Current and Next Bird(s) in your Multi-FID Home

[Conure_Concierge]

Okay, although it doesn't look like our forum is exclusively Poicephalus; those are the only owner surveys I've seen. I've noted that many of you seem to successfully manage new-world and old-world mixed flocks. I've seen a lot of "X versus Y species" topics on this forum, but haven't seen many followup success, or warning stories, or better yet creative solutions regarding integration of the new bird(s) into the flock.

My point being that, like many of you, I do have ideas for what I'd like my next FID to be (this changes a little with time) and I've read what species of parrot don't do well with others. It seems that most species don't do well with others and that it always comes down to the individual bird's personalities. I still want to make the best choice given that I like species X, Y and Z for my own reasons but don't know if any of them would do well with my current FIDS.

I thought I'd introduce this topic to get your experience and ideas in a more coherent set of posts. No..., I'm not researching material for a dissertation, though it would be a good one and is certainly a complex enough subject. Personally I'm considering adding a another (small) bird (maybe in 2013) to my GCC and Cape flock. I've seen and read that Quakers are wonderful small birds for many reasons, but are very territorial and don't do well with other species. I've read that Indian Ringneck/Alexander's are wonderful birds, but they don't do well with other species. I've read that Senegal's are great birds, but are usually aggressive with other species. I've read that Caique's are wonderful birds that will kill any other bird they're around. I've read that Mini-Macaws, such as Hahn's, don't do well with other birds.

What species mix do you have now ? What species are you considering ? What would you not recommend (from experience) ?

[Cage Cleaner]

I have rather limited experience with this topic, but as I do have two birds of different species, I will share what I know. Hopefully some of it will be helpful, although it seems that you've already done quite a bit of research.

My GCC and Sun Conure get along quite well... with reservations. They will preen and get along one moment, and then someone will do -some-thing to piss the other one off and they will go into a screaming fit while squabbling with their beaks, sometimes they will try to press the other one down with their feet. I usually can't tell what it is they do to set this off. It could be tripping a pin feather, or biting something too hard, or something. They usually don't initiate these squabbles while I am actually looking.

The arguments seem petty so far, more like siblings taking petty jabs at each other. Sometimes the fighting resolves itself after only a moment or so, but a few times it has become bad enough that one knocks the other off the perch. Usually the 4 year old GCC knocks the 4 month old Sun off, but it has happened the other way around. The Sun is learning to be a lot more agressive and hold her ground around the GCC.

I usually let them go at it when it first starts, to let them work in out on their own. But when it winds up I will either tell them to konck it off, or I will put my hand in between the two. The GCC usually bites me when I do this, but it's petty and just a pinch. Nothing like the drawing blood bites he does when he means it.

Initially, when I first put them together, the GCC would squabble with the Sun whenever she would try to reciprocate with the preening he was giving her. However, this has since gone away and it was likely due to trust issues.

If there is food involved, they will be more apt to fight. If I am asking the GCC to do a trick, and the Sun tries to get the GCC's attention, he will tell her to back off.

As for the old world parrots, I've only had experience with them for a few hours with my GCC. I brought him to a friend's house to have a little birdy play date. This friend had a female red bellied and a male senegal. My GCC terrorized both of them.

The thing about my GCC (and most GCC's, from what I've heard from talking to other parrot owners... you could tell me, since you have a flock of them) is that he is extremely social and very extroverted. He is also rather fearless, and adapts well to new situations (aka, immediately). So even though he was in the other birds' home, he was very curious about them, leaning forward, bobbing, and almost getting in their faces. Both the red-bellied and senegal were just watching him, a bit hesitant on how to even react initially. Both were leaning away, watching. Then the GCC flies over to the hand the Red Bellied is on, and she flies away.

He didn't really interact with the Senegal, but I didn't notice much by way of agression. To be honest, I was more worried about my GCC scaring the other two.

[Conure_Concierge]

Thanks for your response Cage Cleaner; your GCC sounds just like mine. Enkidu (GCC @ 68 grams) wants to be friendly with Orion (Cape @ 320 grams) which usually terrifies him, especially when the GCC flies up and lands beside him. Other than the surprise landings, in which I immediately intervened; I've only let them get closer than a couple of feet apart, with my palm in between them, once when Orion calmly walked up to Enkidu on my computer desk. They stood about 8 inches apart calmly appraising one another for about thirty seconds until somebody flinched and then they both started mild, open-mouthed treats and I separated them.

They might eventually want to be friends, but with the size differential (and Enkidu's ego, or lack of sense) I can't trust them together.

In about a year I'd like to get a third bird who's much closer to Enkidu's size so that even if they had a spat neither would be seriously injured. The way Enkidu (my alpha bird) acts like he wants to be friends with Orion (my beta bird) I think he would welcome and enjoy someone more his own size. I've considered a SUN; they are beautiful, playful and cuddly, are from South America so fly in mixed-species flocks so should get along well, but they are noisy and we are somewhat noise sensitive.

[liz]

Cage-Cleaner that is mean. You are letting the older kid push the baby around and make it mean.

Conur - the only thing I know about IRN is Marni on YouTube. He is with a cockatiel, cockatoo and macaw and they all get along. Amazing.

[Cage Cleaner]

I really like gold-capped conures. I'm not a huge fan of brightly colored things, and fancy, showy-off-ness, usually. Which is probably surprising, given that I have a Sun Conure and a Yellow-sided GCC.

But gold-capped conures are very cute, brightly colored in some places, and not too showy overall. In terms of noise, I wouldn't know. They are also an aratinga conure, like the Sun, but don't seem to have the rep.

Dusky conures are awesome, too. But it takes a special person to love them because they usually get glossed over for something more colorful.

Anyway, those would be the candidates for my next bird. Although, I don't want a next bird. These two are enough already.

And Liz, in terms of making my sun conure "mean", I think that she needs to learn to deal with my GCC on her own. She is already learning, and I wouldn't describe it as being "mean." The GCC is learning as well. I watch to make sure no one gets injured, but they are going to be together for a very long time--as in, the rest of one of their lives.

[Cage Cleaner]

Also wanted to add that by getting a member of the aratinga family, you would be avoiding any possibility of cross-breeding. Which is a nice plus.

[Zanizaila]

I will get my two birds mates of (more or less) their own kind, then I will be done (until I have my own land and can build huge aviaries and make my own sanctuary, that is ).
So, for Saga - male Meyers, red-bellied, brown-headed or perhaps Senegal.
For Cirino - female Scarlet, B&G or GW.

[Naurthon]

I originally got Maxwell to keep Nikko company after taking a new job would be keeping me out of the house for 14 hours a day. I didn't want any possibility of babies, so I didn't get another little conure. Unfortunately, Maxwell HATES Nikko, and will attack him at any opportunity. I naively assumed that because the two birds were about the same size that they'd get along okay. I wasn't aware then that Senegals can be pretty aggressive toward other birds. I love Maxwell, but I would probably have chosen another species of bird to add to my flock had I known.

[LemonLover]

yes im bac lol i stalk the fourms anyway I agreee with cage-cleaner liz they have too learn thigns on their own. You cant make them stop fighting till they figure out whos boss. And they will one day. Like my 2 female cockatiels. Star and Lemon. They do that all the time it quite funny a cute actually.

[CinnamonParrots]

Hey everyone, regarding a new addition to a flock, I've had the same consideration. Although I fluctuate between Amazon, Macaw, Uncaps, or Ruppell's parrots, I have to be honest, the thought of whether my birds will get along never really crossed my mind. -- NOW before you go ahead and judge me I guess I've been a bit "lucky" on the cohesion of my flock despite a loss last year and a new introduction this year.

I originally started with 2 fisher's lovebirds from a pet store, when the female died from getting tangled in a towel string after escaping out of the cage, then I got a budgie (who ended up being a female) for my male lovebird Daniel. Then, about 1 year later I got my GCC Casey when she was 3 1/2 months old. They all got along, and I do not ever recall any hardships or fights between these 3 birds, or between Daniel and my budgie Sammy (except for obvious occasional squabbles as they were cage mates). When Sammy passed away last year, I thought long and hard about whether or not I should get another budgie for Daniel, as he is a "don't touch me" bird -- but a few months went by and Daniel + Casey were getting along, and they were always in separate cages before, but at one point, I put them together because they were always preening each other. But I made my decision to introduce my now almost 1 year old budgie Nigel when Casey started plucking Daniel's neck feathers! So introduction of Nigel was a bit rough, as he is a boy and Daniel is a boy, they initially attacked each other, and that is why I assume Nigel sort of dislikes Daniel sometimes. But I moved them to a neutral space (my room) side by side (separate cages) for about 3 weeks, and they were much better. Now they stay in the same cage, with Casey in another cage; but Nigel has an attachment to Casey, and perhaps sees her as a "mother" figure, but Casey doesn't seem interested. They are all out playing together at least 4 hours a day.

My point for that biography of my flock is that I think to introduce a young bird to the flock, introducing the birds and have them interact in a NEUTRAL space, and perhaps a good mix of both sexes. I'm not sure if birds of different species cross-continentally know whether the other is a male or female (that may be left to the animal cognitive psychologists) but maybe they have a clue... Hmm

When I do get another bird, I realize now that it would be better for me to get a female vs. a male to balance out my uneven gender differences, and I always wondered if Daniel would have been less aggressive had I got a female budgie the second time instead? --- Therefore, steps taken to guide a flock in good socialization is key.

For example: if you have a parrot that was not hand raised properly with proper socialization, or you receive a baby bird that was not properly raised, there will most definitely fights between birds. Certain critical periods in a chick's development as well as nurturing, if missed will have detrimental consequences to socialization that are out of our control which will affect how current and future birds will get along.

Obviously young birds tend to get along better, and I've seen baby and play together, baby and play together, pionus and together. And ofcourse my flock of South American , African and Australian birds play together joyfully and their age gap is quite dramatic with the youngest being less than 1 year, and oldest being 9.

As for s, I kind of agree that they've got a lot of personality, and I do hear often that they don't do well with other birds -- but that is still debatable (as personally, they are probably THE most successful parrots in the world because they have no reliance on nest sites, and adapt will to a variety of environments!). As well, Alexandrians and Indian Ringnecks are quite good at keeping to themselves, same with Pionus parrots, BUT I once had a baby black headed caique about 4 months stand next to an Alex baby 5 months, together for about 1 hour on top of a cage while I was getting their own spaces ready, and they got along just fine without ever meeting each other before. I also don't believe size is a big problem, BUT safety wise it may be, as a budgie paired with a macaw is probably quite dangerous, some Amazons cuddle up nicely to smaller birds!

I wish you the best of luck pairing your future flock! I hope I've been somewhat helpful!
Cheers!