What would be the best caged bird for my situation?

[bagendhens]

this is "loki"
hes a slate (or mauve) lineolated parakeet
they are not as noisey/chattery as american or english parakeets and make EXCELENT talkers.
loki is about 8 months old and says 'hi" and "what ya doing" and "jack" (my sever macaws name) and "good morning" and "night night" there not all that clear yet, hes still young and has a tiny little voice, sounds a little like a robot lol but they are well known for talking ability...
he does "Peep" (sounds like a smoke etector when the batteries are failing) when he hears a high pitched noise or other tweeting birds...but its very infrequent and short lived, mostly he just gently chatters away to himself practicing his words.

a hand fed linnie is typically very sweet natured, they will entertain themselves but also love to sit on your shoulder/be with you.

minimum cage size is 18 x 18 x 18, but an 18 x 30 is better, they will use ALL the space. with plenty of toys.
loki loves fresh foods, his favorite seems to be cooked broccoli and apple! (the tart-er the better lol)

price wise anything from $150-$300 for a hand fed linnie from a breeder depending on your color choice, greens are cheaper followed by blues and green mutations, then the ino's are on the higher side...so they are a little more on the expensive side (then again ive seen canaries upwards of $90 around here for yellow males...so...) but they have a long life span an "old" linnie is 10-12 and its not unusual to see 15+ yrs.

http://www.lineolatedparakeet.net/forums/
is a great forum for more info on these little cuties.
i love loki, and am planning on getting "him" a mate in the spring (im waiting on his dna sex results)

 

[silkiechicken]

Have parakeets and a tiel... they are all sweet and chatty when they feel like it, but do enjoy morning screaming matches a dozen or so times a day. So they are surely not quiet by any means. I can hear them from outside when we leave in the morning, with the windows CLOSED. The tiel is by far the loudest of the four when he screams that he wants something.

3 parakeets share a 14 x 20 x 30 cage, and the tiel has his own 18x18x28 play top cage that they stay in while we are at work. They have free flight of one room or the whole apartment if we're not cooking otherwise. It's amazing how much strength they build up when given free flight time. First few times with wings they could only do a single falling loop and end up exhausted. Now they can do dozens of loops, pause on a plant and do a few dozen more laps. If you do let birds have free flight time, make sure blinds are down to avoid crashes.

Many pet store cages are ridiculously small and expensive. I got my cockatiel cage on craigslist for 30 bucks. Near 100 new. Got a 8x10x12 travel cage for $2 when the pet store wanted $15 for the same thing!

 

[Farmergreen]

6 finches 5 parakeets 6 dove. NOT TO LOUD around here. LOL. All are in a 12 x12 room and some won't stay in the cages so duck when you go in!
What ever you decide on you'll love.

 

[babalubird]

Well, a friend has a cockatiel she says is a biter, but my experience with my one and only cockatiel is that he is the sweetest, most laid-back little guy of any of the parakeets or parrots I've ever owned. He is absolutely the least likely to bite, gives great kisses and is just sweet, sweet, sweet. I don't think he is as loud as my parakeets or finches were. When he gets going on his little cockatiel "song", it is somewhat lyrical, more like a songbird than a parrot. They are pretty much hit or miss as far as teaching them to talk. Mine says a few "hard-to-understand" words and only when he thinks he's alone in the room.

My parakeets were much louder than he is and more inclined to bite. I had finches but they are way too delicate and usually don't live that long and very hard to train or interact with.

Connie

 

[4 luv of eggs]

I currently have canaries, parakeets and lovebirds. They all have their merits. If you go for canaries and have a choice, get a male American Singer. I have red factor male and an american singer male. The RF will sing you out of the room. He is so loud that your ears literally ring. My AS boy is very soft spoken. His song is so soothing.

I have five parakeets. They can get loud but it's so cheery I don't mind. They are fun to watch and of course they can be tamed. Mine aren't yet but I'm working on them and have my white girl, Nimbus pretty hand friendly.

Lovebirds can be a bit screechy but it isn't all the time. They call back and forth between each other and the parakeets. They are adorable little clowns and pretty good problem solvers. All the doors are latched down because Cyan, my girl checks the locks every morning. Do try to find a hand tamed one though. I'm taming a two month old with not too much problem so far. They can be quite nippy if they want to be. They come in some beautiful colors.

But let me tell you....when the Lovies get to screeching back and forth and the Keets are chattering away and both male canaries are singing........it gets a wee bit loud in here.

 

[boykin2010]

Zebra finches and diamond doves are nice. Also society finches