What parrot is right for me?

[Em98]

Hello everyone!
My names Emma and I have joined this forum in order to educate myself on owning parrots. One of my very close friends has a parrot and since playing with him 6 years ago I have been set on getting one of my own. After much research and consideration, I think I have narrowed it down to two species: budgies and cockatiels. Although I am not entirely sure which one would fit my life best...
Until I decide on a species I am not going to buy a cage, although I have chosen a room (my brothers old bedroom) for it as it is relatively quiet and is secure and so shall be good for free-flight. However, in an ideal world my bird would be with me most of the time - although obviously not at school or when cooking. I would love a bird that could come out with me on my walks (obviously in a safe harness) and hang with me during daily tasks. I am open to having more than one bird, although from online reading I have come to believe that if you want your bird to interact with you one is best - is this the case?
I would love some advice on which species would make the best bird for me, I am prepared for all a bird has to bring, and want to be very educated before obtaining one.
Many thanks,
Emma

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.
The best bird for you is the one who picks you. Ideally it would be a bird from a rescue so the care givers can tell you something about their personality. Each one has it's own personality. Breeders and pet shops don't get involved with their birds so they can't tell you anything about an individual. All they care about is how much they can sell it for. We in this forum do not encourage breeders to keep producing birds when there are so many who need better homes.
I have seen in the forum that any bird from cockatiel to macaw can be taken outside with the proper harness and leash.
You can learn about the species from this forum. Just search with the name and all kinds of info comes up.
http://www.rescueme.org gives a lot of info on the birds needing rehomed.

[Wolf]

If you would be satisfied by not taking the bird out and about outside with you then a budgie may be for you. Otherwise not so much as they don't usually make any good harnesses for a bird that small, although you could take it with you in a small cage such as you would use when transporting the bird to visit the vet.

Generally speaking the best place to learn the most about caring for a parrot as well as about the many different species is by volunteering at a bird rescue. It is also a good place to find a bird that wants to be with you and that is always much better. It also gives you hands on experience with caring for your bird.

As for whether to keep one or more birds. That is a big decision and it must include many things when considering which way to go. First of all, for the birds benefit alone two birds of opposite sexes but of the same species is always better. This however my mean more work for you in many areas, to begin with you may need two separate cages depending on the species of parrot as they may not always accept each other well enough to live together in the same cage. This is usually not much of a problem with budgies or cockatiels, but their is also that if they do accept each other and mate bond then your work in winning their trust and in training them becomes much harder and time consuming although not impossible. If you start with one bird and establish a bond with it then after it has reached maturity you get another bird you will not totally lose your bond with your bird but it will change to some degree as the bird will want to spend some time with its mate.

[ParrotsForLife]

Welcome to the forum.
The best bird for you is the one who picks you. Ideally it would be a bird from a rescue so the care givers can tell you something about their personality. Each one has it's own personality. Breeders and pet shops don't get involved with their birds so they can't tell you anything about an individual. All they care about is how much they can sell it for. We in this forum do not encourage breeders to keep producing birds when there are so many who need better homes.
I have seen in the forum that any bird from cockatiel to macaw can be taken outside with the proper harness and leash.
You can learn about the species from this forum. Just search with the name and all kinds of info comes up.
http://www.rescueme.org gives a lot of info on the birds needing rehomed.

Thats not entirely true lol when I breed my Cockatiels I will be involved with each baby and telling their new owners all about them.

[ParrotsForLife]

If you would be satisfied by not taking the bird out and about outside with you then a budgie may be for you. Otherwise not so much as they don't usually make any good harnesses for a bird that small, although you could take it with you in a small cage such as you would use when transporting the bird to visit the vet.

Generally speaking the best place to learn the most about caring for a parrot as well as about the many different species is by volunteering at a bird rescue. It is also a good place to find a bird that wants to be with you and that is always much better. It also gives you hands on experience with caring for your bird.

As for whether to keep one or more birds. That is a big decision and it must include many things when considering which way to go. First of all, for the birds benefit alone two birds of opposite sexes but of the same species is always better. This however my mean more work for you in many areas, to begin with you may need two separate cages depending on the species of parrot as they may not always accept each other well enough to live together in the same cage. This is usually not much of a problem with budgies or cockatiels, but their is also that if they do accept each other and mate bond then your work in winning their trust and in training them becomes much harder and time consuming although not impossible. If you start with one bird and establish a bond with it then after it has reached maturity you get another bird you will not totally lose your bond with your bird but it will change to some degree as the bird will want to spend some time with its mate.

You can get a flight suit for a budgie

[ParrotsForLife]

I have had both budgies and Cockatiels and I prefer Cockatiels they are sweet and some like to cuddle and mine love going outside.Parrotlets are great too and you can bring them outside.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.
The best bird for you is the one who picks you. Ideally it would be a bird from a rescue so the care givers can tell you something about their personality. Each one has it's own personality. Breeders and pet shops don't get involved with their birds so they can't tell you anything about an individual. All they care about is how much they can sell it for. We in this forum do not encourage breeders to keep producing birds when there are so many who need better homes.
I have seen in the forum that any bird from cockatiel to macaw can be taken outside with the proper harness and leash.
You can learn about the species from this forum. Just search with the name and all kinds of info comes up.
http://www.rescueme.org gives a lot of info on the birds needing rehomed.

Thats not entirely true lol when I breed my Cockatiels I will be involved with each baby and telling their new owners all about them.

You are one of the very few then.

[Wolf]

I have not seen harnesses or flight suits for either budgies or parrotlets.

[ParrotsForLife]

I have not seen harnesses or flight suits for either budgies or parrotlets.

Flightsuits

[Wolf]

If that was supposed to be a link to flight suits for budgies it did not work.