Best type of parrot

[Gore]

Ok i was about to drop 1200 on a goffin cockatoo, when i had no parrot education and just got fooled by its looks..... my buddy told me they only have like a 30 word vocab and speak at their own will most of the time.......

.....i'm thinking of getting an African Grey Congo.... now my question is... what is the best bird for me..... i basically want something that will be pretty big, long life span, nice and loving, *SMART*, communication is a must!! but i dont want him always yapping even when im sleeping.... something i can give a lot of attention to at my own will and not have him get cranky when i'm not giving him much attention.... just something well behaved.... what would you recommend?? im thinking african grey congo because i heard they have over a 800 word memory, smart, pretty big..... my bud told me his will say EARTHQUAKE anytime someone shakes the cage, or will say "come in" when someone knocks on a door... Haha that is amusing.........

[Delphineous]

African Grays are very smart birds. They are relatively easy to begin talking - but some do never speak.

Having a bird is not just to have an animate object to entertain you. You will only get from the relationship what you give to it. If you play with your bird a lot and be a loving companion to it, the bird will most likely be a loving companion to you.

In reflection to one of your other posts. African Grays are one of the many birds that will pluck their feathers when neglected. Please understand, neglect is by the birds own definition, not by any of ours. The bird will decide if it is happy with the attention you give it.

Having no Parrot experience, you might want to start with a smaller bird. Conures and cockatiels cost far less and if you watch the stores, you can get them very young. Some stores receive their birds before they are fully weened. They will hand-nurse them in the store before putting the bird for sale. If you can get in on the feedings and buy the bird once available, you may bond better with the bird. Cockatiels and conures do speak, although their vocabularies are not as big as the larger parrots.

Please carefully weigh your decision on buying a bird. Be prepared to buy a bird you fall in love with, not necessarily the one you thought you wanted.

[Squawksx3]

Our first parrot was a Blue & Gold Macaw... but it was after months of research, reading, talking to people that had them and breeders. We knew what we were getting into when we got one. Our second bird was a 7 year old Goffins Cockatoo... who is now going on 12 years old. Our Goffins has a vocabulary as big as ours Macaws (alot more than 30 words). He talks up a storm, sings, dances and mimics hundreds of sounds... including barking like a dog and meowing like a cat. Goffins are the clowns of the Cockatoo world.. BUT are known to pluck.. luckily, ours doesn't pluck and its amazing because he came from an abusive situation.

I agree with Delphineous ... getting a parrot is something you dont do on a whim and is alot of work, dedication, respect and patience. I've been told you cannot breed the wild out of a parrot. They will scream, bite, are very messy and get aggressive at times. Expect to be bitten from time to time... we have scars from all of our birds. I've never had a Grey... but did babysit one for a few months. She was a wonderful bird... with a very large vocabulary, but did have an attitude and would bite when she wasnt in the mood to deal with you or want to be handled. You need to learn to read the body language of a bird and let them be when they dont want to be bothered... they all get cranky and moody just like us. Its really tough to train a bird to be well-behaved. The more time you have to spend with the bird... the better it will be.. but there is no guarantee with any bird. We currently have 2 Macaws and 3 Cockatoo's.... the only one that talks or makes any noises after dark and when they are put to bed is the Goffins... we hear him at midnight saying "come 'ere", singing, whistling and laughing. He's so funny. The others dont make a peep when its dark. The Grey we babysat also was very quiet after bedtime.. and Greys are known to be pluckers but are wonderful birds.

People get parrots as status symbol's.. they're so beautiful and expensive. They expect a parrot to sit pretty in a cage in the corner of a room, make no mess, be quiet and talk on que for guests. This will not happen. When they discover what its like to have a parrot, they get rid of them.. and why so many are homeless and in rescues/shelters.

Im in no way discouraging you or anyone else to get a bird... its exciting to me that people want to become parrot parents... but only after they educate themselves and know what they're getting into. When people see our birds... they always comment "I want one!".... our response is "this is why you DONT want one".... explain to them what it's really about... and if they can get past all the negative and downfalls.... I encourage them to go for it!!!!. People have come to my house just to be around birds to see what its like.... after listening to the 2 large Cockatoo's scream for about an hour straight.. they change their minds LOL. It really does take a special person to be owned by a parrot. Best of luck to you... and THANK YOU for asking questions and doing your homework first!!! :)

[Magnum]

I have an African Grey and she requires a lot of attention. She is very social and does not like to be ignored. She is my first Grey, but from what I have researched, they can get moody. Boo-Let loves to communicate, but so does Luther (Quaker). Feather plucking would be highly possible if the bird is not happy, and they are the one's to decide this, not us. I just do everything I can to keep her as happy as possible. As for talking, any known bird that has a reputation of talking may not talk at all. You would have to accept this if you are deciding to bring any bird into your home because birds don't rehome very well. Many are in rescue shelters that have been turned in by their owners for various reasons, and not talking is one of them. Before I got Boo-Let, who came from a home that had no education on properly caring for a bird, I researched Grey's and other bird species for over 5 years. There is so much to learn, and the learning never stops. That is why I love this board because so much research is to be had, and conversing with other bird members increases the chances of getting awesome first hand experiences, as well as getting their research material they have covered.:)

Good luck on your decision. Birds are highly different to care for than domestic pets, so I hope I have helped at least a tad.;)

[Jessica51703]

I have a blue pionus parrot, she is medium size heavy and is kinda shaped like a pigeon. She makes no noise other than maybe some clicking and other than saying pretty bird..she carrys kind of a musky scent and often communicates through her eye contact with me or head motions, her feathers are green, blue some yellow, and underneath tail feathers can carry cherry red, Emma's are sooo pretty!!! She also has some red along the edge of her beak. She is very friendly, great with my kids, she will live to be forty or more, she is still young now.. I have had her since she was a babe, and she is four now!! She is a hearty type bird.. Soft spoken, sometimes has a hardtime flying beacause they are a little bit heavy. Hopefully someday I will be able to adopt a rescue bird!! I have started out with tiels and parakeets b/f which is a GREAT place to start, you can learn sooo much with a small bird, (tiel & parkeets) they teach you alot of respect and stepping stones for owning the larger parrot.. If you are looking at different types of birds I truely recommend the blue headed pionus parrot... solely them, not any other kind of pionus..;) Or I would go smaller less vocab, something that you can enjoy spending the next 70 years with they are your best friend for Life...
Tweets from Emma..:>

[SweetPea]

I believe the best bird is the bird that picked you...

I also did a lot of research before I got a bird, and in came my lovebird from a store...Yeap..she took a lot of work to tame down...and still isn't as tame as all my other birds, but that's because she is 100% hen. lol.

I got Lily, another lovie to be PP's friend, and am lucky both of them love each other...but they're like little kids, who will fight one minute, and love each other the next..

My conure picked me, and is a sweetie, who cries everytime I leave the room...but she is very moody, and when he doesn't want to be with me, she gets a bit nippy...and she's starting to bond with just me....She lets me do just about anything with her, even flipping her on her back and giving her kisses on her belly...but she bites anyone else really hard who tries to pick her up... Usually, if anyone wants to hold her, I have to pick her up first, and then hand her over to the other person, otherwise she gets really stubborn and will just sit there and bit the other persons finger. Even for this reason, i could NEVER imagine re homing her. I'm all she ever has known.

And for my macaw? Well, I am her third and final home...Her first owner got her for her children, and once they grew tired of her, she was given up. Her second owner got her without any research, and finally, after three years of having her, decided that she wasn't a good "first" bird. She is a lot of work, as she is extremely MESsY!! Because of her, I'm in the process of getting a bird room built just for her to give her more free reign to do whatever she wants...But she requires a LOT of work...

Like everyone else said.. you get what you put into the relationship.

[Magnum]

Because of her, I'm in the process of getting a bird room built just for her to give her more free reign to do whatever she wants...But she requires a LOT of work.
That is so cool SweetPea!! I want to do the same thing for mine. I think it would be cool to give them a huge area that allows for a real bird bath, various hanging toys, natural sunlight....the whole works. I think they would love it beyond imagine! Planning one is a lot of work and research, but what a great gift to give them.:D

[Gore]

Another thing, I read that someone would take their parrot with them in the SHOWER and shower it.... would the pressure or temperature on the water be the same for the bird as it would for us??? would you put the bird directly under the water? or put the water on your hand and rub the bird..?

[Jessica51703]

I shower w/ Emma, she just sits on a bird perch and gets sprayed by warm water and the heated mist she LOVES IT!! I have held her in the past but her nails are hard to mess around with once she get throwing water around with her head...The biggest thing I have to worry about is Emma getting cold afterwards, I usually towel her off and blow dry her on warm, I put the hair dryer on the back of my hand to check it to make sure it doesnt get hot, and hold it back about a foot an half and move it side to side... She LOVES THAT... It quite a site :) I turn up the heat too, to make sure the house is warm, and than cover her for the night too make sure no drafts come thru... HAVE FUN!!!

[Squawksx3]

We have also taken ours in the shower... with cool to luke warm water... not hot. They are fine with the spray directly on them. We usually take them ouside and spray them with the water hose... they sing, dance and yell for joy.. they absolutely love their baths... the more water sprayed .. the more they love it LOL.

[Squawksx3]

SweetPea ~ Im so happy to hear Angel is doing so well... big hugs to you!!!!:)

[Jessica51703]

LOL, I can just picture them dancing outside under a hose!!
HOW CUTE!!! :)

[Magnum]

If you take them in the shower with you, they don't necessarily have to have the water sprayed directly on them to get a benefit. Just being where the humidity is can be beneficial to their skin and feathers.;)

Here are some pics of shower perches:

http://birdsjustwannahavefun.com/images/shower.jpg

http://66.41.223.249/additional/customper_pics/Giz,%20Opie,%20and%20Doobie%20on%20corner%20shower %20perch.jpg

[SweetPea]

lol thanks guys!

magnum, those are great pictures!

with my little ones, i let them in the shower mostly to enjoy the steam...so they just sit there and close their eyes and enjoy me acting silly for them! lol

and they all get wrapped up with a towel afterwards, and if it's cold, i do the same thing jessica does with the hair dryer.

they LOVE the hair dryer! this is also the only time i hear them purr like a cat too! lol

[Gore]

Haha purr like a cat, aw man you all make me want this damn parrot already... i called the guy and i'm getting it sometime this week... taking it to the vet right away for an inspection, hopefully can find out age from there (to make sure its actually 5 months), and a dns test for sex