First of all, I'm sorry for your loss, and I totally understand what you mean by "it tore you up", they are family members, just like people, and people who have never had a parrot as a family member don't understand that at all. So my condolences to you for your loss...That being said, I don't know you, but it's quite obvious that you have a lot of love to give a parrot, and there are a lot of parrots out there that need a lot of love...And that includes both hand-raised baby parrots that you would get from a breeder/pet shop, and the adults who are being re-homed and such, they BOTH need to find loving, experienced FOREVER HOMES, no matter what choice you make about where/how you're going to get your next baby...After all, the reason that there are thousands of adult parrots in-need of loving homes is because they went to the wrong people as babies to begin with, right?
***I'm going to address your "noise" concern right up-front and quickly, as I think that it's going to be less of an issue than you think it is. The first thing I'll say is that there is NO COMPARISON between the volume-level of a Moluccan Cockatoo and any Conure, Poicephalus, Cockatiel, Parrotlet, etc. You grew-up with one of the most intelligent parrots in the world, but also one of the most difficult to keep psychologically happy and healthy, as they really are no different than having a 4 year-old human child except that they don't have the same language skills and obviously because they're birds, lol...but there isn't a whole lot of difference between the care a young human child needs and the care a Moluccan needs...And those of us who are personally familiar with the volume level of a Moluccan/Umbrella Cockatoo know exactly what you're talking about,
and there isn't much comparison.
As far as comparing the noise/volume levels between the Conures (in-general) and the Poicephalus parrots (in-general), well, they are two entirely different types of birds in most every way...As someone who bred Green Cheek Conures, Sun Conures, and Jenday Conures for several years, and someone who currently has both a young Green Cheek Conure and a young Senegal parrot (both whom I brought home from their breeders as hand-raised babies of 13 weeks old and 12 weeks old, respectively), the Poicephalus parrots, whether you're talking about a Meyers, a Senegal, a Red-Bellied,
a Cape parrot, and even the Jardines, are overall extremely quiet parrots. I've only personally had my current Senegal as a member of my family (he was 12 weeks-old when I brought him home from his breeder and he just turned 2 years-old this past October), but I have worked for a large Avian/Reptile Rescue for over 8 years now, and as such I've interacted with MANY Senegal parrots, Meyers parrots, and Red-Bellied parrots, as well as quite a few Jardines, and 2 Cape parrots...and none of them, including my own Senegal (who is a male), were at all "noisy" in any way at all. The most talkative/verbal of the Poicephalus in my own experience have been the Jardines, and they weren't at all "noisy" or loud, nor did they scream, etc. They all have their moments, usually when they are playing and get excited, or when my Senegal is flying around the house, that's when he'll let out a scream here and there, but all-in-all none of the Poicephalus are at all "noisy", just the opposite...In fact, if I were to ever have to move into an apartment where I'd have to worry about the noise with my neighbors, no one would even know that Kane (my Senegal) was even living there with me.
Kane is a male Senegal (DNA-tested), he was hand-raised by a fantastic breeder, he's loving and never has bitten me, but he's not a "Velcro-Bird" like my Green Cheek Conure is...He loves to snuggle before bedtime, when he's getting sleeping and I'm watching TV or reading or on the computer, that's when he comes over and wants to get cuddly and he'll fall asleep on my chest/against my neck and under my hair. He loves to have his head/face/neck/back scratched, and he's a great eater, no issues at all with him eating whatever pellets, veggies, greens, etc. I give him. He's also very good at entertaining himself with his toys in his cage or on his play-stands. And that's how most Poicephalus parrots are, they love their "person" and can be very affectionate and cuddly at times, but they are also very happy entertaining themselves with their toys and such. So they aren't the "Velcro Birds" that the Conures are, but you do get the best of both worlds with them....I do however suggest that if you do look at a Meyers parrot (who are extremely similar in personality and behavior to the Senegals and most other Poicephalus parrots, they are all very similar), that you either adopt an adult that has been hand-raised or has been tamed and is used to interacting with people and being a part of a family, and not one that has been used for breeding or kept inside their cage and not interacted with much. I say this because they do tend to be very, very stubborn birds, that would be the worst thing I can say about the Poicephalus parrots, they are very head-strong and stubborn, and sometimes they will just insist on getting their way, and when they don't they let you know they are mad...not by biting or screaming, but by being the "moodiest" birds you've ever seen, lol...Overall I would describe the Poicephalus parrots overall as being extremely intelligent, laid-back birds that love to entertain themselves when their "person" isn't around, but when their "person" is around they love to be loved and love to play with them. They are the best of both worlds, they can be extremely snuggly and cuddly and give you kisses, and at the same time they are just as happy entertaining themselves inside of their cages with their toys. Just all-around smart, loving-yet-non-velcro birds, and who do not present ANY ISSUE AT ALL with noise/volume/sound...They are not great talkers overall though, I don't know if that matters to you or not...My Kane says around 10 words/phrases and has several "contact-calls" with me such as different whistles and "clicks", but when he does talk he sounds like a robot, lol. You can clearly understand what he is saying, it's just a low, robotic voice.
In contrast are the Conures...Overall, in-general, all species of Conures are the "Velcro-Birds", meaning that they want to be with their "person" all the time, and when I say they want "to be" with their person, I mean they want to be attached to their person, lol. I have been around different species of Conures my entire life (my mother bred many species of Conures back in the 80's and 90's, long before most people even knew what a "Conure" was, and before you saw them all over the place)...She bred Green Cheeks, Suns, Jendays, Nandays, Peach-Fronted, Cherry-Headed, and she had a breeding-pair of White-Eyed Conures that never successfully bred. I started breeding Green Cheeks, Suns, and Jendays when I was 16; I only had one breeding-pair of each except for the Green Cheeks and the Suns, I had multiple different pairs of both the Suns and the Green Cheeks throughout the years...The White-Eyed Conures would be the closest in both looks/size/personality and genetics to the Mitred Conures, I believe they are actually very closely related...I also have a close friend from college who has a Half-Moon Conure (Orange-Fronted Conure) who is now 17 years old (my God I'm getting old!!!), and who is an absolute sweetheart.
The Conures are a completely and totally different type of parrot in every single way from the Poicephalus parrots are, so you're comparing two types of parrots that are drastically different in every way except for size. As far as the "noise" and/or "volume" issue, you obviously already know how loud most species of Conures are, specifically the Suns/Jendays and to an extent the Nandays as well...but they are ALL on a totally different level than any of the Poicephalus when it comes to being vocal overall...As I'm typing this my Green Cheek is yelling "My baby! Where's my baby!" over and over again, with an occasional "Cereal!" intermixed (he loves cereal and the box is sitting on the counter)...Some Conures are great talkers, some aren't, but they ALL make lots of sounds/noise, whatever you want to call it, they are simply very vocal parrots.
***It needs to be pointed-out, to be fair, that usually, most of the people who have an actual problem with their Conures constantly screaming all day long (and any other species of parrots who are screaming all day long for that matter) have their Conure's cage located in a spare bedroom, or some back room of their home that they call the "bird room", while when they are home they spend most of their time in the living-room/family-room etc. watching TV, talking, eating, reading, playing video games, on the computer, having visitors over, etc. So their birds, WHO ARE ALL "FLOCK ANIMALS", know that their person/people, or their "flock" are home, they can hear them, but they are in a totally separate room from them, they can't see them, and they don't feel like they are a part of the "flock", which they actually aren't...and so they often scream all day long, every day. And yes, the Conures have a lot of volume when they want to...But instead of simply moving their bird's cage to the "main-room" of their home so that their bird feels like a part of the "flock" and would then happily entertain themselves inside of their cages, they refuse to do that and just complain about how their birds scream all the time and are ear-piercingly loud...So let's be fair to the Conures about that...But I won't lie to you, most-all of the species of Conures that I've ever lived with/been around are extremely vocal, and they have the ability to be extremely loud when they want to be. But there are usually underlying reasons WHY they are screaming loudly all the time...
