Smaller vs Bigger?

[FeatherLover]

Hi all, Im a proud new mom of a GCC! Wondering, in your opinion, what are the benefits to owning smaller birds vs bigger birds?

 

[LoveMyParrots]

Personally I prefer bigger parrots, I don't really know why

The smallest I've had is budgies, and the biggest so far is goffins cockatoo. I did find smaller parrot are easier to take care of, don't need bank breaking amount of money, can be noisier but not louder, and are easier to to handle. All parrots have days where they are not in a good mood, if you get bitten by a budgie or a parrotlet, not a big deal, it may hurt, but you won't loose a finger. But a angry macaw or a cockatoo....you'll be rushing to the hospital!

But a well trained larger parrot will make wonderful pet. And can be more playful than some of the smaller parrot, and a better talker.

But there's one thing for sure, no matter how big or how small, all parrot can be wonderful and loving pet that will bring joy to us for years.

 

[LoryLover]

Congrats on your new GCC! Well, I started real small with finches, then I moved up to lovebirds, and now I'm owned by a sweet chattering lory who is 10 inches from her head to her tail. I love her size, it's just right. She talks up a storm, she laughs, mimics every sound, plays all day long, doesn't give off dander, so there's no extra dusting with her.

If I hadn't gotten this lory 15 yrs ago, who knows... I may have gotten an african grey or an amazon.

 

[khaiqha]

My old roommate had a tiel and a gcc, and he's getting a sun now. He likes birds of that size because of the following:

1) He can hold them in his hand
2) They don't take as much room
3) Toys are cheaper

I prefer larger birds and had an IRN growing up and now I have an Alexandrine. I like them because:

1) Easier to notice, so less fear of sitting/stepping on one, losing one, accidents, etc
2) More to love!
3) They can manipulate objects easier. My old roomie loved that my birds could hold
objects with their feet, carry big stuff, open things, etc.
4) Slightly less fear of my bird being attacked by another animal. Slightly.

 

[LoryLover]

My old roommate had a tiel and a gcc, and he's getting a sun now. He likes birds of that size because of the following:

1) He can hold them in his hand
2) They don't take as much room
3) Toys are cheaper

I prefer larger birds and had an IRN growing up and now I have an Alexandrine. I like them because:

1) Easier to notice, so less fear of sitting/stepping on one, losing one, accidents, etc
2) More to love!
3) They can manipulate objects easier. My old roomie loved that my birds could hold
objects with their feet, carry big stuff, open things, etc.
4) Slightly less fear of my bird being attacked by another animal. Slightly.

I'm so glad my lory is not more powerful than she is, because I'd have to get child locks for my cabinets... she's a cabinet lover, loves to explore. She can pull the cabinet door open about a half inch, not quite far enough though to get inside on her own, thank goodness. But since she is a "she", being inside cabinets starts up that nesting instinct, and she's been egg bound once, so I can't take the chance.

 

[KBEquine]

We live with everything from budgies to macaws - I adore my big birds but Blue, one of the budgies, talks as well as all the big birds except the African Grey. Blue also is the best flyer in the house, seeks me out for companionship when he is out, doesn't hurt as much if he bites, doesn't bite much - and likes pretty much anyone who pays attention to him. If I had to move off the farm & closer to neighbors, I would be able to take him without worry about noise offending anyone.

The larger birds' personalities are more complex and that sometimes makes them available for rehome. Biting, screaming and plucking are generally large-bird issues.

Also, big birds often like you or they don't & many of the issues with big birds comes when the human picks the bird they find attractive, and does not allow the bird to make a choice. If you go to a rescue looking for a Grey, there is a distinct possibility that a Senegal or Amazon will be doing its best to get your attention & the Grey will be giving you the stink eye. [I speak from experience . . . "my" Grey gives me the stink-eye every day & tells me in many ways that he is my husband's friend & I'm just the servant.]

That doesn't make big birds 'worse' just needing a different type of evaluation before deciding which one to bring home.

Unless handled properly young, big birds learn to bite to control their owner's behavior (much as we need to use positive reinforcement to train them, they have no qualms about using negative reinforcement to train US). They require more food - and can fling it farther, meaning they require more maid service. And Goose-the-greenwing's morning poop is bigger than the whole budgie! And I don't have to tell you how awkward it is to lug around a dog crate with a perch to schlep a macaw, as opposed to the handbag-sized container for 2 budgies!

So neither is better or worse. But I definitely believe smaller birds are easier and equally rewarding.

I love my big birds very much & spend much more time with them. But I wanted to give a shout-out to the little guys.

 

[aliray]

I prefer the smaller birds. I find them easier to handle. You can get really good size flight cages and lots of toys without breaking the bank. And the biggest plus for me is their beaks are a lot smaller

 

[aliray]

You might also want look at the post that Jersey Wendy put some videos on entitled Macaw Chores Big Mess Makers or something like that..I know I for one could not handle that, My smaller ones make enough mess for me. It did make me laugh though

 

[khaiqha]

Should also add the small birds have much more room to fly in a household. I live in an apartment, and I am constantly asking people who live in large homes or work in large buildings if I can have my bird there so he can have a proper fly (would love to just have my bird harness trained but it's been horrible trying to train him to wear one).

 

[ConureCrazy]

I'm a small bird person. I just find them perfect. BUT, light birds (for example, sennie and conures are generally the same size, but a sennie weighs much more.) seem to not have as much... Foot and beak strength? All.light weight birds I've had always drop foot toys, fruit/veg pieces, and basically most foot holding items. Not sure if anyone else's birds are like that. I have to smash NutriBerries so they won't drop them.

 

[wwendy104]

I have a small as in Nanday Conure, medium African Grey, and large B&G Macaw. I have to say I like the medium size myself. Easier to keep my eye on, loves to talk, and you can really get them anysize toy small or large.

Our conure does all kinds of tricks and fly's all over which is really cool but her small size allows her to get into everything and into lots of trouble! My macaw can be a terror often and makes the biggest messes ever but its harder for them to escape without being seen . I guess I don't have a preference I like them all! I just can't choose you really have to base it on the kind of bird. Ill just have one of everything please!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Here is the link
http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/27542-macaw-chores-big-mess-makers.html

Yup....tons of fun....from morning til night. But I don't have any regrets, only tons of caluses from wood working. :54:

 

[cthulhus_minion]

Well, it really depends on YOU. What you want and what you need. I've kept snakes for a couple years and now I have birds too. When I got my first snake it was a smaller species, a spotted python average length about 3 feet. I loved that snake and it was as gentle as can be. He would actually use me to hide . And I decided I wanted something more medium sized which is what I have now and prefer, both my snake children are going to be around 5 to 6 feet in length when they are adults. Now on birds, my first bird was a freebie, it was a budgie and it absolutely loved me when I got it and shortly after that I got a IRN which I still have because I prefer medium sizes on all my animals. And am waiting for a breeder to have some CAG babies and then I'll have one of them it really just depends on you. I hope this helps.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

 

[blackhawk007]

I started with Finches. They made the biggest mess because it was every where within 3 feet of their cage. They also chirped nonstop but not loudly. Then we got our Quakers. One was very quiet and made little mess. When he passed we got our 2nd one and he makes noise off and on all day, a wide range of noises. But he also talks pretty well and gives a few correct responses on command. He poops and makes a much bigger mess than my Red Lored Amazon. Teka the Amazon is the newest edition. He is by far the quietest. His volume is louder than the finches but very rarely louder than what the Quaker puts out all day. That is when he actually does decide to make noise, which is not often. Teka makes the smallest mess. He keeps his poop in 2 locations in his cage and 2 spots on his tree stands. So with our personal experience the smaller the bird the more our ears were busy and it took more work to clean up after them.

We plan to eventually get a Macaw and can bet that we will not be remotely close to saying the same for that big bird. We have just been lucky so far.

 

[Abigal7]

Hi all, Im a proud new mom of a GCC! Wondering, in your opinion, what are the benefits to owning smaller birds vs bigger birds?

Congradulations on you GCC. I have a green cheek conure myself. I never owned a large bird but research say birds like Macaws and cockatooes can bite off a finger. My research has made me see owners of large Macaws usually make their own toys because the toy get destroyed in a minute flat. As a child I had a budgie (the smallest bird I ever had) and a cockatiel (which was a bigger bird then the budgie). I liked all my birds. The only down side of small birds is how fragile they can be (the only reason I will not buy another budgie). Birds like conures and cockatiles can stit on your shoulder without you having to be real worried an eye will be gouged out. Not saying I am against large birds. I plan on getting a hahns macaw and it will probably be the biggest bird I ever own so far.

 

[bkparrot]

Its all about how much you can handle. Financially, the bigger birds are expensive when it comes to feeding, housing. Noise levels are not always related to size. I had a B&G macaw that was relatively quiet and my foster tiels were noisy all day long. There is no simple answer as to which is better in general.

 

[mtdoramike]

Small birds, require less interaction most of the time than bigger birds, require less maintenance, less expense and my biggest issue, smaller birds usually can't remove or break a bone or sever a finger or remove a large chunk out of your ear.

Bigger birds, are a lot messier and require more maintenance, the cost is substantial for food and toys because they can destroy a $50.00 toy within a day or two. They require much larger more expensive cages & playstands. Plus my biggest issue is, they can remove a finger without hesitation, can break a bone and leave nasty wounds requiring stitches.

Most people think Ooooooh, my bird would never do that to me, but let me tell you, they can and they will do it to you it's just a matter of time. Example: Two days ago, I was in the kitchen with Mac our Eclectus on my shoulder and my wife was in the kitchen as well. I walked passed my wife on the opposite side of Mac and we bumped slightly. It seems Mac didn't like that and reacted by growling and bit my left ear on the top puncturing it with his beak. I instictively swung my left arm backwards knocking him to the floor at that moment, which probably saved me from having a chunk removed from my ear. Now I should have known better because Mac has been moody and quite hormonal lately, so shoulder time should have been at a minimum or none at all. Now, since that incident, I'm very cautious when picking Mac up and will not handle him a great deal or allow him on my shoulder for awhile until I'm sure the hormons have run their course.

 

[aliray]

On Sunday we went to our neigbors house to have Tiki's wings clipped and get a lesson on how to do it myself. They have 2 cags and a yellow nape and have a mobile bird groomer come every three mo. Anyway the bird groomer also runs a rescue out of her home and she was telling us she just took in a caique that she has been clipping for years because he had turned on the husband and sent him to the ER for stiches three times in the last 2 weeks with vicious flying attacks. He ripped his earlobe open, The next attack he grabbed the mans nostril and ripped it and the last attack was again on the face or neck. When she got there they gave her the bird and cage. This was a tame bird that the older couple had never had a problem with. She said that the couple went to her house to see the bird a few days later. and as soon as the husband walked in the house the bird started sceaming and trying to attack though the cage bars and that isn't a big bird

 

[OOwl]

I have both small (lovebird) and medium size birds (Grey and Galah), and have lived with a housemate that had two large macaws, I can say I totally am more comfortable with the small birds. They are easier to transport, cheaper to buy toys for, easier to clean up after, easier to share with others due to the intimidation factor, far less liability (if one of your parrots bites someone in your home), I can have them on my person for longer periods of time without having to change clothes, and I just love when my lovebird climbs into my shirt and takes a nap while I'm working away (the bigger guys I have to watch every minute). I also don't like to watch body language all the time like I have to do with the larger guys. If I screw up and get nipped by the little guys, it just doesn't do that much damage. I also KNOW that my lovebird has every bit as much intelligence and personality as my larger parrots. I love them all and they're here in my home for my life (and in my kids' lives after that), but, since you asked, I really do prefer the smaller birds and spend more one-on-one time with them due to the ease of doing so.

 

[Abigal7]

Well, it really depends on YOU. What you want and what you need. I've kept snakes for a couple years and now I have birds too. When I got my first snake it was a smaller species, a spotted python average length about 3 feet. I loved that snake and it was as gentle as can be. He would actually use me to hide . And I decided I wanted something more medium sized which is what I have now and prefer, both my snake children are going to be around 5 to 6 feet in length when they are adults. Now on birds, my first bird was a freebie, it was a budgie and it absolutely loved me when I got it and shortly after that I got a IRN which I still have because I prefer medium sizes on all my animals. And am waiting for a breeder to have some CAG babies and then I'll have one of them it really just depends on you. I hope this helps.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

My first bird as a child was a budgie. At the end of the day a friendly pet is what what makes a great companion. The biggest or fanciest pet does not mean it will be a happy relationship for both sides and I like how you show make point. Do you have a ball python? I heard they were good snakes (never owned a reptile though).