Choosing A Pet Bird
As is probably obvious from these articles, we are huge fans of having a bird as a pet. We must point out, however, that a lot of thought needs to go into your decision. Making the wrong choice could be heartbreaking for you and your family, and equally will obviously have a detrimental effect on the bird itself.
Before you even make the decision, you should take timeout to consider whether a pet bird is right for you at all.
There is a common misconception that a bird doesn’t require much time or energy to care for. This is simply not true in many cases, and making the decision to buy, say a parrot, you can effectively be entering into a lifetime commitment to that bird. If this sounds over the top, please bear in mind that some species of parrot can live in excess of fifty years!
Although a bird doesn’t require the excersise of, say, a dog, you shouldn’t underestimate the mental stimulation you will have to provide them with – it’s not simply a matter of throwing them a few seeds each day!
Birds need to have their sandpaper (the lining in the bottom of the cage) changed often, and some might say daily. The cage itself (and all food containers, toys etc) should also be cleaned weekly to prevent any infection or disease. If you have a bird which has been handfed, you need to keep up the interaction each day if you wish him to remain tame.
If you are one of those people who cannot guarantee having a lot of time to spend with your bird, then perhaps you should consider a finch or canarie. Although these small birds will get tamer the more time that is spent with them, they are happy enough on their own and won’t pine away for want of interaction. Although they scatter some seeds, they aren’t anywhere near as messy as a bigger bird, and despite their pleasant sing songs, they are relatively quiet compared to their larger cousins.
If you do want a bird you can treat as more of a traditional pet, and interact with then perhaps you should be looking at either a budgie / parakeet, lovebirds or a cockateil. Although they can be quite loud, they will rarely be unbearably so and as such if you have neighbours to consider you may wish to go down this route. These birds are intelligent, friendly and a joy to have around without being quite so demanding as a full blown parrot.
If you do have your heart set on a parrot, then make sure that you know exactly what you’re taking on.
There are many different species of parrot, starting with the mid size birds such as Senegal parrots and conures – most of which can be fantastic pets, entertaining, cuddly and highly intelligent. If you do have neighbour considerations though, bear in mind that these birds can be very loud when they want to be, particularly the brighter conures (such as the sun conuire.) These birds do not have the clear speech and extensive vocabulary of the larger parrots, but some – for example the Nanday conure or the Quaker parrot do talk well. A word of warning though, and we’ve made this point before several times – these birds can be very, very loud when they want to be!
The best talkers are the larger parrots such as the African gray. Although they will not necessarily learn to speak a lot, every bird is an intelligent individual – with the intelligence of a toddler. They need a lot of stimulation, and as such you need to be aware of the work involved when buying such a bird.
