by pfinarffle » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:06 am
I'd like to strongly suggest that, if you (or anyone!) will be a very first time bird owner, you look into a parrot adoption organization. Even though I grew up with birds, we got our guy through Phoenix Landing here on the East Coast. What's beautiful about that organization is multifactorial. Obviously they help birds in need. But beyond that, they have tons of free education events every weekend that teach you things about bird ownership that books and even the internet doesn't. Once you complete the required courses, you are then able to foster a parrot. Fostering is great because you get the experience of owning a bird but without the need for the decades' long commitment actually buying from a breeder can cause. Volunteers from the organization check in with you periodically to make sure things are going okay with your new housemate. If things aren't well, they provide guidance to hopefully smooth out the kinks. If things don't work out between the bird and your other pets or family, they can find the bird another foster home until it gets adopted. Another plus of fostering/adopting is that you get to know the bird's temperament from the beginning. When you buy a bird, you have no idea if it'll be anxiety-prone or aggressive or a plucker etc. Sure you can usually train most negative behaviors out of birds. But it takes a *lot* of time and patience, which most people just don't have. Much easier to find a bird matched to your needs from the get-go. Good luck!