This is what my avian vet told me way back when I was looking for a baby.
Are you in a state with avian certification? If so then check to see if yours is listed. If so are and what were any complaints.
What does place look like?
Avoid if over crowded parents and pairs.
What does it smell like.
Avoid foul and especially avoid if chemical oders, no matter what. Cleanings products are NOT to be excused. Birds are very sensitive. An oder today could be heart, breathing, kidney problems in future.
How are records kept.
Poor or nonexistent are red flags.
When/if baby was taken from parents.
There's a bit of controversy here but too soon is not recommended. The too soon is dependent on breed and breeders. In old days birds were breed by true lovers of the bird and breed. Today there's increasing conservation practices. So now birds are becoming the new cash cows.
How big is breeding facility.
Larger (as in numbers of birds) is not better. Babies especially avian need close monitoring.
If babies are hand feed, how long and how handled. Do they get random handling.
Avian babies get beginning social training here. Avian parents give lots attention, security at these times. Babies wrapped in a towel, fed and dumped back into incubator tend to be less social and dislike humans. Those that get cuddles ect, even wrapped tend to like care givers aka humans. No exceptions here either. Less hands on care is to be avoided.
How close are pairs kept?
The closer the higher risk for some diseases. Even if parents don't show it, your potential baby may be exposed to something undesirable.
All babies are cute!!! Pups=dog, kitten=cat, chicks=birds who are a smarter then the first two.
Facts: If you have pups, cats you're gonna get nips or scratches. If you have a horse, you're going to get footvstepped on. If you have a bird you're going to get bit. Observation and behavior clues are very important to learn and adhere to.
You can do this from your phone. See a baby you love. Go on line to MULTIPLE sites. Look at weaning ages. If listed from x to z. Then only settle for y to z. You don't want a scared infant. No matter what breeder says go with y to z age. Some will go lower then x. That = more profit for less work. Also look up basic diet. Some breeds have more rigid diet needs.
What is your home environment, work, vacation etc. These will help narrow down the breed best for you. Your recommended cage size should be on the larger size. (Within financial reason). As an aside even though popular round cages aren't recommended for larger breed parrots. They can go nuts over time. Something most people ignore is life expectancy of the breed. Larger breeds can live 30+ years with good care. That's a very consdering factor.
Above all try to have a genuine avian vet. A normally healthy dog sneezing can be watched for a few days. Birds are prey creatures. So they hide illness as long as possible. So medical intervention is more of a priority.
I don't mean to be a voice of gloom. I want you to consider as many angles as possible. Consider this important one. The actual bird cost while important is a one time thing. Without exception bird owners especially of the larger breeds are spending lots of money. Excluding vet, my CAG averages just under 150.00$/month. Quarterly professional nail, beak exams with trim if indicated, toys, food/water dishes and replacement for destroyed of same, base food, healthy veggies, fruits, safe treats, and more. Don't forget the time needed for cage and environmental cleaning. Now for medical aka avian vet intervention. My cheapest is near 300$ if lab even routine is indicated. My vet knows us well so this is about every 18 months. The next was 800 (only 1x) for respiratory infection. The highest (again 1x) was just over 2.5K$$(total for 2 weeks) caused by getting a toe caught in a toy. It technically wasn't bad but he was a bad patient aka normal parrot.
