Starter and Beginner Birds: How to Decide Which Parrot is Right For You! | BirdNerdSophie 

i recently cared for a parrot for three days, and we bonded sooo much. he loved going on my shoulder, head, he gave me the little kisses/pecks with his beak. He even let me pet him! . i still miss him lol. not going to lie, i want a parrot now xD thank you for the video. i want to learn as much as possible before making this choice :)

My mom told me that I could only get a parakeet. I went to my local bird farm and instantly fell in love with my cockatiel. He's my first bird and was 8 weeks old when I brought him home. He's honestly the best thing that's happened in my life. I love him more than anything.

In my opinion, there is no such thing as an “easy” pet, even fish are somewhat difficult regarding their tank, it definitely depends on whether you’re willing to put the effort in studying and paying for everything you need.

This needs to be the first thing that comes up when you google about pet birds! Had no idea about the African Greys or Blue Macaws being endangered. That does make me feel the same way. Not sure if you know, but we had a budgie from a rescue first. We thought "they need homes". And she was found in the wild and older. She ended up passing away just after a few months and I was devastated. We didn't go the rescue route for Peewee because I was so nervous about that happening again. And we didn't for Billie because I was afraid an older tiel would bully Peewee. This makes me feel so much better about our decisions. I've always been a bit *embarrassed* about that.

Adopt a loft pigeon. They are the most underrated and forgotten domesticated bird on the planet. I rescued an injured banded pigeon a few months ago. He is absolutely amazing. They are quiet and don't have wire cutters for beaks.

So I used to live in south west Australia. I lived in a neighborhood that was basically run by a wild flock of cockatoos. Honestly the ungodly noises that came out of that bunch haunt me to this day. I can't imagine having one of those broken storm alarms in my house XD

7:05. Thank you for this. Telling new parrot owners to get a rescue bird is setting them up for failure. Most people in the industry are too scared of backlash to speak out against the "get a rescue bird, breeders are bad" narrative.

I love my budgies so much. They are the smallest parrot with huge amounts of energy and personality. I hate when people think they are just a cheap throw away pet. I spent 6 months doing research on them. To make sure I had everything possible for them to live a very long and healthy life with me. The worst part about it is you have to weed out a TON of out dated and wrong information online, it takes about 6 months lol. I even went to a local library to check out a budgie book, and it was 15 years old, and just full of very out dated info on the species. Even worse was when I finally went to a pet store to look at budgies. The ones at PetCo were all mutilated (wings with the worst clip job I have ever seen). I went instead to PetSmart. While I was there, I found 2 I fell in love with. Just after I had picked them out, another person had shown up to buy some budgies as well. The petsmart employee was just giving out so much dated wrong info, I had to step in. This guy would have left with a travel cage, and seeds with a few crappy plastic toys, and a mirror. I really wish pet stores had a little tablet in front of each species, you had to watch first before buying. That state minimum requirements for the species you are going to buy, along with optimal diet, and enrichment. They will never do that sadly, because they exist to make profits. Which I think is why they don't educate their employees at all about what they are selling. A lot of things in the parrot isle are dangerous or will cause behavioral issues. Main awesome thing for me is, I am autistic, I cant handle any smells at all. So no candles for me anyway lol. Rescue parrots range from very damaged, to just needing a new home because their owner moved, or died. I would never rule out visiting a rescue aviary. Properly ran rescue aviaries will NOT give inexperienced people parrots with serious behavioral issues. They do NOT want these birds back! So they will often hold them for a very long time till experienced owners come in. Everyone who is considering getting a parrot should visit on just for experience. It will give a person a really good idea of just how loud these creatures can get! Seeing pet stores put their parrots behind sound proof glass!!! I heard cockatoos are hardest because you cant really see their eyes to well, it is hard to read their body language. Seeing the eye pin can be helpful. Something you just cannot see in their eyes. I'd love to get one, cause I know they can be very clingy. I am disabled and home 24 / 7 anyway. So it would work well. Same time I am terrified I wont be able to read them. I would really love to work with a Quaker, or Caique next. Thank you for saying don't just watch a video and decide to get one. They take so much time and energy to keep. Even more so after you actually get one, and find out just how demanding they can be sometimes!!! People think cats have their owners trained, I think parrots train their owners even more lol! lol I am always paranoid when all my birds go quiet, means they are getting into something they shouldn't be sometimes :P Sorry if this was a bit long, but you know me, could talk forever about parrots lol.

My boyfriend said no to getting a cat or dog when we live together, but he did agree to birds, surprisingly. I’m not sure he knows what he’s getting himself into, but he gave me the okay, so here I am doing my research 😂 I owned a budgie and a cockatiel as a kid, but I was (obviously) very inexperienced, so I wanna make sure I do it right this time. Thanks for your helpful video!

Hi sophie, thought I'd mention im going to be a safe house for rescues, so excited xx

Thank you for all the information. I am not ready for a pet bird after all. I’ll just enjoy the ones in my garden 😄

very helpful and telling the truth you have covered everything thank you WELL DONE

Thank you for the refreshingly honest video. Really helped :)

Thanks for sharing!! I'm not interested getting a bird but I love learning more about them. They are wonderful animals but I already have my hands full with my high energy cattle dog, who has a crazy prey drive. I think I'm definitely one of those people that watches birds from a far. I love your birds! They are beautiful!❤ Maybe I'll volunteer at my local sanctuary to get more involved in bird care! 🤔

I love your channel! I just have a small bit of advice, I see a few long branches in Fish'N'Chip's cage, I would take them out and cut them in small pieces because this will allow them to fly in their cage too. I always thought that my conure didn't like to fly in their cages because I didn't give them the opportunity. When I took out the long branches going across the cage, my conure was so much more lively, he was flying from corner to corner!

Your voice, delivery and channel lovely 🌸✨

Hi! I really love what you and David do for the Parront community! Really helped when I took on my first parrot. I’m now ready to adopt a second, I know one one of your videos you mention a few charities you’d recommend adopting with. Which were they?

Ethical breeders is also really important! Adoption is also so important!!

Parrots are a perfect pet for me just ask my conure lol

Amazing video! Also 20 subs away from 1,000 I see you 😆 🎉 I’ve said this once and I will say it a million times, BUDGIES ARE UNDERRATED AND BADLY TREATED!! it is definitely a lifestyle change when you get a bird! Keep up the vids!

I love this video, I Have been feeding hummingbirds for several years and have tons of them around always. This has made me want a pet bird. BUT this video really made me come to my senses. Maybe someday Ill have a bird but it really seems not worth it if i want to provide a good life for the bird.

Keep going girl ❤️❤️

Very Helpful, thanks.

don't get a bird just because it's a "starter bird" or has easier care for you to practice on. get whatever species you have the most interest in!

Good informative video - well done 😉👍

Very helpful thank you

Awesome video!!

You definitely have to work with them and my hand fed baby wanted to be with me day one

That cowboy Bebop painting is so cool

My roommate is not ready for a furmate, but my health desperately needs a companion. I’ve never thought about birds until this morning. So I delved into research, and I’ve hit a wall. My roomie just got obsessed with candle making… he’s got them everywhere… 😢 I guess birds are no longer an option. Wish I had thought about it and realized that road block before I spent 4 hours falling in love with bird owning! Thank you for your video! You saved me and some beautiful birds life today! 😂❤😢

Thank you very much for all information 😊💚💚💚💚🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹👍👍👍👍☺🔥🔥🔥

Thank you. I am looking to get a bird soon. It’ll be my first time, and I want to be the best bird owner

I am 11 and I am doing so much reserve while saving it’s more then 4 grand so far and I’m nowhere near there. There’s so much I wouldn’t have thought you needed. I would love a blue and gold macaw because of this RU-vid channel but you need to do so much for it

Hi - This vlog's super helpful I have 10 canaries and they are lot's of work people say "They're not interactive much and they don't like toys they really only need 15 mins per day of you being there" It's really not true my canaries are trained and they love me and sometimes they would even try and groom themselves on me which is so adorable, Canaries DO like toys my canaries in particular prefers bigger toys then smaller toys because there's much more things they can explore E.c.t , I agree with you Sophie having something like an African grey I a not keen on either they are so cute e.c.t but there are multiple reasons I wouldn't really get them even though I have a bird store near me and they have loads of parrot's and they have an african grey who's so playful and love's human's and can also talk I want one so badly but looking after canaries are pretty much a lot of time goes into them never mind a African grey! Xxx

I am a housewife/mom with 4 children that goes to school. Have two dogs at home and we live at an appartement so we are researchen about the cockatiel, budgie and agapornis. Children are aged 12,11,6 and 4. I like to train tricks with my bird and talking a bit. wich do you say is good fit for us. I am mostly home at most 6 hours a day gone but not 6 hours all over the day spread out. hope to hear from you

I will probably get a budgie next.

I love capes or senagals altho cspes are also rare, not sure if they are endangered xx

my budgie's name is Pickle! Also thankyou for this video.

No non stick pan no candles, late night music 🎶! Me: searching up owning a lizards 🦎

I really want a bird. I've been doing so much research on every bird (I haven't asked my parents) but I'm too scared of getting a bird I can't handle. Also because I've been doing so much research I can pick up EVERYTHING anyone in my family ever did wrong with their bird! (Small cage, all seed diet, HUGE mirror ect.) And it's sad that when I tell them they just go "it's my bird not yours!"

Omg your almost at 1k!!!!

Sorry Sophie, i do have a question. I'd love to buy another hand reared Tiel, do you think I'd be able to introduce the new baby into Trudy's cage in time, so they share a cage. Thank you x

Although I am only 12 I am drawn to Hyacinth macaws, I relly do want one but I know I would be a bad owner and a good life for the macaw is more important than my dream pet. I even have it as my wallpaper.

Hello! Thanks for your video. Do you know what type of bird the green one is that’s sat on your hand and head throughout the video please? Xx

I agree for first time bird owners should go for a hand fed baby and I have a pineapple green cheek conure and she was a hand fed baby I had a rehomed cockatiel and it was the worse situation and it didn't work out knowing what I know now I feel rescues are for those with advanced parrot knowledge

Cockatiels have so many different facial expressions. My new tiel is pretty loud. He vocalize and whistles all day. He already learned to whistle my name. That was surprising. I was kinda shocked. So now when he wants my attention or calling me when I leave the room he whistles my name along with the standard call. It weird that he just picked it up.He is amazing. I have never heard him hiss.when I got him, 2 weeks ago , I think he was bullied. One side of his flight feathers were shorter so he stayed in the corner. Maybe he was just molting. Anyways I got him on my finger the same day and got him chatting. When I pick my bird I whistle and bring a harmonica. Almost all the various kinds of birds stop. Listen and then get happily excited. Especially the budgies. English budgies as well. Then I sorta let the bird pick me. I talk to my birds in whistles as well as English. They have whistle names as well as English names. I have Gene , Addie , Woop and Sammy which they respond to eagerly. It doesn't matter if I have them for a day or whatever. I guess they take the tone of the other birds. I never train them with treats. I just hand it to them. They love fresh grass seed , certain types of weeds , and small flowers. ( I pick them from my yard or seek them out. ) more than millet which a I will hang every other day. I give them fruits plus veggies. (They also love the mix with all that good stuff. Proteins , vitamins etc. ) The budgies now eat them following the tiel. example. One of my budgies even feeds the tiel and tries to bang its beak.. have been really lucky. There out all day with window perches and a faux tree. It's about 10 feet high and has like 10 various branches of various materials. It's 4ft by 6ft. in an extra room which I made my bedroom Althoughthere is a cage available they instead perch in the corner to sleep. There about 10 ft in the air. ( They can see.me which hopefully will lead to know night frights. My first cockatiel had one night fright on the first day but so far with my new tiel . )It kinda is there cage. Although some may say to avoid a fan I use one blowing air out the window.. I also have a filter , small heater and a humidifier. )It's a box fan that is bird safe. I think it's amazing how birds want to be our friends. It's a privilege. I enjoy and learn quite a bit from you. Especially the time that you and your birds need to spend together. Peoples time can be limited but I think you can never spend enough time with one another. Thankyouverymuch from l.a california

Last year I adopted my first bird, a budgie she was bonded me and she did pass away the same year. I am now ready to get another bird, however I am not sure what bird to get (cockatiel, conure (probably green cheek) or a peach face lovebird). I am worried I can’t give it the right attention, I am 13-16 (not saying cause- yeah-) and I do go to school 8-3 so. I’m not sure what would be best. I would really appreciate if someone could please help me:) Edit: I also have a cat so the bird would stay in my room, door closed 24/7 Ofc so the cat cannot get to the bird. I’m not sure if that’s a issue, only keeping the bird in my room?

Hi I really like the sun conure is it a good bird to be a pet for a newbie thanks 🙏

That cowboy bebop on the back❤

Hello! I'm a university student living alone away from home. I'd like to have a (generally) small sized parrot in my house! I'd like him/her to like getting petted and not making super disturbing sounds(cause I'm studying). Which one do you recommend? I've heard that female cockatiels are a good choice, and budgies are fine too(I've listened to them)

Have you worked with Pionus? And if so, how would you generalize their personality (laid back? Cuddly?) Thank you So much

I live in the US cockatiels where I live are about 400.00 dollars. Budgies are only 25-30, I see them on yard sale group posts all the time and craigslist where people are getting rid of them, its sad. I chose a cockatiel because I loved his personality and I have family members with kids that regularly come to my house. My cockatiel is a major chewer, so many people don't realize how destructive birds can be and think they are unmessy easy little pets lol.

What’s your opinion on Green cheek conures? I already have my baby Millie ( 1 yr old Green Cheek Conure ), do you think that it’s ok if I raise Mille with another baby conure? Or will there be too much jealousy, and fight too much? Someone I know bought a Conure a few weeks ago and found out that a conure is not for them. They know I have Millie, and asked if I would like to adopt their Conure. And all I’ve said so far is, I’ll think about it. Would it be ok if they were raised together?

I thought the cockatiels at my house would be lovely but they hiss at me and back away when I walk past them

Can you use unscented candles with birds? I am looking into being a parakeet owner but I use unscented candles a lot. I know the scents from air fresheners and incense are poisonous to them but what about unscented?

I think this is a great subject I could talk about this for hours I have a bit of a controversial opinion but as someone with lots of parrots from small to big I definitely think that little birds make better pets for most people especially first time bird owners I pretty much would honestly only recommend cockatiels to someone looking for a bird maybe a small conure if they seemed really knowledgeable I just don’t think anything can prepare most people for actually living with bigger birds even small birds like ringnecks seem to be too much for most people. both my ringnecks were re homed to me because the people couldn’t handle the screaming and a ringneck scream is nothing on a cockatoo or even Eclectus going off I also think the bigger birds are way too destructive for most people my small birds have put little chew marks in all the wooden items in my house eaten tons of phone charger and cases while my bigger birds have destroyed chairs eaten door rims chewed through mesh windows eaten phones and other appliances. and bigger bird bites are the worst give me an angry cockatiel any day over a female Eclectus who woke up on the wrong side of her perch I personally really like bigger bird species I find them fascinating but considering most of my past and present larger and even smaller to medium birds have been rescues I’d have to say I think the majority of people should stick to either no birds or do tons of research and then still get something small like a cockatiel then maybe if they can handle a cockatiel and think their ready to add to their flock get a bigger parrot

I’m looking for a decent sized bird. I’ve owned parakeets and cockatiels before but I’m ready for something a little bigger like an Indian ringneck or african grey but I also go to school and don’t have time to play with them and be around them all day, any suggestions ?

Hey idk if anyone will answer but I’ll still write, does anyone know what the best type of bird for someone who works 5+ hours a day I was considering a pair of cockatiels but idk

I want a bird but I definitely don’t want one now since I’m definitely not ready for a bird but it’s something I would like in the future

The best starter Bird is Pidgey ofcourse.

I got Maya for *7.99 U.S DOLLARS!!* She is so cheap which breaks my heart (not when I bought her tho 😭) budgies r so underrated which is so sad 😭

Hey there, I’m hoping you can help me. I’m sorry if you get a lot of these questions. I’m thinking about getting a cockatiel, my reason for only getting one is, I am home almost all the time. Only once a week am I gone for 5 hours and that’s it. I have all the time in the world to bond with this bird and train it. Would you say I should still get two? Also, how destructive would you say a cockatiel is? I have a pc in the room where the cage will go, as it is my living room. So I hope it doesn’t see my cables as snacks lol The bird will be able to fly out for as many hours as it’ll like. I don’t mind cleaning up and I don’t mind noise. Would you say a cockatiel sounds right for me? I’d love to hear your opinion 😊

Ringneck or a Quaker parrot which would you reccomend??

I wanted a pigeon and I did research first about it and now I don’t really know if I do want one

Hi I have 2 budgies and one of them has a problem with one of her tail feathers it's not in shape and it looks like it's gonna fall out but if I look some part of it is still attached to her tail should I be worried? plz help

I wk 12 hrs a day but I want a bird so bad. I had 2 cocktail birds one died with a bleeding feather.i took him to the vet gave him meds and he still died. The other use to hunch the perch a lot,I came home frm work n found him on his last breath so idk. I taught them both to speak as well

Less birds less noise they feed off each other as well I know I only have the one pineapple gcc but when im on the phone she competes with me and she wants attention as well she absolutely demands my time like im her dad for sure my parrot was 650 a pineapple cinimin green cheek conure hand fed baby from a breeder

Can you have 2 birds in same cage if the cage is a good cage ( cocktail)

HII so currently I am saving for a conure (not the bird itself just the cage and the other necessities) does anyone in the comment section have any tips for me so I can be as prepared as I can? :))

8:36 for info

Bubbles!

Honest question, cause I seriously want to know: wouldn't having an endangered species as a pet help their #s grow?

plzz make a video on how to desensitization a bird?

There is no such thing as a STARTER bird or BEGGINER bird because they are not like starter guitars or begginer guitar they are not objects you do not call a sphynx cat a begginer bird or a golden retriever a starter dog it just is weird

Im getting a pigeon :)

Birds as a whole aren't starter pets. If you want a certain bird you need to do research on the specific bird you want.

i prefer lovebird

This suddenly turned into pokémon.

Hi! I just watched this and I was slightly drawn to quakers as my starter bird, but I have mixed information via Google. I've seen a lot of people saying they're great birds and some saying they're not but I want to know some pros and cons to this particular parrot especially since I'm kinda drawn to quakers

They have 100% parrot safe an parrot tested safe wax melts am candles I would try the melts maybe but not the candles an in amy case they very expensive

Damn I bought a ring neck

The modern life style does not really correspond with pets that have such a long lifespan, today life is so rapidly changing that noone can really say where he/she will be in the next 5-10 years and additionally, people get so bored easily, poor parrots😢

There are no starter birds

Sigh... I guess I need to cross birds off the list. I have 2 autistic boys and have been wanting a pet for them but the hubby is allergic to everything. Maybe I just need to bring in a wild coyote, and watch my boys slowly beat the will to live out of it.

Hard disagree, if they are being captive bred endangered species should be kept as pets as much as possible. This way if they go extinct in the wild the species as a whole does not. Unless a breeding project is going to be taken up wild animals should stay in the wild. If making an animal more popular as a pet increases breeding efforts then more people will have them and thus more animals will exist. I think there are many better reasons to not get an African Grey or a Blue Throated Macaw but their endangered status is not one of them.

It's so annoying when people don't see budgies as proper parrots and just cheap, replaceable practice birds!

There's no starter bird