Species ranking games: lovebirds Quakers Tiels IRN and more!

[lolitalamb]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum. I have very little experience with birds. When I was little, I had two budgies but only my mom handled them. I did not get out of that experience due to my young age. We didn't really know what we were doing so they were not tamed or trained at all. They were pretty indifferent to us.

Later on, my mom got 2 peached-faced LBs which were hers exclusively. She liked having them around, but because she interacted with them in a similar way to the budgies, they seemed like pointless pets to me...

But now I'm an adult, and I'd like to try having pet birds again someday. This time I know that I need to train them and interact with them a lot more. I probably won't get a bird for another year or so, but I was hoping some bird enthusiasts can help me out.

How would you rank the following species of birds:

Cockatiel
Fischers Lovebird
Green Cheeked Conure
Budgie
Quaker Parrot
Indian Ringneck
Pacific Parrotlet

In the following categories:

Least to most noisy
Easiest to hardest to tame
Least to most temperamental
Least to most demanding of attention
Easiest to hardest to care for disregarding the above factors (things like special diets or weird poop...etc...)

I know every bird is different but if you can do your best to generalize across species I would find that very helpful.


Thanks!

Nicole

 

[Jeans]

This is interesting and I'm excited to see replies! I only have experience with Quakers, tiels, and budgies. I will just rank them.

Least to most Noisy:
I would say the tiel is the least noisy. The budgie just sings a lot! Which can get annoying. Any friends who sleep over hate him. Quakers are the loudest of the three.

Easiest to hardest to tame:
I would say the 'tiel has been the easiest, although she is still not super tame yet, she loves to sit on people. I have had the budgie for 2 years, still can't touch him! I work with all my birds almost daily. I would still say so far the quaker is the most difficult, only because she is super bipolar in her daily moods. Some days she is a sweety, some days she attacks horribly. That's just her though!

Least to most temperamental:
The least temperamental I think would be the 'tiel. Then the budgie. And quakers are super temperamental!

Least to most demanding of attention:
The budgie is happy to fly around his flight and rip apart toys all day with no side effects. The 'tiel would much rather be out, so she needs more attention. And the quaker is downright nuts if I confine her for too long!

The easiest to care for I think would be the budgie. Although the catch is that they are more stubborn to eating fresh foods. I would say then it would be quakers, I feed mine a mix of pellets, seeds, and fresh foods, but they all get that. The 'tiel is hard because she has a lot of dust and it is a pain to clean up! Although, I have to say, the quakers also smear food everywhere and dump it in water.

This is just my personal experience. Every budgie I've ever met was a bit more flighty but joyous as well. Most 'tiels are more laid back birdies, but the dust is blah. And quakers are quite temperamental and can develop biting habits, plucking habits, and general moodiness!


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[GaleriaGila]

Budgies and cockatiels have been domesticated a long time... they're hard to beat for ease of care and keeping. Good for you, for putting in effort and pre-planning!

Oh, and P.S.
Whatever you do, don't get a Patagonian Conure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or at least not one like mine!

 

[lolitalamb]

Jeans - what are some of the pros of Quakers (though I'll admit they sound like too much bird for me...lol)

 

[Jeans]

Jeans - what are some of the pros of Quakers (though I'll admit they sound like too much bird for me...lol)

I love mine! She has so much personality! She is a rescue, so we are still working with her. But she is so intelligent. When she is in the mood she is super cuddly and a real angel. She dances with me a lot, and I know she wants to be a sweet bird. I move her cage right beside where I am all day, and she calls me and waves her head at me. It looks like the old school worm dance. They are also easier to teach to eat healthy stuff. She's a goofball and whenever I'm on the phone she calls to me until I tell the person I have to go talk to my needy parrot! Whenever I leave the room I say "I'll be right back babygirl" and she immediately knows I'm leaving and freaks! I can be downstairs and I ca up to her from the kitchen and I here her chattering with happiness!

At night she tries to talk and fails horribly but it's still cute! I swear she tries to tell me "go to sleep" bc I tell her that sometimes!

She is just a joy. Besides the whole attacking my head and my hands


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[itchyfeet]

Lolita, what's the kind of noise?
Our galah is easily the loudest, but only a couple of times a day. Our tiel is non stop chatty, but always much quieter with it.

 

[lolitalamb]

Itchy feet - I guess both...?

So...maybe I should subdivide that into 2 categories: Lowest to highest VOLUME and Lowest to highest frequency of noise...

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

My friend has two parrotlets. Both adorable, super low volume calls, smart, do tricks, talk.

 

[Lapis]

hi! welcome to the forum!

i only have some experience with parakeets, an IRN, and sun conures

not sure if GC conures are different but in my experience they are LOUD and MEAN lol
my best friend as 2 (i helped her with them a lot though) and whenever i babysat them, the male would always steal my seat and not let me near it lol. both of them also just made LOTS OF NOISE. whenever i went over to her house i always heard them so clearly even from inside my car in the driveway. both of them were tamed/trained though

parakeets!!
i've had one for about 2 weeks (RIP Eska)
i got her from a Petsmart and she was probably never properly handled. in the two weeks i had her i was able to tame her, before she passed she would cuddle up in my hair.
she barely made any sound either, and when she did it was fairly quiet. i always took the whistling a sign of "I trust you"

now for IRNs! i currently just have one, considering getting at least one more in the future.
i got Nyla already tame, and i'm still currently training her but she is VERY smart. same with Eska, doesnt make too much noise. and when she does, it's not very loud. it's USUALLY for my attention but sometimes she just does it while she's sleeping or just for the hell of it lol

the sun conures free fly inside and sometimes outside, i don't think they ever really use the cage that they have so i can't confirm this for those birds - but for Eska and Nyla whenever it's bed time and i put a sheet over their cage i never heard a peep out of them until the next morning when the sheet was off

whatever bird you choose i hope you two (or more!) have a long, happy life together ♥

 

[lolitalamb]

I really want an Indian Ringneck, but it seems like they might be too much maintenance or too complicated for me. Maybe I should start with a cockatiel or parrotlet? I'm also considering love birds and budgies, but I didn't have particularly rewarding experiences with them in the past - though I realize it was more about the way I was interacting with them than it was them....(see above).

Sun and Jendays are definitely too loud, I think, but some people say that GCCs aren't that loud.

The cockatiel seems like the best choice overall, but I worry about my husband's allergies...

 

[Lapis]

I really want an Indian Ringneck, but it seems like they might be too much maintenance or too complicated for me.

in my experience, they arent very high maintenance or very complication.

i had done SOME, very little, research on IRNs while i still had Eska, but i had full intentions of waiting until a year or so and just getting another parakeet for now. but when i went to the "bird store" (they breed all their birds, make their own food, etc etc) i just sort of.. impulsively got Nyla lol. granted i had a day to prepare after putting down my deposit, but still.

at the time i brought her home, i only had her cage, some perches, a few toys, and food. she adjusted just fine, and never seemed to mind when i slowly started putting more stuff for her in/around the cage

in my opinion having an IRN is just like having a bigger budgie. they can be jerks sometimes but theyre probably the sweetest birds out there once they start trusting you

trust your gut, i know you'll make the right choice! good luck again :3