Care Information on Small Parrot Birds , help?

[Fleabuskitty]

If you don't have any parrot experience I suggest Budgies/Parakeets or Cockatiels. I currently have a Sun Conure and a Cockatiel. I have had Parakeets in the past, but only one of them was tame. He was very nice, though I never had a chance to teach him to talk because somehow my cat got him. I am much more paranoid about the cats and birds now.
My Cockatiel is not hand-raised and has never been friendly, but I have heard they are wonderful when they are hand-raised and they learn to whistle very well.
My Sun Conure is great. Parrots tend to bond to one person, and he does not like most people but is really nice when he is around people who are calm. He gets freaked out around people who are scared of him or twitchy. It seems like a lot of people are scared of birds. Sun Conures will scream, not so much because they're upset but just for attention or to for no real reason. Parrots (or at least mine) love toys they can tear up.
Parrotlets are also good. Someone I know has a couple and gave me one that didn't get along with the others and he wasn't the friendliest but he was adorable.
Laka, AKA Mr. Bird, my Sun Conure, doesn't talk, Conures are not the best talkers, but he has learned how to mock laughter. He only "laughs" when I do, though, so it always seems like he's laughing at whatever I'm laughing at. I didn't teach him this, he just heard my friends and I laughing a few times and decided that he could do it, too.
You should feed a pelleted diet, otherwise they will pick out whatever seeds they like and leave the rest and will not have the right balance of nutrients. I used to feed Zupreem FruitBlend Flavor, but I realized now... crapish... it is. The first ingredient is corn and it's full of dyes and stuff. So now I feed both of them TOP Organic pellets, which they absolutely love. They seem to think it's just treats! Mr. Bird loves apples and peanuts and gets them sometimes and I also give them both various seeds as treats and I have recently started giving them sprouted seeds, which they seem to like a lot. Fresh foods should stay in the food dish for a maximum of 24 hours and, like most birds, they should have constant access to their pellets. I usually change out the newspaper in the drop-pan once a week. General care, not including out of cage time for Bird, takes about 5-10 minutes a day except for cage-cleaning and toy rearranging days. Bird comes out of his cage at least 30 minutes a day, usually more than an hour. That is refilling food dishes, checking water bottles, and rinsing sprouting seeds. My parrots both use rabbit-type water bottles because they love to play in water dishes - they bathe in them, put their food in them, etc, and it can't be healthy for them to drink it after they've played with it like that. Occasionally they get a dish of water for baths, though Laka prefers to bathe in cups of water that I'm drinking from.
I don't suggest a Conure if you haven't had other parrots before because they can be a little (as in very) loud. I think a Cockatiel would be good. They are a sub-species of Cockatoo, but much smaller than Sulfur-Crested Cockatoos and other huge birds. If you want an even smaller, even easier bird, go for a Parakeet or two, they are extremely easy, do not need as much outside time, etc.

 

[Chicky-dees]

Cockatoos fall in the parrot catagory. They are fun, but very loud. They have a routine and want you to have one too - in fact, they won't care that it is Saturday morning and you are trying to sleep in - if you are supposed to be downstairs by 6:30 am and you aren't there, they will start calling for you. My most recent cockatoo was given to me by a lady who liked to travel across the continent twice a year. She took her birds with her on the plane ride (she had several cockatoos) and this one didn't like traveling so much and began to pluck his chest. I've had him for two years and he still has the nasty habit, but has a vocab of about 50 words and is very charming. He will probably always be a little bald, and that is something we will have to deal with for the next 15 years or so. So don't forget to think of things like that as well. It is a commitment, baldness and all!

But if you'd like some more little details on bird keeping, here are some articles I wrote for an online database - feel free PM me if you have any questions!

(link)

P.S. The pic in the article is my cockatoo I wrote about above. He is a Rose-Breasted Gala Cockatoo, native to Australia (but California raised) - he's a Texan, now. LOL!

 

[Magic Birdie]

If you're just starting, it's a good idea to get a smaller bird. Cockatiels and budgies are often people's first birds. Finches and Canaries will work too, but you can't teach them to talk. You can get something bigger, like a conure, or something smaller but a bit more for experienced people, like a parrotlet (not saying that's as much work as a macaw or something to take care of, though), but you shouldn't get any bigger than that. Good luck! Picking's the hardest part

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Quote:
Budgies and tiels can learn to talk.

 

[lishah2000]

If you've never had a bird before then a budgie or cockatiel is a good choice. I had budgies growing up and they were wonderful. The two that were mine I was able to hand feed from time to time and they were just wonderful birds. I've had two cockatiels and they were both good birds. The tiels do pick up whistles pretty easy. My male did say my name a few times, but that was it. Some do talk.

When I lost my male cockatiel this year I wanted something different. I got a parrotlet and I just love him. He is a bit more work than my tiels were, but such a funny bird. They just have a big bird attitude in a tiny body. Might be too much for a first bird. Some do talk, but not all. Mine is trying and almost has a few words. Talking wasn't something I really cared about.

I am also considering an older quaker girl that is just a sweetheart. But I've spent a ton of time with her and gathering information about them. If you have a good bird store or breeder in your area it would be good to go in and visit with the different birds. It's hard to really get an idea until you see them and interact with them. It really helped me decide and I was able to get to know my bird several weeks before I brought him home.

All that said I still miss having a tiel around the house. I will probably have another at some point.