New here, researching for family bird

[mom2mny]

Hello,

I currently have a senegal and a collared dove. I've always loved birds. I'm not really new to birds. I had a cockatiel named Sparky when I was a kid. Then I had budgies and a goffin. We sold the goffin because she started biting and tried to attack one of our kids every time she came out of her cage. I now realize that she was probably just going through a hormonal time, but we were foster parents at the time and couldn't keep a bird that was attacking one of the kids We are not fostering anymore. We do, however, have 7 kids. So, I'm trying to do my research to find a breed that will "fit" our requirements so that the bird is happy and the family can enjoy the bird. My senegal does not like men or children. He loves me though. lol

We live in the country and I'm home all day. I've always thought that some day I would like to have a Timneh African Grey, but I'm not sure if that's the right choice for our family.

I'm looking for a breed that doesn't generally take to only one person and isn't too nervous around all of the noise that comes with having children. I also would like to have one that likes to be handled.

I know, for example, that not every senegal is going to have the same personality. I'm just trying to narrow down by research options. There are so many great kinds of birds!

 

[ruffledfeathers]

conures love being handled, and are often very open to multiple people. my sun conure ultimately preferred me, but was happy with my friends and parents, and when she met my ex's kids, she was friendly to them and all their friends.

i am getting a blue crown conure next month. if i had him already i could give you an opinion on them. from what i 'hear', they are awesome family birds.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

...that being said Georgie's problem was the opposite....getting her OFF you. She would come out and be handled, and LOVE it, but then if you had to go do something without her, she would sometimes get angry and nippy ("wait mom, i'm not done playing here!")

 

[wenz2712]

Welcome to the forum

 

[paulhanlon]

Welcome to the forums only one species comes to mind when you mentioned it has to be good with kids and that's a conure great little birds fun to play with and great to chill out with as well

 

[mom2mny]

Thank you for the welcomes and advice.
Also, I'm sorry that I referred to them as "breeds." I know they are species. I, for some reason, use breed and species interchangeably. I need to work on that.

 

[Pookamama]

Hi,
I have a Timneh who was rehome from another family with four kiddos. Her kids were older than mine-8 through 13. Mine are younger, 2, 4, 5 and almost 7. Pepper is four and very gentle-spirited, very calm. She will step up for the kids when she's in the right mood, but I'm obviously her favorite. She will climb up the kid's arms to get on top of their heads, they can give her treats. I have considered getting a pair of cockatiels or hand-fed budgies who will be more into bonding with multiple people so the kids can actually get more bird time, but the time they get with Pepper is good and calm. She only went through one nippy stage as a toddler bird accordign to her previous owner. She's nipped twice here but gave plenty of warning (hubby tried to lift up her wing).

So my advice would be-look into various adult birds who have experience with kids, or get a hand-fed baby. Timnehs normally do great with families but they will tend to pick a favorite. If you keep them handled by various people they'll accept various people. My hubby works hard to do clicker training with her so their relationship is going good even if he's not the chosen one, he can hold her, give her scritches, etc. Cockatiels and hand-fed budgies (there's a lot of budgies who are not hand-fed out there) do well as well. Green cheek conures are normally good but many tend to go through a nippy stage. Linneolated parakeets (I think I'm spelling that wrong) and Rosy burkes were recommended as well to me.

My dream bird personally was a Timneh, and since I am the one who the bird was for mostly, I went for a Timneh. I do the feeding and the cleaning so I'm perfectly fine with the bird preferring me to everybody else, because although she could give or take them, she is not violent in any way and everyone is quite entertained by her various calls and dance moves.

If my kids decide they want birds for their own birds, though, I plan on going the cockatiel/budgie/parakeet route.

 

[Cowtown]

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your choice.

 

[luvmytooo]

Hi and welcome
Good luck with your search !
yes , there are so many wonderful species of birds out there.
I love the Toucan , the smaller species , toucanette I think ? Someone correct me , its late , but I do think those types of birds do well with kids.
You also have to keep in mind your household activities. If its chaotic at times , some
birds dont do well in that kind of environment.But there are so many choices and what fun it will be going through them all to find the perfect one
Have fun !

 

[IcyWolf]

Have you thought of a lineolated parakeet? They are little clowns, rarely bite and even when they do it's not hard, they don't generally bond to one person and they aren't very loud. That's the first bird that came to mind when reading about your lifestyle. From my experience most grey's don't like a lot of noise or excitement so I'd be wary about having one in the same house with so many children, although there is always the exception to the rule.