Anyone with brown headed parrot experience?

[JustMyForte]

As I have been researching various parrots as my new bird, I think I have pin-pointed that poicephalus parrots seem to be a great fit for me. A local breeder near me has some brown headed parrot babies up for sale that are a few weeks out from being weaned. I am interested in them, but am not finding a lot of info on care or behavior on them out there. From what I gather, brown heads seem to be a little on the rare side. But boy, are they cute! Maybe dull looking in appearance compared to Meyer's and Senegals, but ever so friendly! Does anyone have one of these birds and could you fill me in on temperament?

Thank you all once again in my quest for the perfect parrot!
Holly

 

[Carl_Power]

I read that they are sweet, cuddly, quiet and playful and become very independant after 2 years of age after puberty. A good begginer Parrot suitable for apartment living. Diet wise is pellets, fruit n veggies x

https://www.beautyofbirds.c

 

[mppinegar]

I've had my brown head for 14 years. I got her when she was just weaned at about 3 mos. As a baby she was the most playful, cuddly, adorable creature you can imagine. She would even lay on her back and wrestle my hands like a puppy. She would fly to me when called. THEN SHE HIT SEXUAL MATURITY. Now she is a flying pitbull. I have so many scars I can't count them all. Over the years I've learned when and where she is likely to bite, usually when she doesn't get her way, and I handle with a perch. I understand this temperament is quite common in brown heads, though they aren't all that way. The worst personality trait is they want to be the ONLY bird and try to kill all competition. She ate two of my parrotlet's toes and bit a hole in his tiny beak before I finally had the good sense to ground her permanently. Her wings are always clipped. Be prepared, especially if getting a female, for her to grow up and not be as pleasant and funny as the little chick you bought. She still loves me and is incredibly bonded and I love her, but she can be a trial.

 

[mppinegar]

P.S. If you haven't bought her yet I would suggest a green cheek conure, a parrotlet, a ringneck (African or Asian). They are much nicers birds.

 

[Lunarsprint]

I own a brown head his name's Coco. He suffers from S.A.D. (sporadic A-hole Disorder) but my friends a brown head breeder so I handle them semi regular, one of the breeder birds refused to untame for the longest and would allow me to take out after nearly a year of not being handled, granted that's probably not a fair assessment since most of their breeders even the mean ones love me.

Back to Coco he can be very sweet and gets along well for the most part with my Myers, try to get that brown head into some sunlight the feathers go from green to vibrant iridescent emerald not so plain anymore.

Most every Myers I've met was sweet as well as red belly pois.

 

[EllenD]

It's extremely difficult to describe how an individual parrot is going to be personality-wise, as there are always going to be horror-stories, like the one above. The Poiscephalus birds are "known" for being a little more independent, stubborn, aggressive, etc., but that's not at all my own experience. I have a male Senegal who is the most wonderful, loving, cuddly bird in the world, and his hormones don't make his aggressive or mean, they simply make him, well, horny...lol. He doesn't like my other birds, but he also doesn't bother them or try to go anywhere near them, he totally ignores them. So that isn't an issue. In fact, besides him wanting to mate with my hand all the time, he's a perfect little guy. He loves to cuddle in bed and watch TV, eat at the dinner table, etc. And we had a 7 year-old Meyers at the Rescue I volunteer at for about 8 months before he was adopted, and he was the same as my Senegal, just a loving, cuddly, awesome little bird.

Bottom-line is that you're going to hear both the good and the bad, but you also need to remember that you're going to get the same if you ask about ANY species of parrot. We have two posts in the Conure forum right now about "Aggressive Green Cheeks"...Now my experience with Green Cheeks has certainly not been that they're at all "aggressive", and I think most people would agree with that. But nevertheless, there are two different people with Green Cheeks from hell.

 

[lplummer52]

People warned me off Sun Conures for years. Mainly because of their loud calls. Birdie is 4 years old now, and is the sweetest, most entertaining, gorgeous little friend. She sounds off every now and then, but for no more than a minute or two. Mostly, she talks and clucks. She gets annoyed if she doesn't get her way (which is seldom), but never bites us. She just gives us a squeaking noise to let us know she is pissed. Although she has attacked the ears of a couple visitors! I think she's very protective. All birds are different even within the same species. You do your best, good diet, lots of sleep and hope for the best. It's not easy sharing your life with a wild bird. But it's always worth it.