Best small bird for our family????

[gdefina]

We are a family of 5 with 3 small children (ages 4 - 9) who love animals. We would like to get a bird for our first pet and are considering budgies, parrotlets or lineolated parrakeets or any others you might recommend. We'd like a social bird we can hold and play with and teach it to talk and do tricks. We'd like a smaller bird and one that is not loud.
Any suggestions for us???
We live in the Boston area. Are there any good breeders in our area?
Thanks,
Taya, Payton and Cole

 

[Mitchell]

If your looking for a talker, small with trick capabilities....I'd go Quaker Parrot. The ones you mentioned are great finger birds and whistlers, but hard to understand when and if they talk. A Quaker is small and can TALK! Good vocabulary and very social if handraised. Parrotlets are decent, veeery cute and talkable, but you will get a moody bird from time to time for they are kind of like having a mini amazon but not as agressive. Linny's aren't known for talking, and talking is a must for me. Conures are good tricksters but noisy as an amazon! So I vote Quaker or Parrotlet for small, talker, and some trickability. Both good birds like I said if handfed and handraised. Good Luck!!!

 

[suebee]

i hope your bird search goes well and that when you find the bird you think is best for you all, look into cost of vets/toys/foods and time needed each day with keeping bird social and clean

i would not recommend a senegal, even though mine was handfed and well so******ed, she is not afraid of ppl at all, she has her own personality and likes and dislikes, and a bit of a biter (though it has been a rare thing for her to bite lately, other then my teenage son, but thats his own stupid fault for being threatening towards her and teasing)
but i would recommend one when your children are older, though its said they are one person birds, when there fav person is not about they are really social and love being part of the family, (oh and also the naughtiest child)
mines currently perched on my lap, under desk top making cute chirps

 

[Spiritbird]

Suggest you look into Bourkes parakeets. They are calm birds that can be a happy member of your family. The last month issue of Bird Talk has a nice article abouit them near the back. Bourke's Parakeet Birds

 

[roxynoodle]

I would definitely recommend a budgie, cockatiel or Bourke's as well. Due to the age of your children, you don't want them to be bitten, or if they are, for it to hurt badly or do damage. Male budgies can be very good talkers, even creating their own sentences. But, they have small voices so noise is not an issue. I don't know enough about Linnies myself, but it's worth doing some research I'm sure. Many here have them and love them.

We always had a budgie when I was growing up. My parents got the first one right before I was born. He is even on me in many of my baby pictures. He entertained all of us each night. We would put him on the kitchen table during dinner and he would eat with us, and climb all over all of us. We played a game where we would all hide under the table and he would run to the edge, look at us and say, "Peek!" They were great family pets. My mom taught one of them to say, "I'm a dirty birdie who makes dirty dirty" whenever he pooped.

 

[brianlinkles]

My daughter has a linnie, she is the sweetest bird! I know of many that can talk. Ours will make kissing noises and she is also trying to say a couple of words. She LOVES showers and my daughter will take her into the shower and she will just open her wings and and lay back in her hand. I think she is the perfect little bird for a family. Loves to be pet and cuddled!

 

[gdefina]

Thanks for all of your input. I've gotten some other feedback that I should go with a hamster or guinea pig for my age kids. We are definitely giving that some thought but I don't think they could interact as much with the hamsters as it sounds they could with a bird. I think they would get more out of a bird. I'm going to try to find some breeders in the Boston area. I think we are leaning towards a budgie. I've read if we want to train it and bond with it we should get just 1. Do we all agree with that???
Thanks again.

 

[henpecked]

One word, Cockatiel

 

[Mitchell]

Nah, you can have two!Lol! Just cage them seperately, they will actually rival for attention in my experience. Of course not all will agree but when I'd get one bird out the other would seem to come alive talking and trying to get my attention. They are jealous, but with equal attention its fine. Before my divorce, I also had a B&G Macaw, Blue Front Amazon, and a Congo Grey. They were all bonded close except the grey, she was always a loner, but the rest bonded and loved attention and would learn words from each other. One bird is a good starter though, just remember that when it comes to kids or adults these bonded animals can be ANIMALS at any time. No matter how tame, you may still encounter a bite no matter what the breed, but heck I've got kids that bite me harder than the birds! My last thing is...birds are wonderful addictive creatures, so be ready to get another one in the future! Good luck!

 

[Mitchell]

YES! I strongly agree with henpecked, cockatiels are also AMAZING family starter birds. Very social and loves to get attention and are quick learners.

 

[ann]

i think a budgie is perfect! but you may also like brotogeris parakeets like the canary winged parakeets, there smart, funny, can talk, cuddly, and very friendly. but be sure not to put a mirror in the cage, they will bond to it and it kinda messes with their head...they also have english or american budgies, the english are more mellow and bigger, but very gentle. the american are smaller and more active and live longer than the english. also be sure that you want the bird, dont get it just for your kids because if they ever grow out of it you are its final source of attention, however it sounds ilke you want the bird for the family which is great . the most important thing is to "train" the children how to behave ariund the bird, they must be gentle, patient, and calm, birds dont forget, making sure the kids can handle the bird properly is parramount in them forming bonds with the bird. theres a video of a little boy playing with a macaw, i dont recomend this but it just shows how proper bonding and handling can realy go a long way.
heres a pic of an english budgie

good luck!

 

[henpecked]

They are such little love sponges.

 

[ann]

ikr! i just love their little fluffy faces XD

 

[cockatielfan17]

i think naming a these types of birds might give her a headache lol id go with cockatiel

 

[Remy]

We got our first cockatiel when I was 5 or 6. A couple years later, we got another one, which we caged with the first one, and they ended up becoming mates. We socialized them pretty well I guess, because they were still friendly with us. The only time they bit was when they were nesting, but they would stop once we got them away from the nest box. They were so sweet! I would definitely recommend getting one or two hand fed cockatiels.

I have a caique now, and he's awesome, but I don't think he'd be very good for small children because of his mood swings...

 

[roxynoodle]

We had a budgie and a couple of guinea pigs as well. They all lived in the same area. The budgie would say, "Lettuce, boys." when my mom gave some to the guinea pigs and the bird. They seemed to like leaf lettuce better than my bigger birds do.

 

[Pedro]

Budgies & cockatiels both have the capacity to talk. Males are better talkers than females. They both make dear little pets for children. Are very easy to care for & don't make a lot of noise.

It is best not to feed iceberg lettuce, it gives birds loose droppings. However cos is ok to feed. I feed my budgies & teils baby spinash & other dark green leafy veggies.

 

[roxynoodle]

Right, we gave them various leaf lettuces and other greens, not iceberg. I give some greens to all my birds, but the budgies especially loved it.

I was just saying I think it's ok to have a bird and a guinea pig if you want

 

[KBEquine]

My budgies will absolutely destroy dandelions & other dark green leafy veggies. I can get organic dandelions at the grocery store (and probably caused my father a heart attack when he heard I was actually PAYING for weeds).

They are great pets - my male talks & can say a fair number of words & make noises. They are cheerful & like anyone who pays attention to them - much less complex personalities that the bigger birds & also less expensive to feed. If you go that route, just get one which is hand-raised, so the are easier to handle, more cuddly.

 

[roxynoodle]

My budgies will absolutely destroy dandelions & other dark green leafy veggies. I can get organic dandelions at the grocery store (and probably caused my father a heart attack when he heard I was actually PAYING for weeds).

They are great pets - my male talks & can say a fair number of words & make noises. They are cheerful & like anyone who pays attention to them - much less complex personalities that the bigger birds & also less expensive to feed. If you go that route, just get one which is hand-raised, so the are easier to handle, more cuddly.

Ok, I started howling with laughter over your dad flipping out that someone would pay for weeds! Pete started laughing along with me.

I guess my dandelions qualify as organic. I don't bother with fertilizer or do anything to my lawn other than mow it. And sometimes I'm tempted to get rid of it altogether and have just rocks, lol!