Hello can't make up mind

[Alika]

Originally Posted by Freedomoflight

I would look into a sennie tho- they are not too loud, and boy, once they start to talk you cant shut them up! They are sweeties too, and form a very strong bond with their human. We have sennnie owners on the board, I am sure they can give you advice...

I can't vouch for that! My sennie is sooooo noisy! Granted, he doesn't have half the volume of some other birds (sun conures and nandays come to mind!) of similar size, but his switch is constantly on, and it can get annoying. The cute whistles aren't so bad, but he is a screamer. He has bad separation anxiety, and will scream whenever I leave the house or if I leave a room for too long. As much as I know about training and parrot behavior, I haven't been able to 'fix' this, and have decided to just live with it. But as Monica said, a senegal scream grates on the nerves.

All the books say that poicephalus are supposed to be quiet, though. Maybe mine is just an exception.

I will say, though, that they have the tendency to overbond and be one-person birds. This really sucks, since it's something you have to battle with their entire lives. As a matter of fact, I'm quite convinced that this is a lot of the reason why mine is on his third (and hopefully last!) home. The overbonding thing IS in the books for poicephalus, so take it into serious account.

When I say overbonding, I don't just mean that my bird only likes me. He will literally fly at and attack my husband if the mood strikes him. Confident parrot people can handle him, but only with the understanding that they might at some point get bit for no conceivable reason at all.

I should also mention that they don't get along well with other pets. My sennie has tried to kill my 'zon, my cockatiel, my iguana, and my friend's pet chihuaha (however you spell it!).

The flip side is that they are very devoted to the one person they chose to bond to. I trust my bird as far as I'm concerned, and he'll let me do just about anything with/to him. I can also cuddle with him, which I love.

Sennies aren't known for their talking ability. Mine can say exactly one word: his name, which sounds all gravely. However, they are great at picking up sound effects, like the microwave beep and the telephone ring. Mine has picked up half a dozen since coming to live with me... all of which I accidentally taught him.

As far as which bird I think you should get, since the original option was quaker or cockatiel, I'd stick with a cockatiel. A tiel would fit nicely into your budget. They are often under appreciated for their popularity and size, but don't be fooled! Cockatiels are very big birds in very small bodies. Mine rules the coop. She has her own distinct personality and manages to express herself even though she only knows a solitary cockatiel whistle.

$400 is the perfect budget for a tiel. You can get a good bird, a nice sized cage, and spoil him rotten with toys for that amount. It will also allow you a preliminary vet visit, which is important.

[QuakerLover4ever]

Hmmm...I'm not sure about it. Hey you guys could someone describe how loud Sun Conures are and how quiet Senegals are? That would help alot.

Thanks,

Taylor

[Adi]

Sun Conures are normally amongst the loudest of all the conure family. When they decide to screech, then can definitely be deafening. The only way I can describe their ear-piercing call is that only few people would be ready and willing to put up with it. If you live in an appartment, definitely avoid them.

The best thing you can do is go to breeders and spend some time around their birds. Everyones description will be different, and you're the only one that will be able to properly describe how the noise is to you.

[Dustin]

Even though i Have a Quaker, And think they are an amazing bird, I agree with Alika when she said "$400 is the perfect budget for a tiel. You can get a good bird, a nice sized cage, and spoil him rotten with toys for that amount. It will also allow you a preliminary vet visit, which is important." Which is very good advice. Because if you buy a $400 bird you then have to buy a couple hundred dollar cage, toys, food, ect, and that does get expensive quickly! And everyone wants to spoil their bird!

[Mr Five]

Originally Posted by QuakerLover4ever

Hmmm...I'm not sure about it. Hey you guys could someone describe how loud Sun Conures are and how quiet Senegals are? That would help alot.

Thanks,

Taylor

Hello Taylor,

I've been reading this thread for a while now and would like to throw my 2 cents in here. I want to start off by saying that we have both a conure and a senegal. Both are adopted from the same home. We got the senegal about a month before the conure arrived. The senegal when he first arrived was somewhat quite. He would screech now and again but nothing that was to bad. It was loud and ear pearcing but not something that went on and on. Now this only happened when I would get out of his eye site. But if I was gone for a minute or more it would stop. I never would get him just because he would screech.

Now for the fun part, the loud conure. He's not a Sun or a Nanday or one they say are loud. He's a Gold Capped conure. One that is not supposed to be that loud. Well within 5 minutes of him being in the house we know he was there and so did everyone else. Mind you we breed lovebirds and have other birds in the house but it doesn't matter he drowns out everyone. It's funny though the screeching that the senegal does in exactly the same as the conure. Both in volume and tone. (I wonder where the senegal got the noise from)

Well as long as the conure and senegal are within eye site of each other and there are no humans in the room there is no noise at all. Both are allowed out of their cages so they spend their days going in and out do as they please. Please don't think that they are not supervised I work from home and will go into the other room once or twice an hour to make sure that things are going fine. Well in the afternoons when it's time for the veggies and seed changing that is when it starts to get loud. It's normally the conure that will start and then the senegal will fall in suit.

Now after telling you this please don't think that Senegals are all loud. After doing a lot of research and talking to breeders I was told that normally senegals are not loud. That they pick up the screaming, screeching from being around other parrots. That if you get a weened chick that comes from a breeder that it's birds are not screamers or screechers then you're more than likely to have a quieter bird. Granted all birds have their voices. But with out Senegal he will talk a lot more than he screeches or screams when he's not around the conure.

I hope that my input might be of some help for you.

Here's a link that might help you with all the prices and different parrot.

Prices and the different types of parrots

Mr. Five

[QuakerLover4ever]

Hello again everybody! I found a breeder that is in Seminole County a county over from me. They breed both so I'm going to check them out. Don't let that stop you though keep sending in your suggestions! Thanks guys again!

[JThw8]

More on sennies. They definitely do bond to a person. My sennie loved me and would do anything with me or for me. But he generally avoided wifeydear at all costs.

However I didnt find him to be adverse to other animals, he got along great with our Grey and our cat who was missing "her bird" maggie who he replaced. He and the cat never quite "bonded" like Maggie did with the cat, but they did get along well and liked to chatter at each other.

Also talking ability does vary by bird (in any species) My sennie could say Hello, Hello George, How was your day, 'nite 'nite love you, ricky go to your room and was working on other things so they can learn.

They can be noisy, as can any bird, but in relation to a sun conure or a cockatoo they are nothing. I guess my senses were dulled by working with 'toos because I never found him annoying. Noise is definitely the exception rather than the rule as most times he was quite quiet and pleasant.

Im certainly not saying dont look at other breeds as well, these are just my experiences with a sennie. Overall I think they are one of the most perfect birds especially as a first "larger" bird. Someday when the pain of the loss of my George has lessened I hope to have another.

[Christine9]

Well, if you are considering a sennie, but are worried about having a bird that will bond to just one person, maybe you should consider a Meyer's Parrot. They are related to sennies, but have the tendency to be more social. I almost got one myself recently, but ended up with a p'let. Here is a great site to get info on them http://www.avesint.com/mey.html

[Joel]

My vote also goes for a Meyers Parrot. Not the best talkers by far but great in all other categories.....I just love them.....I've kept many many of the different species of parrots out there, at one time or another, except for Pionus and Caiques (to name a couple) so those two I can't comment on. I have read & heard though that Caiques can be quite noisey??

[Rue]

...okay then...as part of my current informal survey searching for enlightenment about parrot choices...

...why AREN'T you considering a Pi???...

I'd love to have an honest answer...because I really want to know...you won't hurt my feelings at all...so go ahead...: