Can't decide which species is right for me

[Polarn]

the only ones I can hear here when im outside is the zon and Galah, their audible pretty far down the street when their calling, but im not in an apartment and I'm happy im not with them two when they get started. But personally the noise isnt an issue so not too bothered about the noise when I'm inside. and due to the two bigger ones my noiseassessment for a tiel might be all wrong since to me every tiel I've met is quiet even when others tell me their loud, but then the zon is either screaming along with the radio, whistling or trying to speak constantly, unless hes puttin something in his piehole. compared to him all of em here is quiet, but as I said I can still hear the Galah a fair bit down the road.

[Eurycerus]

The cockatiels I've met have also been quiet, or relatively quiet I suppose. They never bother me. Then again Nika's noises don't bother me either.

[Pricey_boy]

my first bird was a scaly breasted lorikeet hes almost 2yrs old now and he doesnt bite anyone theyre not loud and there isnt many objects they can destroy and they will always want to be with you all the time

from personal experience i believe that all birds have atleast 1 problem wheather its screamin, biting,or have terotorial problems al birds are different even if theyre the same species

my corella is trying to eat my blueray player as we speak

[Khaiqha]

The problem with getting advice on birds online is that everyone has a different definition what is "mean" or "one person bird."

My roommate has a GCC and a cockatiel. He says the GCC is cuddly, I call it obsessive with always wanting to be held. He says his cockatiel's noises are really annoying. I think they're cute and playful.

My IRN is called devil bird by my friends. They say she's aggressive and evil. This makes it sound like she's a biter. She has yet to ever bite a person (but chewing on them though...). She's just assertive and demands to get her way, and when she doesn't she gets hulked out angry. To others, that's being evil. To me, that's being assertive.

I think the best thing that helped me pick my birds was just handling as many birds as I possibly could. My dream birds since the first grade have been 1) an African Grey and 2) a Sun Conure.

Instead I have a ringneck and alexandrine, because those are the birds I have handled and enjoyed the most. I still want a Grey, but I know I can't afford one at the moment.

[Saerphe]

If you're interested in Poicephalus parrots, a Brown Headed parrot might be a good choice for you. They have all the good qualities that people love about Pois, but tend to have less phobic tendencies and one-person preferences. I don't think I've ever heard anything negative about them.

Pionus parrots and cockatiels sound like good potential matches too. Make sure to get out and meet as many individuals as possible, and I also reccommend getting an adult bird as a rescue or rehome as well. A lot of it depends on the individual bird as well as the species, so meet as many birds as you can and do lots more research. There's not a whole lot written on Brown Headed parrots, but there are articles, websites, and experienced owners you can get in touch with if you look hard enough.

[Paulie]

Good question. I recently lost my blue-fronted amazon after she had internal bleeding. I had her for 25 years. I was going to buy an African Grey because they were talkers (knew nothing about parrots, but had owned tiels, parakeets, and zebra finches) for my son's 16th birthday. But I opted for my blue fronted because when the store owner handled her she squawked but never attempted to bite him.

She ended up bonding with me (took nearly two years). She would stand on the back of the couch but siddle away when I tried to touch her. Then one day out of the blue she climbed down on my chest as I lay on the couch, squatted, squawked like a chicken, then turned around and showed me her vent. Bingo I knew she was a girl. After that it was me and only me. I could handle her any way I wanted. Never got bit, except once by accident when she went for the cord on earphones I had on and only grazed my cheek. It took her about 4 years to figure out she could bite, although she did only once when she tried to bite my son. She still recognized him and she would still allow my son to handle her a little, but she went for his face once and after that he didn't handle her anymore. She would do that lunge thing toward my husband, but I don't think she would have really bitten. It was just understood that only I could handle her, stick my hand in her cage, scratch her neck, and flip her on back and hold her like a baby. She never plucked her feathers, screamed incessantly, or chewed excessively or did any neurotic behavior. I had to leave her alone for an entire week only coming home on weekends with only the cat for company for an entire year and still no behavior problems. She was the sweetest.

Now I'm looking at other birds and all I can read about is aggression and biting. I'm nervous, too. Although I'm looking at senegals. I'm wondering if I want another medium size parrot or just go for a smaller one. I've got a mighty big cage to fill (including my heart). One thing, I will definitely make sure whatever species, it'll be a female. I had it so easy the first time, I'm afraid, I'll expect it to be easy the second time. I just really never had to train her. The only thing I did was respect her space and since I ignored her and did not push it but was always nearby but calm, she decided on her own and her own time when she was ready to bond.

Start small with a budgie or a tiel. I hand tamed my budgie by sitting in a dark room with only the TV on so she would fly away, put her on a stand and just had her do step up and down. Two or three sessions of about 15 minutes each. She loved small spaces and loved to sit between my boobs and just stay in there or I would put her in a sock and carry her around. My tiel was hand raised so tame already. I don't handle her as much so she gets a little wild and then calms down and lets me handle her. She gets a little bossy if she's out too long then insists on nipping my ears or pulling my earrings or nibbling on my neckchain. Gets really insistent.

Remember parrots are long lived, intelligent, and bond with you and consider the family their flock, be prepared to have a parrot (hopefully) for many, many years and not give her away because you move. If you move, take your parrot with you. My 25 years was way too short. So from my experience, I would say a female blue-fronted is the best. She was a moderate talker - just her name, hello, something that sounded like Ma when she called me, jabbering that sounded like me jabbering on the phone with my mom, mimicking of female and children voices on TV, and singing wordlessly whenever a song came on or I sang. Oh and she would laugh like me. Barked once like my sister's dog. Never did it again. Walking by that empty cage is really hard.