Need advice on selecting a bird

[Stasia]

I would just like to suggest that if you are able to find a bird rescue/shelter (or even an accomodating pet store) near your area- that you spend some time around the larger birds if you don't have a lot of experience with them already. A bird rescue is a great place to volunteer and help the birds while gaining experience for yourself at the same time...it really helps you get a better feel for all different types of birds. For example- I always thought that I would be interested in one of the really large birds- such as a macaw or cockatoo- but during my volunteer experience I realized that I am unfortunately just not comfortable handling that size of a bird- no bigger than a grey for me! In my case, even though I adore the larger birds and try to hide my fear of those huge beaks- I could never lose my jumpiness around them- and that isn't fair to me or the bird to force anything as long as I have that hesitation. But it is important to find that out first before you suddenly have a bird you could be frightened of handling in your home. Good luck!!