Considering Adding a New Flock Member

[zazanomore]

For the past couple of months I've been thinking about adding another bird to the flock. I am financially stable enough to afford the upkeep of keeping another bird, and I do have the room for one.

When I first got my budgies, I never realized how passionate I would get about birds. I find myself talking about them all the time, researching about them, and the more I learn, the more I fall in love with them.

I think I really need to consider both my needs, and my birds needs, when choosing a species.

My needs are:

- Quiet enough for an apartment (as I will be moving to the city when I go to University in the fall)
- An independent bird, as I am going to school, and may be gone around 6 hours a day.
- A diet similar to my birds, as it will be more economical to have all birds sharing the same diet.
- A playful bird, as the budgies play amongst themselves, and Einstein is more of a cuddle bug.

My birds needs:

-A non-aggressive bird
-A small to medium size bird
-Bird with similar personality

The species I've looked at are:

Kakariki:

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I've heard mixed things about the kakariki. They are a New Zealand parakeet, about the size of a cockatiel. They are very hyper active, and are the best fliers.

The are not very cuddly (however, every bird is different). Even hand raised babies won't like too much physical contact. However, they do enjoy the company of people, and will land on them and sing to them.

They are very quiet. They make a sweet beeping sound that I can't resist.

In aviaries, they are known to do well with cockatiels and budgies, they only get a bit aggressive when breeding.

Bourke:

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These are Australian parakeets I believe. They are smaller than a cockatiel, but larger than a budgie.They are fairly common an aviary birds, however they are gaining more popularity as household pets.

They are quieter than budgies. Budgies chatter all day, but bourkes seem to make noise only in the morning and sunset.

They are very calm and friendly, and would mix well with Einstein and the budgies.

They have a lower energy level than budgies, so I don't think they would be very playful.

Female Red Bellied Parrot:

red-bellied-parrot-paulie-8499.jpg (21.6 KiB) Viewed 6596 times

There are a couple of red belly owners on the forum. And from what I've heard, they are very independent, playful and outgoing.

I love the appearance of the female, they have the most beautiful feathers.

They aren't much larger than cockatiels (I think). However, I know that senegals have a reputation to being aggressive towards other birds. They are in the same family, so I'm not sure if this reputation extends to the other species.

White Capped Pionus:

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I love the pionus family. They come from south america, and are known for their wonderful temperaments.

I've read that they aren't the most cuddly bird, but that's okay with me, as I have Einstein for that.

They are larger than the other birds I've listed, however they are not known to be aggressive towards other birds.

I've read that Pionus are good apartment pets. However, doing some research I've found that some individuals are prone to being loud and screaming, so that makes me a little wary of them.

Rose Crowned Conure

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Rose crowned conures are not a very popular species of conure, and I've read that there are only a couple of breeders. However, I've found several breeders in Quebec, and one in the Ottawa area.

They are known to be the quietest conure.

They are the size of a green cheek, so they should be about the size of a cockatiel.

They are known for their excellent temperments, and very easy to handle and train.

I've read that they are very similar to GCC, however they are less nippy.

GCCs are good with other birds, and I think it's safe to assume that so would the Rose crowned.

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Right now, I think that the Kakariki and the Rose Crowned Conure fit our requirements the best. I'm more leaning on the rose crowned conure though, as there is something about them that I really love.

I probably won't be buying another bird until maybe the end of the year or next year. But I'd like to do as much research as possible.

Any Ideas or suggestions?

[kaylayuh]

I have no relevant information for this besides saying I would go with a GCC. Since getting mine, I couldn't see myself without him. Since introducing him to my budgies yesterday, he wants to play with them while the budgies want to pick on him. I couldn't have asked for a better bird.

He's also relatively quiet and will screech once or twice a day. It's nothing unmanagable, and a lot less frequent than the budgie chattering. He likes to cuddle, but will also play with his toys contently while I'm gone.

[GlassOnion]

I would vote against a kakariki actually, just cause I've seen a few and they are hyper but not really clownish. I know they'd run around fast, but I don't think they'd be as playful in terms of interaction as a conure or a poi would be. I would personally go for the red belly or the rose crown, because you can actually play with them- flip them around, hang them off of your finger, etc etc.

@kayla, I'm so happy I suggested a gcc to you, I believe I was the first one to suggest it!
I was a step away from getting a gcc myself several times, but each time it fell through. I still think they are awesome birds.

[GlassOnion]

If diet wasn't an issue, I would've suggested a goldie's lorikeet. They are slightly smaller than a cockatiel, playful, acrobatic, and pretty quiet.

My budgie/cockatiel make sooo much mess it's not even funny. Lory projectile poop worries? Not after having mash and seed flung at my face and the walls 5 feet away.. I think my place would be cleaner if I had a lory

Goldie's lorikeet:

http://www.avianweb.com/images/birds/pa ... rikeet.jpg

[skeetersunconure]

dont get a sunny lol they are loud but very playful and cuddly haha loovveee rose crowned conures they are soo pretty and really sweet!

[kaylayuh]

@kayla, I'm so happy I suggested a gcc to you, I believe I was the first one to suggest it!
I was a step away from getting a gcc myself several times, but each time it fell through. I still think they are awesome birds.

I'm really happy, too! I fell in love with him as soon as I got him and he just gets better each day. He's playing peek-a-boo with the budgies right now, actually.

[zazanomore]

I love Goldies lorikeets! They're little watermelons! The projectile liquid poo being thrown at me doesn't sound like fun. Plus, I've seen them for sale for about 900-1000$. I'm willing to pay up to 500$ for a bird. I'm not just paying for the bird, I'm paying for the cage, toys, perches, accessories. 1000$ plus the 500$ I'd probably end up paying in supplies is just a bit too much.

I have no relevant information for this besides saying I would go with a GCC. Since getting mine, I couldn't see myself without him. Since introducing him to my budgies yesterday, he wants to play with them while the budgies want to pick on him. I couldn't have asked for a better bird.

I love little GCCs. I've only met one, at a petsmart. He was such a sweety and let me pet him. However, the RCCs are less feisty. And they have a cute pink head.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

The rose-crowned are pyrrhurra conures, like green-cheeks. I gather green-cheeks had a "perfect bird" reputation until they got really popular and now they have a nippy reputation. I'm not sure what's cause and what's effect. Although Scooter, at least, is a very quick and active little guy, and the beak use scales with that.

[kaylayuh]

I wouldn't say my GCC is fiesty, but he will use his beak to let you know he doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something right at that particular moment. He's such a cuddler, though, and has taken to fluttering (his wings are clipped) over to me for attention.

He doesn't really play with me, but he does play with his toys. The information packet included with him said that he hadn't played with his toys at the rescue; within hours here, he was hanging from his circle swing and swinging himself in circles. He's hilarious to watch, too. He'll flip himself upside down in the corner of his cage and "pet" himself. He'll hide in his rope mop toy and play peek-a-boo. Since I've let him hangout with the budgies, he's taken to playing peek-a-boo with them, too.

He doesn't do very many tricks, but will let me do almost anything to him. He's let me lay him on his back, though I don't think he feels particularly secure with that sensation yet. He absolutely loves to cuddle and knows that when the budgies go to bed, it's his undivided attention time and he'll lay with me from about 7:30 until 10 when I have to lure him in the cage with some Cheerios.

Last night, he was feeling particularly needy so I had him out for an extra hour. He decided that laying under the blankets on my chest was the perfect spot to go to sleep. Every so often, he'd poke his little head out of the blanket for a scritch and go back under to sleep some more.

Really, I can't say enough good things about my GCC. If I ever considered another conure, it'd definitely be another GCC before anything else. He's relatively quiet, well behaved, can amuse himself, loves to be with people, and overall a great companion parrot. That's just speaking for my bird though, so I can't say these qualities are found in all GCCs or if I just got really, really lucky.

[Natacha]

I've known of a few Bourkes owner and they just love them. Given your current flock, it might be the best fit. However, they are probably not as playful as you would want them to be.

Female Red-bellied parrot - while the body + tail of a cockatiel makes it longer than a RB, the beak on the RB is much larger and much more powerful than the cockatiel. So, even if they are somewhat the same size (Pois are also rather chunkier than 'tiels), it wouldn't be a fair battle if it ever happened. I love my little girlie, but she has shown some aggressive tendencies towards my Senegal (who is sweet as pie with all other birds, including my Lovebird). Again, it all depends on the birds, and like with any species, a perfect match and no aggression is never guaranteed..

Rose crown conure. Well..I shouldn't say much. I'm not a fan of conures, nippy and loud, louder than anything else on your list (well I don't know about Kakarikis to be honest) from what I've seen of the small (and larger) conures in past experiences (and we are talking about adult birds here, where you get the "real" picture). However, from what I've seen/heard of the Rose crown conure, they might be less bad. And...well I know of a breeder in Aylmer, so chances of getting one close by for you would be highly likely, whenever she would have babies.