What is your dream bird to be owned by and why?

[Totecs_Mum]

If you look at it that way NO parrot is suitable as a pet.

Haha you lost me. By that I meant that most parrots are not as hard/unsuitable to keep happy as pets as gang-gangs (or as kea! you pick some not so great pet species haha)

Gang-gangs are unsuitable because they are very hard to keep without having them pluck. I have only seen one pet individual in person that had good feather and that individual was supplied with fresh tree and gum nuts to chew through every single day, often twice a day. He needed constant availability to small seed pods to chew. Not everyone can provide this. Even aviary birds need the similar entertainment or they seem to get stressed and pluck very easily.

There are a few theories out there on why they almost all end up plucking and a few keepers think they have cracked the code on keeping gang-gangs happy. Many have failed though and it is very sad to see.

Thanks for the info on gang gangs as pets!! I've been trying to find more information and I did find a pair of aviary gang gangs for sale. I would probably only be interested in a bird as a companion so looks like that one might not be happening. They are really awesome looking birds though, I've always loved them.


Oops, sorry to leave you hanging there, Wings, I did find black-headed caiques for sale from a breeder for $3000 although like mentioned with the amazons a few posts up, they could probably be found a bit cheaper. Generally yes, if its a native bird the price is usually very reasonable, whereas exotic birds can be pretty pricey eg CAG's I've found for sale are usually about $5000-6000 and I don't even want to look at macaws - I have only seen one and it was advertised for about $10,000.

I'd be interested to know what the parrot market is like over in the UK considering the lack of native parrots over there.

 

[Nocturnal]

Oh goodness. BH caiques are 3k in Oz??


And I thought they were pricey here!!! (1.1k)

 

[Wings]

They are $600 here....

 

[forbey]

What is my "Dream Bird"?

I have dreamt of birds before. Usually they are turkies, weighing in about 20 pounds, injected with Cajun seasoned butter and deep fried! HMMMM, I can almost TASTE it in my dreams!

WHAAT?

 

[forbey]

Seriously! I like them all; however, I am fascinated by the big birds. Skittles is big enough for me; however, I've always been drawn to the B&Gs. Following some of the B&Gs in this forum (specifically Fargo) I'm sure if I was to actually get one, it would be a tremendous let down compared to the trained avian marvels here in the forum.

 

[Klaery]

Again as Totecs mum said depends where you look. You can get them much cheaper than the prices she found, but still not USA prices I won't link breeders as that might be breaching the rules but some examples on gumtree at the moment are black headed caiques for 1500, blue fronted amazons for 1500 and blue and gold macaws for 4000.

Definitely not cheap. But much cheaper than what the opinion seems to be.

 

[Anya]

I have a beautiful Sun Conure named Loki but my ultimate dream bird would probably be an Umbrella Cockatoo. I met one at the house where my mom is getting her Eclectus and he was so sweet to me! I would also like a Hyacinth Macaw but that is a dream I will probably never accomplish. Basically, any large bird is a dream bird.

 

[Harlow]

I actually put a deposit down on my dream bird Saturday. S/he will be a Harlequin macaw. The dream had originally been a Catalina but after loads of discussion with my breeder, she thinks a Harlequin would be a better fit for me. And after research, I realized she was exactly right. We should know within the next month who our new fid will be!

 

[Wings]

Wow, congratulations! Harlequins are so pretty!

 

[chippy]

I had my dream bird...GCC may not be terribly exotic or flashy, but Wilbur was all that I could have wanted in a bird..he had the perfect personality and I will always miss him.

I *do* love our IRNs and if I were to look for another bird in the future, it would be a caique... I was looking at one before I got Pippin, but someone else had seen him first...

 

[Wings]

Aww...but you made the right choice!

 

[chippy]

Aww...but you made the right choice!

Oh, most definitely!!! Pippin is a sweetie and I adore him! I am glad, in retrospect, that the Caique didn't work out because then I wouldn't have Pip...and if the opportunity came up to get a caique down the road...well then... LOL (actually I think DH would kill me! LOL "No more birds!!!" haha)

I re-read my earlier post and thought, gee, sounds like Pip was the one I settled for... absolutely NOT!!! I was already falling for him when the breeder was sending me pics of him from hatch day to lucky-me-day!!!

 

[kyekyah]

A double yellow headed amazon!

 

[Wings]

DYH are very pretty birds i've only ever interacted with one...of course...it hated my soul....LOL....Tainted love

 

[Abigal7]

Seriously! I like them all; however, I am fascinated by the big birds. Skittles is big enough for me; however, I've always been drawn to the B&Gs. Following some of the B&Gs in this forum (specifically Fargo) I'm sure if I was to actually get one, it would be a tremendous let down compared to the trained avian marvels here in the forum.

Fargo makes Blue and Gold Macaws look great but I understand where you coming from. I do love my Hahns macaw. He is such a sweet guy.

 

[Abigal7]

I had my dream bird...GCC may not be terribly exotic or flashy, but Wilbur was all that I could have wanted in a bird..he had the perfect personality and I will always miss him.

I *do* love our IRNs and if I were to look for another bird in the future, it would be a caique... I was looking at one before I got Pippin, but someone else had seen him first...

I remember the green cheek conure my mom bought me when I was in middle school. He was great. While I loved the birds I had as a child that Green conure had personality. Right now I am focusing on Captain Jack but for a second bird I plan to add a green cheek conure since I like them so much.

 

[Wings]

Great story! I love GCC's! So spunky and full of life

 

[DeeNTheChillas]

I absolutely love Hyacinths. I know I'll never own them but I will always love them from afar!

 

[Jowelbg]

I want enough Caiques to have a synchronized hopping team. Also, that would be enough to start the CWF (Caique Wrestling Federation).

 

[Wings]

HAHAHA That would be a sight to see