Cockatiel or budgie....?

Any obvious pros and cons? We would be getting a DNA sexes male from oaisisaviary.com. The bird is going to be a companion for a girl in her early teens. The place we are getting the bird from hand feeds and tames their budgies and cockatiels. We are looking for a hardy, somewhat loud(to match our family) Sweet, smart bird that will not be hard to handle for elderly people.

I've had experience with both Cockatiels and Budgies and sounds like a Cockatiel would suit you better. They are more personable and interactive, they are easier to handle because of their size and definitely can be loud! We lost our Cockatiel almost a year ago and had him for 12 years, we thought he was around 3 years old when we 'adopted' him. So they are hardy birds, Budgies seem to be a little less hardy and most I have had didn't live more than several years, my last one though did live 10 years- so I guess it just depends. Although my Budgie and my Cockatiel that lived so long did share a home together, they LOVED each other so much, so maybe love kept him living longer? See you could always get both and raise them together like I did
Good Luck!!

Lol I like the idea but we have a kindergartener in our family, and I'm afraid he'll get his finger bitten off from bugging the bird. I've heard doves don't bite, how are they as pets?

In most caes, well socialized birds don't bite unless they are stressed.

My 3 cockatiels have never bitten me hard enough to cause pain except once. One of the males was getting very hormonal (just under a year old) and getting very aggressive because he was fighting the other male for our one female. He won the fights, but not the females heart... When I tried to move him to another cage (give him less light so he'd think it was winter and not mating season. That calmed down the hormones) he rapidly bit my hand three times hard enough to barely break the skin. Once his "teenage" hormones settled down, he became a sweet little bird again.

Once you get your cockatiel, give him a few days to get used to his new home then start doing trust exercises and training (everyone that will handle the birds should do trust exercises with the bird). Birds don't bite people they trust.

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I completely agree that well socialized, trusting birds don't bite. My birds never did! Maybe wait until the 5 year old is old enough to be gentle with the birds before getting one? That way they can both enjoy each other.

In my opinion a cockatiel would suite your situation best. Most budgies don't make super interactive pets. A cockatiel bite isn't too bad but a handfed bird shouldn't bite. It can break the skin but it's usually just a little nick. A budgie has about the same strength bite as a cockatiel. A male cockatiel can whistle and be a friendly part of your family. An obvious con to cockatiels is that they produce dust.

As a cockatiel breeder, there are some good points in this thread. Cockatiels are very 'dusty' in that they produce more dander than a parakeet. Thats pretty much the only con. Cockatiels are by far, more social. As mentioned before, if you are buying a handraised baby, they should be very sweet. If you are looking for a noise maker, go with a male(though females can get vocal when they want). If you are looking for more of a sweet social bird go for female.
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I've had both handraised 'keet's and cockatiel's. I like them both but prefer the parakeet's. Just because they don't shriek quite as loud as a cockatiel. They do chatter and "shout" but it's not the same high pitched yelling that my cockatiels liked to do! So just depends on whether or not that will bother you. I think both make great pets.

As far as personality, oh my gosh, a handraised parakeet has ton's! So did my 'keet's that were parent raised after some time spent taming them. I would not say at all that they are less sociable then the 'tiels. Mine was all over me whenever he was out of the cage, like a little monkey. He talked up a storm too, that bird new so many words. The more time you spend with one the tamer, more social it will be. My last parakeet died a couple years ago at the age of 12, my cockatiel was 18 when she passed.

I also never had a problem with my handraised birds bitting.

I have several of both and I would recommend cockatiels. I have everything from budgies to a blue and gold macaw, but the cockatiels are my favorites. They're sociable, friendly, easy to care for (as far as birds go) outgoing, can learn to whistle and say a few words. I find them to be more naturally social with people than budgies. Even though they enjoy each others company, they enjoy the company of people as well and unlike some other birds, still enjoy human company even if you have more than one. I have found them to require less work to keep them that way than budgies, but that's just my personal experience.

I vote for a cockatiel. Great bird. As for the dustiness comment, I heard that some years after I owned my two and never remembered "dusty" as being an issue at all. Perhaps it is compared to some other types of birds, but don't shy away because you are worried about dust being a mess.

For what it's worth, we are considering getting a bird again, and will get a conure. We had one in the past and it is a wonderful bird - especially for an active involved family. There are many different types and it would take research to figure out which is best - some are louder, more playful, nippier, etc. Too involved of an answer when you didn't even ask about them so I won't get into too many details. Ours was not an not loud, was very friendly, and acted like a "parrot" more than our cockatiels did (playing with toys & hanging upside down). Plus they are small.

Cockatiels are great birds - perfect starter birds - and probably better if you think there are days when you won't be interacting as much. Conures are more part of the family in my opinion and require a little more commitment, but worth looking into.

Whatever you're considering, I would recommend finding a local bird breeder/bird specialty store and interact with a hand-tamed one before you make the choice.

Have fun!!