My first bird - need help deciding pls!

[kateb]

Hello! I've become interested in owning a bird, and am trying to decide on the "right" one. I work from home most days, so I have the necessary time to devote to the bird in terms of love and attention.

Initially, a Quaker was recommended to me, and that looked great from all the reading and videos I watched, except the "one person bird syndrome" is an issue for me. Although I would be the primary owner/mate, I live with my mother and it would be upsetting if the bird was unpleasant to her. They don't need to be best friends, but the bird does at least have to not bite her and let her interact with it a little bit.

Then, a moustache parakeet was recommended to me as a better alternative, as apparently they will interact pleasantly with other people, but I can't find much information about them on the web. Do they make good pets? Are the nice to other family members? Are they intelligent and easy to train? Do they like to hang out with you and play/cuddle?

If anyone has any other recommendations that would be great too. Ideally, I'm after a small bird that is intelligent, likes to play and interact with me (and others), can learn tricks and not too loud! Talking is a bonus.

Also, one final (silly) question... does the bird wake/sleep on your schedule, or it's own? I tend to go to bed very late and get up late - will a bird adapt to this, or will I be adapting to him?! I've heard they like to start calling out quite early in the morning - oh no!

Thank-you,
Kate

[Shani]

Welcome!

One person bird syndrome can occur in any species (though some are more prone to it than others). A great article to overcome it is here, though I'm fairly certain it can be prevented (or at least minimized) by socializing the parrot with other people on a regular basis and basic training (there's a bunch of info on training you can find on these forums). As far as intelligence goes, imo all parrots are intelligent even budgies can be taught an extensive number of tricks.

Anyway, for recommendations - I'm very very bias, but a cockatiel matches all your requirements. They're absolutely adorable, quite small, quiet as far as parrots go (though expect noise with any species you choose), can be taught tricks, can be very cuddly (depends on the individual bird of course), and are generally not aggressive birds at all compared to some more 'feisty' species. As I said - I am very bias having a baby cockatiel myself!

I'd personally recommend any of the following - quaker parrots, green cheeked conures, senegals (or other small poicephalus parrots. Very popular birds on here!), lovebirds (can be very snuggly, don't deserve the aggressive rep they have), cockatiels and budgies. I don't know enough about Moustached Parakeets to judge, sorry Bottom line - any parrot species (generally speaking) can be a fantastic pet, provided you do your research before getting one and the bird receives the attention it needs and is properly socialized. Good luck!

[captwest]

I think it would be hard to go wrong with a baby cockatiel. They're great first birds and some males can talk, the males tend to be noisier than females but both can be very cuddly with all members of your household if soicalized early.They come in many different color mutations but the normals are cheaper and usually live longer than more exotic color mutations, all of which can really be sweet birds.

[lotus15]

I agree with a lot of what was said above Smaller Pois, cockatiels, GCCs, all of those sound like good choices. Quakers I might reconsider just because they can be very aggressive sometimes and can also be very LOUD. I don't know enough about Moustached Parakeets though, sorry

About adaptation in terms of sleeping schedule... birds are often very adaptable except for a few species which typically will always get up infernally early, BUT-- my avian vet is a strong believer in that birds that "adapt" are suffering in other ways, and when he has clients with pluckers who can't figure out why, he very often tells them that the first thing to do is change their sleeping schedule to fit what it'd be in the wild. He has always recommended a very close to the sun sleeping schedule for birds, as all birds in the wild pretty much wake and sleep with the sun (with few exceptions). I definitely know a few people who claim that their birds stay up til 11pm with them and don't get up until 9 or 10 am in the mornings, but I would not consider this a healthy habit. My guys typically are naturally ready for bed about an hour after the sun has gone down, and will usually rise right along with it. (Lately it's been about 7 pm to 6 am with daylight saving and such.) I definitely think this is healthiest for parrots.

[Jenny]

I'll add my two cents & state that I agree w/lotus & captwest that a cockatiel fits all the requirements you list, as well as being a great starter bird.

About adaptation in terms of sleeping schedule... My guys typically are naturally ready for bed about an hour after the sun has gone down, and will usually rise right along with it. (Lately it's been about 7 pm to 6 am with daylight saving and such.) I definitely think this is healthiest for parrota.

I find lotus' statement above to be right in line w/my cockatiel's sleep pattern, & that from what I've read, not allowing your bird the recommended 10-12 hrs of dark/quiet/sleep WILL lead to problems/issues. My house is very small, & it is difficult for me to separate my bird from my living space, so to be complety honest, my sleep schedule has changed. If you're able to, you could have a sleep cage separate from your & your bird's living space so that your bird could get the sleep it needs.

[pchela]

I am a late to bed, late to rise person. My birds stay up with me until midnight (I usually get to sleep about 2 or later) and get up with me around 11 or so. They get 10 to 12 hours of sleep each night and we have had no issues with this sleep schedule. I personally think that as long as they have a regular schedule, they'll be fine. I do cover them with sheets which keeps the morning light out. If you have the means to make a room really dark and if you can provide full spectrum lighting for the, I don't foresee any problems.

[zazanomore]

My vote is on a cockatiel...but I may be a bit biased

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I would add another vote for a GCC... ours is very affectionate, very playful, good with both of us for the most part and generally a fun character. They aren't too loud, but the do have "big bird" personalities. Scooter even talks a bit.

Our birds don't wake up until we open the room up in the morning. We don't use cage covers, but we do close the blinds and the room gets afternoon rather than morning sun. We tend to put htem to be around 9 or 10 and get up around 8:30 in the morning. They do need a long sleep period, but two data points suggests they can adapt the schedule for that to yours.

[kateb]

Hello everybody! Thank-you so much for all the great replies.

I had seriously considered the cockatiel, but then ruled it out because I thought it was not "pet-like" enough! I know, that sounds really stupid! For some reason I had my heart set on a parrot / parakeet, which was a decision based on both aesthetics and ability to learn, interact, speech potential etc. Of course, I'm the first to acknowledge that is ridiculous reasoning!!

Plus, to make things even more confusing, the more I research the more excited I get and the more I keep moving towards to "big bird" end of town. It's goes something like - hey cool, quakers can talk a little bit! Well then, what talks better than a quaker? Oh, cool, let's get an african grey. Oh, even better, let's get a Macaw! And so it goes on... at this rate I will be building a commercial aviary in my backyard and charging for admission

But, based on all the votes, I am off to see a tiel tomorrow. I'm hoping I don't fall in love immediately and get one on the spot - this is a big decision so I'm trying to be level-headed and make an informed choice - but chances are a bird might be following me home tomorrow! It's so exciting! I can't wait to learn even more about whatever bird I get!

[Jenny]

But, based on all the votes, I am off to see a tiel tomorrow. I'm hoping I don't fall in love immediately and get one on the spot - this is a big decision so I'm trying to be level-headed and make an informed choice - but chances are a bird might be following me home tomorrow! It's so exciting! I can't wait to learn even more about whatever bird I get!

it is exciting, & you can't go wrong w/a cockatiel! If I could make one suggestion, it would be to not base your decision based on your color preference.