time to add another member to my 1 bird flock...?

[algebraic]

Hey all. I just signed up... I thought this would be a great place to ask a question since google isn't being very helpful and I don't really know anyone that has lots of birds.

Anyway... I have a young sun conure male named Loco, he is very sweet and not as loud as what websites and people would have you believe about sunnies... he has his moments, but is usually only vocal for a few minutes in the morning. I am really thinking about getting another bird (2 is my max, however) - not only so Loco has some company while we are at work, but also because I just want another one! lols. I really want a nanday, or jenday. I know my sunny would have a great chance at getting along with a new bird, because he was around jendays, cockatiels and lorikeets at the breeders, he even played/ate with them. My only worry is the noise factor... I would really love some input that have more then two birds, especially aratinga conures, and to what the noise levels are like. Will I have to say good by to weekend sleep-ins? How noisy does it get? Do you think that the noise would be too much while we were at work? Currently my neighbour has no complaints, she can't hear him at all, and I don't think he actually screams - lots of toys - but if we had two, would they play/interact and make lots of noise...?

also... why aren't nanday conures as popular...? they are so pretty, slightly bigger, better mimicking ability... I can hardly find any videos and pics of them, or even people that own them.

[GlassOnion]

Many Nanday owners will say that they are *much* louder than a Sun, with a harsher, more grating call. Have you considered a Peach Fronted Conure? PFCs known to be the quieter of the Aratinga Conures with a very good speaking ability.

[algebraic]

I love peach fronted but sadly they are thousands of dollars in australia...

[Cage Cleaner]

It is hard to tell and/or predict.

I expected much more noise when I put my two birds together in the same room, but instead they have actually toned down the noise quite a bit. My GCC used to spend most of the day going non-stop calling to birds outside, and also talking to whatever he thinks is listening. I would hear "hello, come here, step up. Step up. Good bird" non-stop throughout most of the day. But now, with the second one in the room, most of the day the birds are absolutely silent and just playing with toys or whatever birdy behavior they're currently set on mirroring off of each other.

--HOWEVER--

When they get screaming, they get screaming. They will build on one another, and the Sun Conure is definitely LOUD LOUD LOUD when she wants to be. As in, I am sitting IN MY CAR and she is in my house through a window and I can still hear her. I used to think that the GCC was already loud when he wanted to do high-pitched shrill calls (and definitely not apartment safe, whatever the petcosmart store tells you), but the Sun Conure is at least 5x louder at max volume.

It's not a problem, though, because the screaming is only morning/evening, and when they see me coming home. They switch to "hello" and "come here" as soon as I am through the door.

But I think it's up to the individual bird/training the owner offers them, and so it is hard to predict.

A trick to try would be to cover their cages when you sleep, and uncover them when you wake up. Seems to keep my birds from screaming in the morning.

Also, check out gold-capped conures if you're set on the aratinga family. They are very elegant looking and supposedly have more mellow personalities than the Jenday/Sun. Or the dusky conure.