren't they all? Not much dust though, which is nice!

Noise-wise she's very convenient, the only times she'll scream nowadays (she screamed a bit before she had settled in properly) is if she sees something very interesting through the window (happens maybe twice a week, tops) or if she gets scared/over-excited, which doesn't happen often either. Most of the time she's just making low sounds, like beak-grinding and some chirping. She's also making some other funny noises, although all of them are pretty low in volume.

She's not talking, and I've heard Pionuses in general aren't very great at this, although they sometimes learn a few words, and often speak with a robot-ish voice. She has learnt to wolf-whistle though, and in the mornings she flies to her training perch and sounds like the clicker, so she does mimick a little bit

Thank you so much! That's a lot of great information! She sounds like a wonderful little bird! What I meant by taming is basically just pretty quick to warm up to people. Mess wise does she fling her food like some of the larger birds? Are her screams like cockatoo screams or more like conure screams? This is another glowing review of Pionus and they sound pretty close to perfect for me but they're pretty uncommon around here but on occasion they're in my local bird rescue. Again thank you for the great info!!

[Elaihr]

You're welcome! I'm a bit in love with this species, hehe.. Before I say anything else, I had misunderstood one thing; Pajarita no longer has Pionuses in her care, but she has had some before. Don't wanna spread false info, but anyway, both her and CML seem pretty knowledgable, so it would be fun to see what they have to say about Pi's

Penny's screams are not very pleasant, they're rather high pitched. My boyfriend claims she sounds like metal ground against a blackboard, but then again he's good with exaggerations.. Also I'm half deaf so I might not be the best judge, lol. I'm currently on my phone but I know there's a YouTube video of a screaming Pionus, I'll see if I can find it later! Like I said, it's not pleasant, but it doesn't happen often (at least not in this home) so I'm not that bothered by it, and haven't had any complaints from neighbours

Will post a link to the vid as soon as I find it

Edit: Forgot the food question! She drops a lot of it and after eatin moist things she shakes off food-goo from her beak. This shaking can send bits and pieces of fruit quite far, so some extra cleaning is required. I used to have lovebirds and they weren't as messy, but then they were a lot smaller so that might be why the food didn't travel so far.

And about warming up to people, like I said she has a certain amount of integrity. She also acts differently around different people, the first time she met my mum she went straight to her, while she's a little bit more reserved towards some people. Lame answer perhaps, but it's true

[Elaihr]

Ok, I couldn't stop myself so I went over to the computer.

Here's the video, the bird in the video is a Bronze Winged Pionus and doesn't sound exactly the same as my Blue-headed one, but it's very similar and will give you a good idea of what a Pionus scream sounds like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_usYanuVfQ