At my local animal shelter, they have a couple small parrots available for adoption, and I’ve always been intrigued by small parrots
One is a green cheeked conure, the other is a cockatiel, I’m leaning towards the ‘tiel as I imagine he’d be a better choice for a first timer.
I’ve raised chickens, so I know the basics of avian care, birds are social, and messy, and I understand parrots are highly intelligent and basically the mindset of a 2 year old human…
The ‘tiel is 10 years old and a talker according to his description, they claim he’s sociable with humans.
What would I be getting into bringing a new feathered friend home?
A cockatiel is a perfect “entry level” bird. Keep in mind though that 10 is getting up there. IME cockatiels that are well cared for tend to live 12-14 years. Your oil heat and gas stove are no threat to the bird unless combustion problems create CO, and your CO detector should alert you to this before either you or the bird succumb.
Just popping in with a different opinion about pellet-only diets. Yes, I agree that they can be healthier but I don’t use a pellet-only diet because I think they must be incredibly boring for birds. I use a seed+pellet diet so that they can have the healthy pellets but also enjoy cracking and eating different sized/textured seeds.
I also regularly give them veggies and hard-boiled eggs.
Great mid-level birds. Second the dust. Get used to it and it’s not so bad but if you’re not a neat freak that dusts and cleans alot you’ll wind up with it everywhere. Enjoy!
Our Aftican Grey gets Harrison’s Power Treat Pellets along with whatever healthy food we happen to be eating. He loves eggs, chicken wings, cherries, grapes, broccoli, pasta, steak, eggplant, etc. He has an obsession with pistachios, but is rationed to 3 a day.
My flock also loves all the bad stuff I eat. They love chips and cheezies but I limit them to one bite each and that’s it. They turn into an unruly mob when I don’t let them have anymore.
both are not really socialized, they were from separate homes and both had lost their companion birds, they’re both a little “bitey” with new people, and neither owner fed them an appropriate diet, mostly seed feeds
they’re both on the older side
they don’t come with any caging/accessories/toys
I don’t think either would be a good starter bird for me, due to potential health issues, age, and being not completely socialized, i’d be better off getting a 'Tiel from a local pet shop that takes the time to hand-rear their birds, their prices are a little higher, but all their birds are hand-reared, tamed and socialized
Pet shops bad! Too many pet shop birds end up in rescues. (Not saying that’ll happen with you, but every bird bought from a pet shop means one less bird that’ll be rescued.) Please extend your search until you find the right bird for you and consider adopting from a shelter.
The shop in question is not one of the chain stores, it’s a family owned NH based independent shop.
they actually have an adoption process similar to a shelter, where you actually meet and interact with the bird you’re going to take home, apparently they have you come in multiple times before the actual sale to see if you and the bird have compatible personalities, you get to know your bird and your bird gets to know you before you make the purchase
its actually a rather novel approach
they don’t sell dogs or cats, just fish and birds, as well as pet food and accessories, they even have an actual dog pool, not a kiddie pool, but an actual indoor swimming pool designed exclusively for dogs!
We had a African Gray as a kid. He was smart. I had a amazon conure, he looooved my ginger cat. Sat next to him, but hated my other two. They are messy but kinda fun.
I have had both a cockatiel and a maroon bellied conure.
BOTH are great birds, and can be very affectionate and sociable. It all depends on how much you put into the relationship (just like all relationships).
My cockatiel lived to be 18 and I had NO CLUE about the proper things to do. He had a (crappy) seed diet plus the very infrequent fresh greens. So they can be “forgiving” of first time parrot owners. The dust thing is real. Mine also had the occasional “night frights”, which freaked me out at first, but once I got the routine down, it was no big deal (turn on the lights, talk him down a bit, then back to sleep).
I did better with the conure as far as diet and health. She was a bit older when I got her from a friend, but lived to about 22 or so.
PLEASE re-consider the birds from the shelter before going to the pet shop. MANY parrots end up in shelter or rescue, and they can be great birds. I currently have a senegal parrot from a rescue/adoption group, and he’s a great bird/companion.
As someone who currently has both I’d say that as a general rule you are correct. I wouldn’t say never have a conure as your first bird, but as a general rule cockatiels are more forgiving, have a better tolerance for cool temperatures, and less of a bite (bird owners are going to get bit at some point, just as cat owners are going to get scratched from time to time).
Never been a problem for my flocks.
Of course, if you have sometime like a carbon monoxide issue it would be a Bad Thing, but in that case not just for the birds. Assuming furnace and stove are functioning properly (which is usually the case, and desirable whether or not you have birds) no worries.
Even my socialized birds are going to be hesitant around people they don’t know, they’ll tend to test new people. That’s normal parrot behavior, they’re intelligent enough to be cautious/nervous around Extremely Large Featherless Bipeds they aren’t personally acquainted with.
If you can, see if they’re willing to step on your finger. Do they follow you when you walk around the room or flee to hide in a corner or back of the cage? Birds that are willing to interact with people they don’t know, or step on an offered finger, are socialized enough that if you take them home you can establish trust and a relationship.
Any bird that talks a lot was well socialized with someone at some point. Birds best pick up words by someone talking to/with them. While cockatiels can talk they usually aren’t very wordy - a cockatiel with a large vocabulary has a lot of socialization potential even if hesitant around new people.
(People ask me “how do you get your birds to talk”? I say I can’t get them to shut up. They grew up in a household with a lot of conversations around as well as to them every day, to them, it’s all very normal and major way of interacting with humans.)
The latter consideration is easier to take care of than the former. As a general rule, get the largest cage practical (meaning, it fits in your home) for your bird to live in. Cockatiels like to have a hidey-hole - I use empty soda boxes or kleenex boxes, which have the bonus of being something the birds can use as a “project” to occupy them as they chew them up, shred them, etc. Our conures have liked having something to sleep in, like a pup tent, which helps them stay warm at night (the one my current conure has is smaller in proportion to his size than what I linked to - they don’t have to be huge, and my conures have all seemed to prefer a snug fit). Our lovebirds used to like to sleep under a washcloth or dishtowel. These all allow for combination of warmth/hiding little birds appreciate.
Age is more of an issue. both cockatiels and green cheeks can live to their 30’s, but it’s uncommon. By that standard, your choices are merely middle-aged. However, the average pet cockatiel lives about 10-15 years, and the average green cheek pet lives about 10. In which case both those birds are “old”, or have even exceeded life expectancy. A lot depends on the health of the individual bird. My three are all 12-14 years old and show no signs of feebleness, even if my oldest cockatiel is starting to slow down. One of our lovebirds lived long enough to have genuine signs of old age, such as his feathers going grey and wrinkling skin, the vet said he lived about twice as long as typical for his species in captivity. It’s not just diet, although that’s important, too - it’s also exercise, enough socializing (that is EXTREMELY important to parrots), proper cleaning of their cages, protection from hazards…
Poor diet early in life can have long-term consequences, but you can usually improve a bird’s diet. With patience. Lots of patience. I find opting for fresh fruits/vegetables as a first change in diet for a seed-addicted bird is an easier step than trying to go right to pellet food. Get them used to the idea of change, first.
A baby bird - because a new bird from a pet shop you purchase at 4-6 months of age is not an adult - can also have pitfalls. It’s not enough to get a socialized bird, you have to maintain that socialization until they’re adult. I’m not saying don’t do it, but do continue to consider a shelter bird. They need homes, too, and an adult bird already trained to do things like “step up” can be easier for a new-to-birds human. As I said, a talker probably has a history of interacting with humans already, that’s not a bad base to build on.
Also consider dealing directly with hobby bird breeders. Pet stores that do not breed birds themselves, buy from breeders at “wholesale” prices. Many breeders will sell birds from a clutch and then sell whatever birds haven’t sold yet to a pet store. Search for bird clubs/breeders in your area.
