Conure or Cockatiel for first time bird owner?

My 9 yr old son has become obsessed with birds over the past year. I was reluctant at first, but now I'm warming up to the idea of purchasing a bird for him. We realize it's a family commitment, and a long term one, so we've been doing lots of research on what type would be best. We've visited pet stores and looked online and have narrowed our search to Conures or Cockatiels. Since this will be a long term family member, we want a bird that will challenge us, but we do not want an aggressive bird. I stay home during the day, so our bird will not be alone that frequently. A neighbor has a cockatiel for sale that is approx 2 yrs old and says pretty bird and seems very friendly. They are selling the bird and cage for $250 which is a nice deal. We are also going to see some newly weaned female Cinnamon Green Cheek Conures next week. They are asking $300. There was a Green Cheek at the pet store that we liked. He was very skittish, but once caught sat on the associates finger and looked happy when my son scratched his neck. This one seemed very sweet. Please help us choose - which bird is best for a family with 3 young kids. sorry this is so long/rambling!

Hi there, and welcome to the Forum.

I totally agree with the wenz, if you let the bird pick you, you can't possibly go wrong.

Best of luck to you and your family. You will have much fun with the new family member.

Either one would be a good first bird, however please consider that conures are much louder than cockatiels. Noise may not be an issue for you, but you may want to experience a conure during a screech fest before you make your decision. Cockatiels can also be loud but in my experience their loud isnt as ear piercing as a conures is. Good luck and I wish you many years of birdie love !

Thank you for the responses! I have heard a sun conure yell, at the pet store when the associate took his cage mate out for us to look at. It was very loud. The bird will likely stay in my son's room...is that a bad idea?
I searched consures on this site and there's a lot of bad info about them - esp the Green Cheeked, which is what we have looked at b/c we were told they are quieter than suns. The most concerning was the post that said that a sweet young conure may 'turn on you' once they hit puberty.
My son received his first 'bite' yesterday at a pet store. It was a green cheek and it made him bleed pretty badly! He still wants one, didn't really phase him.

My 11 year old son keeps his cockatoo in his room, it all depends on how mature and responsible with pets your son is. You may want to adopt an older bird from a rescue if you are worried about the hormonal phase. My son's Too was 5 when he got her, so she had already been through the hormal phase and settled down. They will still get hormonal around their season but the first time is worse than the later ones, in my opinion. All birds can or will bite at some point for some reason. It's good I guess that he is now aware of what that bite will feel like. My son's Too has never bitten but she does like to pick scabs if she can find one. He has been bitten by our Alexandrine though, but he handled it like a pro and didnt freak out but gently told Buddy that it hurt and wasnt nice. It hasnt happened a second time as he learned to read the body language and avoid the bite.

like everyone said here, both very good first-bird-choices.
Conures may have a spark more outspoken personality? ( i may be wrong though, i never owned a cockatiel so a bit bias here ...) but don't let that put you off, more personality may suit you too you know?

Firstly welcome to the forums!

It definitely sounds like you've done quite a lot of homework in a small amount of time. It's a tough decision, I spent years thinking over research I'd done on which kind of parrot would be right for me.
My initial thoughts are that you have covered most of the bases that come with owning a bird (loudness and nippiness). All parrots bite to some degree - the extremes in small parrots being soft nibblers to skin breakers - so you can expect something in-between. Also don't forget that they are messy creatures and must be cleaned up after on a regular basis.

To address your concerns over the aggressiveness of a conure - A well socialized conure will bite if misunderstood and made to do something that they don't want to do. This can be avoided by spending the time to learn their body language and personality. The odds of a misunderstanding grow exponentially the less time you spend bonding with the bird.
Depending on your conure, for a couple of minutes roughly once a day they might go through a bad mood period, also affectionately known as 'devil mode' :smile010:, in which case it is well advised to keep your fingers away from them. Thankfully these 'devil modes' are relativity easy to spot and can be countered; either by playing a game or by leaving them be.

The good news is that if you get a baby conure these factors generally won't come into play for a while. The first few weeks to a month are when the babies are easy to handle and afraid to bite, which makes for an easier initial bonding experience. Many of the threads on nippiness in these forums are made when a young conure builds his or her willpower and catches the new owner off guard.

Whether or not you think your son is observant enough to learn and recognize parrot body language and be willing to put in the time and effort into raising a bird is up to you.

Best of luck! :smile009:

We had a female cockatiel and though she never spoke any words she could whistle tunes we taught her. In my opinion she was nowhere near as loud as some of the conures i have heard in shops, and eventually she even stopped screeching and replaced it with the whistles we taught her because she figured out that we liked that.
However I would have to agree that conures seem to have a larger personality (perhaps we just got a very laid back cockatiel, i dont know)
she didn't bite often at all, she would bob and hiss and make it pretty obvious to anyone when she wanted to be left alone so this avoided most bad encounters with her.

It does depend on your son and how much you expect him to put in, and how much you are prepared to put in. It is clearly different for each bird, but in this case i think the stereotypes are there for a reason, and that slightly more rigorous training would need to be implemented if you choose a conure, but they would make for greater rewards as well. (again - i might just have had a really laid back cockatiel) XD

So is a conure louder volume wise than a cockatiel? anyone know the decibel of how loud they can get? I am investing in getting these eco friendly sound absorbing sheets to put on the walls of my room to help with sound. But I need a good idea of just how loud each can get. Cause these sheets aint cheap lol

Wow talk about digging one up from the thread graveyard! I dont know how many responses you're going to get on a 5 year old post..... Try starting a new thread in the 'questions and answers' sub forum, you will get more responses.

Both species can be loud, and high pitched too. But every parrot is going to be loud at some point in their day. Maybe more then one point. My Salty chatters and talks all day, but gets really loud when my wife is prepping dinner.

In my opinion, cockatiels and conures have very different personalities.

My first birds were cockatiels from the time I was in elementary school- my first loves [emoji169][emoji6]

If they are friendly and tame, they can be a total love!!! We had two and both were easily handled by kids, even flight trained. I have a special spot in my heart for tiels. They are definitely A LOT less maintenance than a Conure, in my opinion. And much easier to figure out for kids.

I have a GC Conure and he’s amazing and amazingly needy too! [emoji12][emoji172] All my kids (ages ranging from 9-14) are able to handle him most the time but he can get really nippy which is very common with conures. For me, his bites are nothing but for the kids, it can cause them alarm which in turn makes them not want to handle poor Nibbles as much. His diet is also much more complicated as well- we feed him veggies, fruits, nuts, sprouts, along with pellets.

As for loud factor, there’s no contest- conures are way louder! They scream [emoji23] I think it’s pretty cute but I’m almost deaf from my Macaws at this point [emoji23]

Either type will be a wonderful addition, keep us updated!


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Our rescue birds~

23 yr old Katie - Catalina Macaw
34 yr old Max- GW Macaw
1 yr old Nibbles- GC Conure
ADOPT DON’T SHOP [emoji172]

both great birds, sun conures as said are beautiful but LOUD, cockatiels are very dusty so not sure they make good birds for bedrooms. Caiques are funny little playful birds as well and as your son is very young there playful disposition may be good also.

Don't discount budgies as well, lovely little birds for a yound'un. Might also be worth checking if there are any rehome birds available. In the uk there is a web site 'prevloved' not sure if you have an equivalent in your location.

good luck

Putting a conure in a bedroom.. I'd bet you will get a lot of contact calls (screeching) when left alone. My sun conure could hit 98 dbls with his contact calls. They do NOT like to be left alone. Cocktails prefer company too and would not be too happy caged alone in the bedroom. As suggested already, a little young parakeet.. tamed and socialized would fit more in this situation. Fairly smart, full of boundless energy, playful, and a able to amuse themselves if provided a roomy cage with appropriate toys. Generally the key is getting a very young one.. or IF you can find one, a hand raised baby. Best of luck and please get back with which way you go and how it works out. This forum is a godsend for folks with feathered family members.

Green cheek conures aren't loud at all, nothing compared to the other conure families. I'd say they are about toe to toe with a cockatiel. And once a conure figures out he gets more attention speaking english they are even more quiet (soundwise) but more talkative.

I grew up with cockatiels as a kid but a green cheek honestly has more personality, that or I just know more about birds and brought it out. Both species are hardy and rarely have much medical problems so long as you provide a proper diet and safe household.

Both are easy to train, and won't bite or bite hard if trained. I don't think I will upset to many people pointing out conures are a bit smarter and are better talkers, a cockatiel is kind of like a 3yo where a a GCC is more like a 7yo. Cockatiels are funny, but conures actively try to be funny more like clowns.

For a 9yo both would be a fine pet, knowing what I know now I'd go with a GCC but you have to put in the time for both species, to get to the point where the bird thinks they are "people" and that's when everything is a blast.