Apartment birds

[negb]

I live in the country now but have to move in a couple years. Ill be in an apartment or condo. Besides finches, budgies, cockatiels and such what are some other birds that I could keep without disturbing my neighbors? I'd like a bigger bird too. Maybe an eclectus? How are GCC?

 

[Ozzy]

I live in a townhouse so I do not have neighbors upstairs or downstairs but I do on each side. I have a blue front amazon and have had no issue with neighbors. Ozzy is very quiet and only has the occasional scream. However, I have met some very loud amazons. I think it all depends on the bird and by adopting from a bird rescue the rescue could tell you what small or big birds tehy have that are not very loud. Good luck

 

[MikeyTN]

I've heard some people with noisy eclectus too, but mine are pretty quiet. They talk more then anything else....

 

[Boo]

I have a GCC and he's not so bad. Sometimes when I leave the room he screams for me, and you can hear him from downstairs through a closed door, but he's not louder than my cockatiel when HE screams for me . We're still working on that, and he's not doing it as much. Other than that he's not loud at all! And when he does "scream," it sounds nothing like a scream and it's not loud or ear-piercing. But then again it does also depend on the bird, like Ozzy and Mikey said. I would say try to look for birds like GCCs, Pionus, Eclectus, Meyer's, Senegals (maybe?). I think Amazons are more talkers than screamers, but I wouldn't recommend hunting for them because I think there's more of a chance for noise than with smaller parrots.

 

[MikeyTN]

You know I've never met a noisy pionus, so that may be a good choice of apartment bird. I've just never been a Amazon fan, I'm more of Macaw, Cockatoo, Cockatiels, Parakeets, Finches, Lovebirds, etc. and now Eclectus fan. Out of all the birds I've ever been around, I have to say Eclectus is my top favorite!!! Just depends if your willing to go the extra step of making sure they have the proper diet that they require. We did a 360 change of our Eclectus' diet from the previous owner. They no longer get peanuts, lots of sun flower seeds, and pellets like they used to. They did from the beginning when I brought them home cause that's what they were used to. But within a couple of days we changed it to a better diet. Now if I can only get them to eat more leafy greens....:52:

 

[suebee]

yeah good luck on the leafy greans its like tryin to feed nut brocoli, she just keeps her beak shut, and pushes it away! cooked or raw, same with carrots in any form mikey

hey negb and welcome, i have a sene and she is a little cutie right now, as she's not in season. her screams are not loud as such, but the pitch seems to carry the sound if that makes sense? and i think most birds will have this pitch. the pitch is not annoying or loud, it just carries if that makes sense. but she is generally very quiet, with the odd whistle or chirp

if you are getting baby parrot, you will be moving when it hits its terrible 2 stage, and from what i've experianced and read it's when there at there most naughty! and in moving can cause them more up-set, so you will really need to bond with your bird, and get it use to new things before you move.

sex of the bird will also be important in how well you can bond with it, nut has bonded with my man, though he is not at home most of the time, she likes him the most and will follow him anywhere! as i am her main carer, she tolerates me, an follows me cos my mans not at home

also are you going to leave your bird flighted? as parrots do need out of cage time, my nut is rarely in her cage when we are at home, so your apartment will need to be escape proof. and when we are not going to be at home through day, i make sure she has plenty of chew toys, hard to get at food etc in her cage

 

[dragonlady2]

I would agree with a Senegal. My Sennie is quieter than my Green Cheek. My Conures can be nippy sometimes, but I haven't had that experience with my Sennie. Guess it depends on the bird. Anyway you could visit a breeder or Rescue that has different kinds of birds so you could see them up close?

 

[Crazy4Birds]

Senegals are great apartment birds. My Gracie does not scream and she makes lots of cute noises and whistles. I suggest that if you are going to get a bird that you get him/her after you move in. That way you won't have to worry about the bird being stressed from the move.

 

[mtdoramike]

There is no such thing as an APARTMENT bird, unless your neighbors are deaf. I did all kinds of research as well when looking for a bird. My research led to a Senegal. Now after reading the first line, you might think hey, a Senegal may not be the way to go.

This is my thoughts on a Senegal as a QUIET or APARTMENT bird. Some maybe fairly quiet. BUT ALL BIRDS make noise, scream, screech, squawk, chirp at different times of the day. But eventually you become complacent to it the longer you have your bird. But your neighbors may not become complacent to the noise.

I just bought a video camera to take on vacation. But when I get back, I hope to video tape my Senegal going through her vocalizations, which at times can raise the roof to post on Youtube. To show that the TOUTED apartment bird can be anything but. I love her dearly and accept that she is who she is, but I also don't live in an apartment.

So, please don't buy into Senegals are apartment birds and the same is said for Pionus parrots as well. If you do, you will mostlikely be looking for a new apartment sooner than you think, or the bird will wind up on Craigslist like so many others do because folks getting their tax refund and thinking a bird would be the way to go.

Finches would probably be the only sure bet for a quiet bird, but they aren't as much fun as a larger bird.

Good luck with what you decide,
Mike

 

[Crazy4Birds]

There is no such thing as an APARTMENT bird, unless your neighbors are deaf.

lol. This is very true. I just meant that from experience, my senegal would make a great apartment bird as opposed to my sun conure. I forget sometimes that although I love hearing the cute noises and whistles Gracie makes, other people may not enjoy the noise at all.

 

[suebee]

aww lol mike, i can imagine how loud tiki can be i'm just glad nut no longer shrieks. i can hear her from outside of our house, thats via a room and 2 brick walls, but i don't think my nieghbours hear her as to them it will be another bird call

thats just her calling, when she shrieks its another pitch

lucky we live near a wood, an some fields lol lots of wildlife sounds

 

[MikeyTN]

LoL Mike.... there isn't a apartment bird.... but my Eclectus pair is rather quiet compared to my other birds.... mainly talk or cooing noise. I was expecting them to make lots of noise when I brought them home, was I ever wrong. In the morning when the sun rise I hear nothing from them. Just my other birds chatter like no tomorrow. I thin even finches made more noise then these guys...lol. I used to raise finches.

 

[negb]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I know theres no such thing as a quiet bird and I would like to go to a rescue but we have none around here plus I still need to do quite a bit of research. By the way, I have no problem with loudness, it would just be the neighbors. Also, I don't mean noise (talking, singing, etc), I really mean how loud it is.

How loud are quakers? Meyers?
I know African grays are great mimickers and make quite a bit of noise, but are they actually loud?
Also, anyone with an eclectus out there, how does their diet differ from other birds? I know its pretty strict and such but I haven't been able to find much info on it. Could you tell me a bit about it and what you feed yours and such?

Thanks

 

[gopack041]

Keep in mind that I live in a college apartment. But, I haven't had any problems with neighbor complaints about my GCC. I guess it's all about what kind of neighbors you'll have.

 

[MikeyTN]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I know theres no such thing as a quiet bird and I would like to go to a rescue but we have none around here plus I still need to do quite a bit of research. By the way, I have no problem with loudness, it would just be the neighbors. Also, I don't mean noise (talking, singing, etc), I really mean how loud it is.

How loud are quakers? Meyers?
I know African grays are great mimickers and make quite a bit of noise, but are they actually loud?
Also, anyone with an eclectus out there, how does their diet differ from other birds? I know its pretty strict and such but I haven't been able to find much info on it. Could you tell me a bit about it and what you feed yours and such?

Thanks

Quakers can be noisy, but not bad....Never had Meyers....African Greys can be loud, but several members on here that have ones that aren't loud. It varies from bird to bird so you really never know....They all can be loud, you just never know.

Eclectus diet mainly consists of lots of fruits and veggies. Some chicken breast, eggs, brown rice, etc. Minimal seed diet. There's several sites out there that discuss on what they eat. Just google it, tons of stuffs will pop up!

 

[DallyTsuka]

i have 2 cockatiels and 2 lovebirds. if NOISE is an issue with neighbours, no lovies. i live in an appartment too, with concrete walls and are VERY good at keeping sound out, but through the wood doors you can hear things from other appartments, out in the hallway, but not in the appartments themselves. i can hear the lovies downstairs everyday and the tiels some days. lucky for us, our neighbour cranks her tv louder than any macaw can be and she likely cant hear our birds (or shes cranking her tv because of them... lol) we havent had a noise complaint at all. but not all neighbours will like constant lovie chirping and chattering. cockatiels, especially females are pretty good on noise levels, but my guys all like noise in the morning. all four are terrible for noise some mornings. so NOISE might be a problem, but loudness may not be with lovies and tiels. same goes for budgies as theyre chattery. ive heard the same from senegals. but i hear any conure is a no no for appartments. ive heard them scream before and OMG i think my neighbours in 4 buildings down would hear one! lol all birds make noise, but theres more manageable ones out there that would work for you

 

[mtdoramike]

LoL Mike.... there isn't a apartment bird.... but my Eclectus pair is rather quiet compared to my other birds.... mainly talk or cooing noise. I was expecting them to make lots of noise when I brought them home, was I ever wrong. In the morning when the sun rise I hear nothing from them. Just my other birds chatter like no tomorrow. I thin even finches made more noise then these guys...lol. I used to raise finches.

Hey Mikey, I think I might have figured out what was causing Tiki to be a little noisier than what most folks are saying about Senegals. My wife is the one that actually figured it out. She remembered the previous owners said that they kept Tiki in a bedroom where they slept. So natureally most folks keep their bedrooms faily dark, on the opposite side of the house and usually with blinds or curtains closed.

Well, from the time I have had Tiki, I have been waking her up in the morning by opening up blinds and curtains and turning on the over head light in her room. This way, she was getting natural sunlight as well as artificial lighting. I also move her cage out into the sun for about 30 minutes in the morning.

So we started cutting off lights and only opening up a few windows each morning and keeping the blinds closed that faces the road due to traffic. I think we have finally hit on the right amount of lighting because noe for the past three days, she has been quiet as a church mouse. Well, almost. She will give out a few squawks during the day, but nothing like she had been doing. I think she just wasn't used to all that light and activity from the street.

 

[MikeyTN]

Mike,

Tiki probably wasn't used to it.... I noticed mine would scream at the traffic. Calmer window would help. Glad you guys figured it out!!!

 

[HRH Di]

Of our 3 birdies, our CAG is the quietest. Ruby never screams - yet. She does mimick a screech our RFM makes, but only does that about 1x week. She's also the "worst" flyer so the smaller space would work for her better.

Next would be our red-front macaw. The only time we have excessive noise with her is if she's in an extemely wound-up mood or if she's competing with our Alexandrine - I actually think at these times she's trying to be louder than he is so he'll be quiet. Jade, like all RFMs, is an amazing flyer and I think an apartment would be too small for one to really stretch the wings.

And poor Max, not only is he the smallest, he's the loudest. When he knows we're home but he's still in his cage, he can be quite loud - we can hear him outside. He'll also call for his favorite people - my husband and son - if he knows they're home but not in the room with him. However, even with this, he's not as loud as a lot of parrots. Max is much smaller than Jade, but he's fast! A flighted Alex can zip around at blinding speed.

You also need to think about what kind of personality you want. All parrots are individuals, but there are some general traits that you can expect.

 

[tlouiselle]

I used to have a parrotlet and she was very quiet. I know they are smaller, but they have wonderful little personalities. She was potty trained and went everywhere with me. She was trained to stay in my coat or pocket when she was placed in there. If i lifted my hair up and kissed at her she knew she had to take cover and would dive under my hair. They are a big bird in a little body.

Now I have a black capped conure and live in an apartment. They are said to be quieter than other conures. We really did our homework before bringing him home. He is VERY quiet. He does express his excitement at times as they all will, but all in all he has been wonderful. We keep his cage in the main room so he is always around us. He has no reason to call for us then and has been a wonderful addition to the family