I'm so glad to see this thread -- I was just about to ask the same thing! I have a very mellow Ragdoll (front declawed) and am seriously considering adopting a Pinous. My friend who has a bird says it can't work. I say it can, but I'm nervous about it. Any tips about introducing them, or stories (either good or bad) about cat-bird interactions would be appreciated!
It's a difficult one to predict without trying them to see how they respond. The worst case scenario is you have to keep them seperate, i.e. when the bird is out the cat has to be out if the room, and if the cat persecutes the bird at all, as mentioned with the staring comments above, no cat in the bird room. But it may well not come to that. A couple of questions:
Is this an indoor cat? If he/she has been out of doors does he/she hunt or chase wild birds? My cat is very cautious out of doors and her only bird experience had been wood pigeons and magpies, which make her nervous rather than exited which was a very good sign, where as with a cat that leaves dead birds and mice on the doorstep I wouldn't fancy your chances of them being able to share the same space.
What are your cat's energy levels? A cat that is curled up asleep on the couch is probably safe enough around a bird - one that is constantly up for games or activity is less likely to be ok. Some cats only have a small appetite for games, in which case you can easily get them tired out / bored and wanting to nap ready for you to take the bird out.
The key early on is watching their behaviour and not taking chances with them whilst you're learning how they're going to respond to each other.
Caution is definitely the way to go however well they appear to get on. Mine do fine together, regularly coming within a foot of each other - I often find myself watching tv with a cat asleep on my lap and the bird preening herself on my knee, and as long as I have an eye on them and a hand out to intervene if one decides to approach the other it doesn't worry me.
I think there is a strong argument for introducing them to each other - not up close but to let the bird know the cat is one of your flock and he/she need not be too concerned, and so the cat doesn't see the bird as some kind of hidden delight that you don't want to share with him/her. All I did to those ends was get into the habit of talking to one whilst you're petting the other, but I think it did play a part in keeping both pets part of the family.