Do you want my lovebird? It's the noisiest little F'er. She never shuts up. It doesn't matter what time of the day or if her cage is covered or not. They are smart but I think there's other parrots that make much better pets. I had a cockatiel for years. Zippy the Pinhead. He was smart, didn't talk much and hated everyone but me. They make decent pets, better then a lovebird but I think one of the bigger parrots would make a better pet. Maybe an African Gray. They are super smart and very friendly. I've never had one of my own but have met several that belonged to other people.
Karyn

I have two 1 large Blue front Amazon,and the other is an orange winged Amazon that I rescued he is 28 years old the blue front I bought out of the nest and hand fed him for 6 months just like a baby,day and night.He is a very good talker,loves to ride on my shoulder,also loves to take showers with me,but he is very protective of me,he also calls me Mama,he says about 75 words.He is 11 years old.Little Quaker parrots make pretty good pets if you get them young,let us know what you decide on.
Bonnie

Karyn, I thought about an African Gray, but are they real big ? I just want one to pet and play with, since my Lucky died, I feel so lonely without a pet. If it talks, that's a bonus.. or curse if it repeats what I say.. LOL

I love my little greenbean. He is really smart and speaks different languages. Used to do tricks til he got his leg bitten off. Now he is a mean sucker unless you give him a bath then he gets all sweet again until he's dry, lol. He gives kisses and calls the dog then tells her to get outside when she comes, lol. The cockatiels didn't do much except whistle. Don't get a big parrot unless you raise it from a baby. The one I rescued that bit green beans leg off broke my thumb and ate all my furniture. You need to bond them to you while they are really young.

Bonnie please post pics of your parrots. Edna the African Gray is a small parrot. It's about twice the size of a cockatiel but much smaller then Bonnie's birds. They need so much attention as much as a dog. I feel bad because I really don't give Sunny enough attention and she's so destructive when she's out of her cage. I can't allow her to roam without supervision. She'd tear the house apart. Last winter I stored a bunch of large plants in the living room and she had a blast hopping from tree to tree.
Karyn

Okay here are my Lucas and Bobby and they thought I was nut taking pictures of them when they were suppose to be sleeping they are creatures of habit the first one is Lucas he is 28 years old then the last two are Bobby 11 years old.Bobby is the Blue front Amazon and Lucas is a orange wing Amazon.
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leeping.lol Creature of habit.

I used to have a conure parrot, green with a red head, they
really bond with one person, he would tolorate hubby when
I was`nt home, they do pretty good at learning how to talk
and are very protective and like lots of attention, it`s
like having another little child, LOL
Really nice pets.

Karen

I have 4 parakeets and I LOVE them...They are so entertaining :)

My mom has a African Grey, he only lovable to my mom, he bites everybody including me, he calls me and my sister a big ugly girl ( my brother taught him that!!!), he makes door bell sound, bark like a dog, tell people to shut up and wistle whenever a women bend over. I told my mom please don't include him in my inherit list when she gone ;)

I really don't care for the critter, but I think he is a great companion for my mom, and I really think the little obnoxious critter really love my mom. He croon and gives her kisses whenever she put him on her shoulder.

Hong your Mom's bird sounds too funny.LOL Bonnie your birds are beautiful. They are smaller then I thought. I figured they'd be closer to the size of a macaw. The woman I buy my pet supplies from specializes in birds and keeps a few of her pet birds at the shop. She has a black palm cockatoo which is one of the most beautiful birds that I've ever seen.

Edna I raised cockatiels,it started with my kids wanting a bird when they were young,so we found a lady that had two that she was gonna get rid of,the problem was they were older,not old just old enough to be bonded to each other instead of the kids,I had not thought of breeding them until she started laying eggs,I done research,and found I had to have a box on the back of the cage for them to sit on the eggs,the boys loved to watch the mom and dad take turns sitting on the eggs,after the eggs start hatching the daddy feds the mom so she dont have to come off the nest.All that to say this what ever you decide on,get a young one,and if you want it to bond with you don't put a mirror in the cage,I know a lot of people do but then they think it is another bird.Good Luck in your search,and let us know what you get.Bonnie

Definitely get a hand raised baby. I know someone on GW that breeds cockatiels but she's in Chicago. If you end up with a female she'll lay eggs anyway. Sunny's constantly laying eggs and she really seems to get depressed when I take them away. After her mate decided to take a dirt nap I removed the nesting box and she started using one of her food dishes as a nest. lol
Karyn

Edna, I would stick with a cockatiel. I've heard parrots need a lot of attention, and know of people just getting rid of them because they were too much trouble. My grandkids had a couple of parakeets and boy are they noisy. We had two cockatiels: Stormy and Sunny. In Spring, I put their huge rod iron cage outside, and Stormy was pulled out of the cage by a cat at night and killed; Sunny a few months ago was able to get out of the cage (brought it indoors after Stormy was killed) and flew out the back door when I opened it and I never found her. I have a couple of zebra finches and one society finch and am thinking of getting a couple of canaries because I love the way the male sings.

Edna, meant to ask, what kind of pet was Lucky? Sorry you no longer have him/her.

Midsize to large parrots are very demanding of your time and attention. They are like having a perpetual 2 yr old for the next 75 yrs or so.

I have a yellow nape amazon, a jenday conure, and a severe (mini)macaw. Conures are pretty and clownish but very noisy despite thier small size. The macaw is a one person bird and makes funny noises but is not nearly as good of talker as my yellow nape amazon though he does talk quite a bit.
Now the amazon, he *rules* our house and is loads of fun! He calls the cats "here kitty kitty" then tries to bite them. He says everything he hears on TV and especially likes shows like Southpark and Family Guy and loves yelling out the letters to Wheel of Fortune lol!
He does not squawk at all he only talks and makes funny noises like burping, wolf whistling, the microwave beep, phones,the zipper on the kids book bags etc. He can imitate every person in our home's voice.

He thinks he is a person! We got him from a petshop in AZ where we think he was very abused, he was not tame at all when we got him.
It is funny because many times he says the right thing at the right time and knows everyone in the house's emotions. I think parrots intelligence is much higher than people think.

I would like to get an African Grey and a Mouloccan Cockatoo next.

Edna, if you get a larger or medium sized bird, try to make sure you get a baby because they can bond to you and you will be able to socialize it better. If you want a good talker, African greys, and Amazons are the best. Macaws talk but not as well though there are exceptions.

Lynette there was a National Geographic article about the intelligence of parrots and they believe that they have a degree of self awareness and are much more then just mimics. I'd love to see pics of everyone's birds. I love looking at them, especially the bigger parrots. I'd never own one just because of the care that's required but love to look at and listen to them. Some are better then many of the stand up comedians. lol
Karyn

Here's my amazon doing one of his tricks. He holds on to the perch and kicks his feet.
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Acting innocent (yeah right)
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Severe/Chestnut-fronted Macaw named "Buttons" Cause he likes to get chew off buttons of everyone's clothes if he gets loose in the house. He will go straight for the closets to find buttons.
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Jenaday Conure (small but noiser than the other two put together)
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SJN thats just cool about your bird calling the kitty,Bobby calls the kitty too,but when he calls the kitty he whispers,he says hello darling,and blows every bodys mind.The Amazons are clowns,but they are demanding,they are just like kids.
Bonnie

Those are some beauties too. The colors on that conure are gorgeous! My lovebird likes to eat furniture and window frames. My old cockatiel would go straight for earrings and bite the crap out of them.They'd get him really upset. Maybe it had to do with them being shiny because he got especially wigged out over gold ones. Here's Sunny the Destructive.

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Karyn

This post has made me want a bird more than ever. SJN your birds are beautiful and so smart ! Karyn and Bonnie, I love yours too. I think I'm getting a cockatiel. There is this lady that raises them and she has 2 right now. They are hand feeding them from what I know. I'm going to call today and check on one.... thanks everyone for the great info !

Post a pic of the new baby when you get it!

karyn your lovebird is so cute. I know they can be rascals even though they are small. I had a bunch of lovebirds once and they chewed everything and laid so many eggs and babies I gave them all to my mother lol. She also got the finches :) Lovebirds are very comical.

Bonnie, I forgot to tell you that I love your amazons.
I opened up the picture of Bobby and my yellow nape, who can see the computer screen from his play perch, wolf- whistled!! LMAO! Then he kept saying "Prrrretty Birrrrd" ! Geez...

Edna, I think you will like a cockatiel they are fun and not as demanding as a larger parrot. They can learn to talk a little too. My dd used to have a yellow one named 'Jazz'. Post photos when you get yours.

I have cockatiels. They are noisy birds and LOVE to nibble at everything. I always put dry palm fronds in their aviary for them to tear to pieces. And they also have asparagus fern and purslane growing inside. They are also very social. Mine like to play "call and respond" where i immitate their calls and they answer back, changing the call every so often.

Notice the asparagus fern (the green patch underneath the cockatiel on the left) that has been reduced to mere twigs! It was four feet in diameter when i planted it there!
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Edna, the best thing you can do is go to the library and read all you can about each of the birds you are considering.

Birds are a very long time commitment and need a lot of care and attention.

There is a Bird magazine (not sure of the name) that is very informative and it talks about caring for each of the varieties and there individual peculiarities.

Cockatiels and parakeets are wonderful first birds. If you wish to have a bird that is a talker, choose a male of the species and do not whistle around them. Also, having a hand raised baby and only one bird of the species is better and will go a long way in getting them to bond with you.

Birds are wonderful companions, very comical and affectionate.

Good luck and I hope you find the one you want.

Greenbean calls John pretty bird, lol. He could say his name if he wanted to but he insists on calling him that, lol.

I never thought of putting any plants in Sunny's cage but I bet she'd enjoy that. She loves to play in my plants that I winter over inside. Where can I find a list of plants that are safe to keep in her cage because she does tear them up? It also has to be a manageable size plant because her cage is only 2' x 4' x 2'. Central Cali your tiel on the lower branch looks just like my Zippy did. It's difficult to keep birds outside around here, even chickens in a coop eventually fall victim to foxes. I have a rabbit hutch outside and a fox grabbed one of my bunny's legs through a tiny opening. That poor bunny finally had to be euthanized because of nerve damage and she was too old (9 years) to undergo an amputation. I still have two bunnies and think they are going to outlive everyone. They were both 11 on Sept 17th!
Karyn

central cali, your cockatiels look so cute and happy in their outdoor aviary! I wish I could have one here but I am afraid of the wildlife here, there are large snakes, eagles, and who know what else around here lol. There's also a ton of mosquitos in the summer cuz its rainy.

karyn, that's so sad about your bunny ):

brseaton, I bet that magazine is called 'Bird Talk", available at petmart etc. Edna beware it will get you hooked lol! It is a good magazine! There is also a Birds USA magazine that comes out a few times per yr.

So Edna, did you buy a bird, and what kind?

I have a Blue Crown Conure. He is very noisy and MESSY! But he is the best gaurd dog I could ask for. He lets me know someone is here before the dogs do. He loves to pick on my dogs to. He is rotten. he was a rescue so he can be a real butt at times But other times he just love to talk. He does what he wants.

J4J, I think conures have super sonic hearing lol. Ours could hear our vehicle from 1/4 mile off and start screeching to welcome us home. He is louder than the others put together. He likes to bob up and down and is really silly. He makes kiss noises at people he likes.

I have 4 macaws, 2 Blue and Golds, 1 Military and 1 Red-Fronted.Also, 3 conures, a red head, a sun and a sunday. The conures noise is a lot more irritating than the macaws. The macaws are louder, the conures are like fingers on a chalkboard!

I felt sorry for birds in the cage!!
Let's it free, there are plenty outside and you don't have to clean or feed them.

The cardinal came to have a bath in summer
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I had finches, parakeets, and cockatiels as a kid. I loved the cockatiel best! I've wanted a parrot of some sort for simply years and years. However, they are so durn expensive and where I live there are no breeders, sigh.
If I had to choose, I'd probably get a pair of quakers as they are the 2nd best talkers, behind the african greys.
My dad had a green amazonian when he lived in panama that I guess was wonderful too.
KK

I have nightmares about birds. ha ha. When the kids were young they wanted a talking bird so bad. After wearing our resistance down we purchased a Cherry Headed Conure.

We were assured this bird would talk and have a very large vocabulary if someome worked with him. So...off we went with this beautiful bird. Unfortunately, he fell in love with me and was rather agressive towards others. When the kids brought over friends if the bird was out of the cage the bird would jump at them and bite on to their noses. It was rather scary. I would not let anyone hold him anymore as I was worried he might go for their eyes.

His cage was up in our living room. Often times the kids would be downstairs and when I finished making supper my son would have his headphones on. So I would yell downstairs fairly loud...Dusteeeennnn. Well, that intelligent little bird learned that whenever I yelled at the top of my lungs for Dusten someone would come running up the stairs. Before long, that bird would TRIPLE my volume and yell in a voice eerily similar to mine DUUUUSSSTTTEEENNN. When my son would come up the stairs the bird would literally laugh in this evil sounding cackle..ehhh eh eh eh. OMG This went on day and night. I could cover his cage and he would keep YELLING DUSTEEENNNN and then cackle his evil sounding laugh. We could not take it anymore, our house became so stressful that we had to get rid of the bird. I often wonder if the person who took him has the same problems ha ha ha. But I was too scared to call them for fear they would bring that dawg gone bird back. ha ha

~Tj~

Lol, mine yells my daughters name.. Morgannnnnn .... Whatcha doing? Loudly, lol. We lived in a two story apt. when they were both young, lol. If she got too quiet I always figured she was up to something. Mine calls the dogs and cackles like that too and then says get outside, lol. That cracks me up. Patty heard him doing his chicken call yesterday. I tell him to bock like a chicken and he goes bock bock bock. He is very entertaining and likes to go to bed about 9 or 10 so it works out. He is quiet at night.