Hello 
So after years of dreaming about having a big parrot (I mean bigger than cockatiel and budgies, I had those since I was 10yo, not anymore though) I finally can get one. I do not work and I have a 7yo child, plenty of experience with many medium sized parrots (second hand experience from friends). So for few months I was reading about every single "bigger" parrot species, but also about smaller amazons, senegals and greys. But... They just are not for me. Their personalities sure are great to many but they do not appear as good pets for ME. I need to say that since I was a child I LOVED white (umbrella, mollucan, ducorps, etc.) cockatoos. For me they are the most beautiful birds. So after I decided that those common parrots that are often recommended as pets are not the type of personality I want. I started reading more about too's and found out that I still love the personality they have and they would be perfect for me even with those flaws they have. But they have flaws that I do not know if I can handle.
The biggest problem is the aggressivity I read about so much. They say that when cockatoo bites, he doesn't give many (if any) warnings like macaws do and that it is because cockatoo (unlike the macaw) WANTS to bite.
Next is the plucking tendency they have. I told myself that macaws and greys are very sensitive too and often pluckers (at least as I read). But unlike those parrots, it's actually pretty hard to see a too in YT without plucked feathers and you would have to try hard to find a macaw or grey plucked there.
The third and fourth problem is not the parrot's. But in my country it is pretty hard to find umbrella cockatoo (which is the only one out of too's, that I am interested in, others are not really easy to find at all and often their price is very high).
So I started searching more and found out that blue and gold macaw would fit my household too. They are cute guys, not like the too's, but also very beautiful. So first instinct I had was to search about them. Which I did and they appeared pretty similar to cockatoos. So i tried to find comparisons and I think I found like only one or two. In which they told the guy who asked, that he should think about it more because he choose COMPLETELY different parrots and because of that he probably doesn't know anything about owning one and this stuff. And on the second I think no one compared them really, they said they are very different and recommended another species. And I want to say first that I see they are different. Just by searching videos, you can see that both are displayed in specific situations. The word I was shocked by was the "completely" not the word "different".
I would like to ask you guys who know these parrots (umbrella and b&g) if you could compare their personalities. Things I care most about in parrots is: affectionate (and cuddly, I mean I have my dog for biiig cuddles, but I do not want the "look at only" parrot), playful and full of energy (I love how cockatoos argue with their people like children do), intelligent (I like to say that cockatoos have the cute smart look, that makes you think how innocent they are, but we know the reality), engaging and interest in stuff people do.
The last thing is my biggest fear when thinking about macaw. Most videos on youtube with macaws are: parrot is sitting somewhere (most often perch or table), lets the owner pet him a bit, but without really doing anything. And it feels like, they are not very active and playful. But are described as very playful. So I don't know what is true.
Thank you for answers and please, do not recommend other parrots and please do not comment about how difficult they are and about cage needs, time needs, or that I should not buy them if I only had cockatiels and budgies and so on. I already read those and still read them everytime I search parrot stuff. I just need the comparison, because, even though I tried, I couldn't find much info about macaw personality and if I found some. It would say the same as about cockatoo - needy, affectionate, sensitive, playful, very noisy. Thank you very much and please excuse my bad grammar (and the lenght of this). I am not from english speaking country and it is hard for me to explain such stuff through other language.
So after years of dreaming about having a big parrot (I mean bigger than cockatiel and budgies, I had those since I was 10yo, not anymore though) I finally can get one. I do not work and I have a 7yo child, plenty of experience with many medium sized parrots (second hand experience from friends). So for few months I was reading about every single "bigger" parrot species, but also about smaller amazons, senegals and greys. But... They just are not for me. Their personalities sure are great to many but they do not appear as good pets for ME. I need to say that since I was a child I LOVED white (umbrella, mollucan, ducorps, etc.) cockatoos. For me they are the most beautiful birds. So after I decided that those common parrots that are often recommended as pets are not the type of personality I want. I started reading more about too's and found out that I still love the personality they have and they would be perfect for me even with those flaws they have. But they have flaws that I do not know if I can handle.
The biggest problem is the aggressivity I read about so much. They say that when cockatoo bites, he doesn't give many (if any) warnings like macaws do and that it is because cockatoo (unlike the macaw) WANTS to bite.
Next is the plucking tendency they have. I told myself that macaws and greys are very sensitive too and often pluckers (at least as I read). But unlike those parrots, it's actually pretty hard to see a too in YT without plucked feathers and you would have to try hard to find a macaw or grey plucked there.
The third and fourth problem is not the parrot's. But in my country it is pretty hard to find umbrella cockatoo (which is the only one out of too's, that I am interested in, others are not really easy to find at all and often their price is very high).
So I started searching more and found out that blue and gold macaw would fit my household too. They are cute guys, not like the too's, but also very beautiful. So first instinct I had was to search about them. Which I did and they appeared pretty similar to cockatoos. So i tried to find comparisons and I think I found like only one or two. In which they told the guy who asked, that he should think about it more because he choose COMPLETELY different parrots and because of that he probably doesn't know anything about owning one and this stuff. And on the second I think no one compared them really, they said they are very different and recommended another species. And I want to say first that I see they are different. Just by searching videos, you can see that both are displayed in specific situations. The word I was shocked by was the "completely" not the word "different".
I would like to ask you guys who know these parrots (umbrella and b&g) if you could compare their personalities. Things I care most about in parrots is: affectionate (and cuddly, I mean I have my dog for biiig cuddles, but I do not want the "look at only" parrot), playful and full of energy (I love how cockatoos argue with their people like children do), intelligent (I like to say that cockatoos have the cute smart look, that makes you think how innocent they are, but we know the reality
), engaging and interest in stuff people do.The last thing is my biggest fear when thinking about macaw. Most videos on youtube with macaws are: parrot is sitting somewhere (most often perch or table), lets the owner pet him a bit, but without really doing anything. And it feels like, they are not very active and playful. But are described as very playful. So I don't know what is true.
Thank you for answers and please, do not recommend other parrots and please do not comment about how difficult they are and about cage needs, time needs, or that I should not buy them if I only had cockatiels and budgies and so on. I already read those and still read them everytime I search parrot stuff. I just need the comparison, because, even though I tried, I couldn't find much info about macaw personality and if I found some. It would say the same as about cockatoo - needy, affectionate, sensitive, playful, very noisy. Thank you very much and please excuse my bad grammar (and the lenght of this). I am not from english speaking country and it is hard for me to explain such stuff through other language.
