Best bird for a loving pet?(Michael please respond)

[Nir]

What's your opinion on the best birds to have as a pet who will like your company. Please don't just say any bird depending on what you want. Although budgies are great, it really doesn't seem like you can have the same experience with them as you can with bigger parrots. I want a bird who can have a great connection with me and actually know who I am and want to be with me. Even fly to me when he sees me. Also I prefer him to not be much of a biter and I do prefer he talks.

So what's everyone's opinion of the best bird pet. People who have owned several birds please give me your feedback.

Michael please respond with your opinion. Ps also cuddling is strongly preferred at least a bit

i edited the first sentence..

[cml]

What's your opinion on the best birds to have as a pet who will love you and love you. Please don't just say any bird depending on what you want. Although budgies are great, it really doesn't seem like you can have the same experience with them as you can with bigger parrots. I want a bird who can have a great connection with me and actually know who I am and want to be with me. Even fly to me when he sees me. Also I prefer him to not be much of a biter and I do prefer he talks.

So what's everyone's opinion of the best bird pet. People who have owned several birds please give me your feedback.

Michael please respond with your opinion. Ps also cuddling is strongly preferred at least a bit

Do you realize that with bigger size and being smarter, a whole lot of new challenges arise?

Biting is an issue that can crop up with any kind of parrot, and there is no gaurantee that a parrot will love you for just being you. They need to feel its worth it, and that takes time, dedication and hard work .

Most parrots arent cuddly by nature, and if they do cuddle, its not the same as with a dog or a cat. One of mine loves to cuddle, and can sit on my chest for an hour getting his head scratched, but that isnt why I love him. If I wanted a pet just to cuddle with I'd get a cat or something .

Talking can be fun, but in my opinion it isnt something that should be a factor when choosing species!

I think you need to specify what you are looking for in a parrot, research some different species to get an idea on what to expect! In the end though, they are all individuals, just as us .

[ginger]

Before I give you an answer, may I ask why exactly do you want a bird? What prompted you to explore a bird as a pet?

[marie83]

No animal is guarrenteed to be cuddly, sorry. Just like a bird isn't necesserily going to talk.
Biting is part of the parcel of owning a bird I'm afraid, sooner or later it is going to happen whether you like it or not. A bird will bite as much as it feels the need to, either in defence or because the owner has taught it to by accident. Some will also go through a nippy stage and even nips can feel like bites at times if they catch you right.
I don't know if I've been lucky or it's because I've put alot of effort into learning each individual birds body language but I've had very few bites even when starting out but I always always expect to get bitten. Ollie was the exception, he is by far the smartest bird I've ever had and my partner inadvertently taught him alot of unwanted behaviours. It took a while but I managed to teach him that biting does not work with me in the way it does my partner.

Parrots are alot of hard work and they have a ridiculous number of drawbacks. There are of course some good things otherwise people wouldn't bother but you need to be the right sort of person, parrots aren't for everyone.

[Nir]

Well ok these are what I am looking for

-Medium sized bird no bigger then a eclectus or Congo .
-Cuddly enough to scratch their head a bit without them flying away or hold them without them freaking out. I just want them to be decently affectionate.
- decent talkers . This again is something I prefer but when I choose the bird, I will let them choose me but I want the potential of them talking to be there like it is in condos. But obviously I won't expect them to be as good. But even if they don't end up talking, I will love them just as much.
-I want them just to be affectionate and want to have higher chance of them being people person. There must be certain birds who are more easier to like to play with their caretaker or wants his attention right?like go to him when he is bored. Just like certain birds are smarter and better talkers. Or maybe I am wrong? For example, I trained my budgies to do some small things and they are tame, but they only do it conditionally when they want some millet. And they tend to forget me from time to time and ometimes I think he doesn't even like me but just likes the millet and wants me to leave him alone mostly. Whereas I prefer if the bird actually likes my company and wants me to take him out and play.
- being playful is also something I like. Also since I live in a apt I want them not to be so loud.

So any help is appreciated. Birds I have been researching and am interested in are eclectus, tag, Senegal. Senegal especially since he is decent talker and quieter and not a expensive eventhough price is not an issue. But I am looking for more opinions on these birds along with other birds you guys think that' fits the bill of what I am looking for.

Thanks in advance. Sorry if I sound like I am wanting to much but I just want the best option for me possible.

[Nir]

Before I give you an answer, may I ask why exactly do you want a bird? What prompted you to explore a bird as a pet?

Since I was 7 I had a bird and it was honestly the most fun I had in childhood. Then after my bird died, life happened and I got very busy. Now like 14 years later I got another budgie but I feel like I want a better connection with my bird this time. I love my budgie but I don't feel like he loves me as much even though he is tamed. I work from home and only time I'm not home is when I go to the gym. So I have plenty of free time.

Again my preferences are not a necessity. I just want the potential for those things to be pretty good. Not every budgie talks but the potential is there and is pretty good and that's all I want.

[marie83]

Budgies only do stuff for millet? Birds in general will only do something if theres something in it for them usually.
You see Michael asking his birds to do stuff and he doesn't treat them after so they must be doing it out of love? Nope they are doing it because they know they might get something good out of it. They may or may not love Michael- that is an entirely different debate but they do it because there is something they might get that they feel is worth having. Its called variable reinforcement.

Sorry but yes I do think your asking too much, you want a bird that loves you, will allow you to be affectionate with it and preferably talk. If you get a hand raised the probability is it will be all of these things but there is also a chance it may not be. What happens to the bird if it needs alot of taming to get it to be handlable by you? what if it never really bonds to you? Birds are not here to make their owners feel loved and validated.

I would forget the congo straight away, they need experienced owners as they are very sensitive compared with other species. Tbh I would do a hell of alot more research first. Read the desperate pleas for help from other parrot owners who bit off more than they can chew, then perhaps consider a species such as a cockatiel or another less demanding species (bare in mind they are all demanding though.)

[ginger]

I do see some real problems with your expectations that I'm not sure you've thought through. I'm sure that is why you are seeking the opinions of others. I am glad that you are here seeking advice.

As far as the amount of attention goes...I think that you are asking for trouble if you want a bird, any bird, to get the amount you're describing. Here's what I see...a total screaming maniac! I'm serious! Or worse yet a biter. Any bird that gets that much attention will scream every single time you don't give it. Or, when you go to place it in its cage it will try to bite you. You need to be realistic here. A bird needs to learn that it is required to spend some time without you. It should be able to play independently either on a playstand or in its cage. There is absolutely no reason to make a bird so dependent on you that it can't be alone.

You live in an apartment, right? So any kind of larger bird will scream/vocalize at certain times of the day. The types of birds you mentioned being interested in aren't really suitable for an apartment in my opinion. Your neighbors most likely won't put up with the noise very long before they complain to you, or worse yet the apartment manager. By the way, have you discussed the pet bird policy for parrots? Some apartments will only allow smaller birds like budgies, cockatiels, canaries, finches, etc. It would be very sad if you got a bird only to find out that you can't have it because of a policy like that.

Personally, I think that you might want to reconsider getting a bird at all, or be more realistic in your need for a bird. I also think that you need to understand that there isn't a big difference between the motivation your budgie has for doing training and a parrot's motivation. All my parrots, without exception, are only motivated by rewards for training. They don't do it because they "love" me. They might do it once in awhile just to please me for attention, but they'd rather have a safflower seed.

Also, if you get a bird because you think that its personality is more based on the breed than on the individual bird then you're asking for trouble. For example, I have eight Senegals and ten Cockatiels. Each one of them has a unique and different personality. None of them is like the other just because they are Senegals, for example. Yes, the basic qualities are there, but if I got a Senegal based on somebody's opinion, especially if they only had one, then I would be sadly mistaken. Same goes for any bird. Don't base your decision on what you read about a specific type of parrot.

Honestly, and don't take offense to this because I mean it in a helpful way, I don't think that you should get another bird. Work with that Budgie. He will teach you all you need to know about how to be a great bird owner. If you can't handle him and his individual personality, then I don't believe it is in the best interest of another bird to be owned by you.

[Michael]

What's your opinion on the best birds to have as a pet who will love you and love you.

Sounds like you really want a dog and not a parrot. That's totally fine, just don't make the mistake of trying to force a parrot to be a dog. Not gonna work out.

[pennyandrocky]

everyone's given you excellent advice,i hope you take it.i just have a question for you what about your budgie? does he want another bird in the house?i had my for a few years when an ex dropped off a at my house my loved having another bird around lucky for all of us.when the died my mourned him so when my boyfriend told me a woman was getting a divorce and giving away all the parrots her husband had bought her i foolishly went to her house and she gave us a my was happy but it turned into a 5 year nightmare for me the hated me and viscously attacked me the whole 5 years.fortunatly when i was pregnant with my son my aunt came over to help with the nursery and she and the fell in love with eachother so she took her home.when i would visit the would come over to me and give me kisses she was a totally different bird.
3 years later with an wanting another bird my cousin calls me to tell me she had a she didn't want anymore so i brought my over to introduce them and they hit it off so i took him home then after 2 years my died and my became very demanding but i wasn't going to get another but i gave in and convinced my boyfriend to buy me another .big mistake he hated me and being that he looked too much like my other he was too dangerous to have around the kids at my house that were used to the that adored kids so he had to go to a rescue who allowed me to meet and adopt my who loves all of us and we love her.sorry so long i just want you put alot of thought into what you want and what will be best for you and your .