[Glenn]

I just went through the task of helping my 12 year old nephew to purchase a "next step" bird... he has had a budgie for a few years and has been diligently saving for another bird... so I found out what birds were available at the pet store I shop at & then listed out for him all the pros & cons of each... I included size, general personality, speach abilities, personality, general noise levels, dietary needs... the list included cockatiel, lovebird, quaker, indian ringneck, conure (sun & nanday), lorikeets & regent parrot... not that I would secifically recommend some of those birds for the house environment they have (like I would never say get a conure - simply becuase with him being a child he will be at school & sports & playing with friends and the conure would end up being very noisy due to lack of attention, and I made sure to note that down in the list I gave him)... anyway the point is that after looking over the list he then was able to choose a bird the HE felt was right... guess what, he initially saw the Regent Parrot and went "I want THAT!!!" I told him that we were going to the shop in 2 days and in that time he was to look at the list and think hard... the next day he announced I choose 2 lovebirds.... Why? Not because they were "throw away", but becuase they are the right "size" and the right "personality" and they didn't need special care & attention levels...
These smaller birds are not "throw away" they are more simply smaller birds for smaller people... IMO