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Well, it depends on your tolerance and living situation.
Sun conures are LOUD! If you live in an apartment and you’re prone to headaches it’s no bueno.They are also bigger then an average ‘starter bird’. Sometimes handfed babies are oh so sweet and cuddly, then they change and will bite and be nasty. The bigger the bird, the bigger the beak, and they HURT!
I would recommend a parrotlet or a green cheek conure. They’re little clowns, and are big parrots trapped in little bird bodies. They screech sometimes, but it’s not nearly as loud as a sun. A parrotlet can live up to 40 years and a conure lives to be about 25.
In the case of the sun conure… DONT.
Not unless you like screamers, which they are. Theyre one of the loudest conures and when I try to think of something louder, I only come up with lorikeets and cockatoos. Our neighbors across the street have a sun conure. I can hear it, from an acre away inside my own house. Some birds are predispositioned to being loud, and they are one of those birds.
Any bird can be a good bird if it’s a handfed baby though. Babies that were hand reared by people, look to them as their ‘flock’ and so are easier to train in the long run.
I have both a green cheek and a parrotlet, but I DO like and plan to get a bigger parrot at some point. Some of my favorites are yellow nape amazons, eclectus parrots, senegal macaws, severe macaws and lesser sulfer crested cockatoos.
Great! Thank you! I don’t want to make a mistake and have an unwanted bird.
Are there some bigger parrots that would be good for a starter? I want to have one that isn’t a 1 person bird, but I would be the main handler.
It’d be great to have a talking bird too.I’ve been looking at minah birds too… Still in research mode.
Mynahs are good talkers but they are VERY messy. Its easy for them to poop several feet outside of their cage.
I dont think any one species of parrot is a beginner, however there are individual birds that can be a good first parrots. I would talk directly to breeders about it. They are going to have the best idea of a young birds personality. They would pair a first time owner with a more laid back bird generally and save the ones that have more of an attitude for the more experienced handler. My parrotlet for example was part of a clutch of three. The other two were the nicer, quieter ones that didnt constantly ‘test’ people like mine does (testing=”im going to bite to see if I get a reaction”). Her sisters went to families with older children that were more beginners, but I got her because I can deal with any bird, even one with an attitude.
Can bird can be accidentally ‘trained’ to be a “one person bird”, or trained not to be (to be honest, most of the worst behavioral problems in pet parrots are things we accidentally, or without knowing, TEACH them to do). Of course each bird is an individual, and it will have preferences, but at the time time it is entirely possible to have a parrot that loves one person BEST but is able to be handled by anyone! They key is training, just like a dog, and proper socialization. I highly recommend Barbara Heindenreich’s books and DVDs for people new to parrots (and actually, oldies too… I learned from her– anyone can): http://www.goodbirdinc.com/barbaraheidenreich-bio.html
A lot of the oldschool training methods, while created with GOOD intentions, strongly misunderstand parrot behavior and psychology and can make problems worse… or, solve problems but have a parrot that is afraid of you, etc.
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