Small bird owners if you could...

[guest1717171]

the dude is nippy but i can tell when he is about to try and bite a little too hard and usually can prevent it
he just gets excited. i think hahn's are absolutely amazing little birds. if you want a small bird with a BIG bird personality, i would say get a hahn's

[Izzy]

Sweety was my first cockatiel. I got her when she was a year old, and have had her for almost 3 years now. Last spring she laid a clutch of 3 eggs, then another clutch of 3 this fall. Nothing chronic. To stop her, I avoid petting her on the back. The first time, I switched her to an all pelleted diet, which stopped her egg laying. She is now on 50:50 diet of seeds with pellets and doing fine. She has a seperate sleeping cage where she gets 10-12 hours of sleep a night. She is fully flighted. I can tell when shes getting into breeding mode because she has this specific chirp that she makes when mating. When I hear this, I will totally rearrange her cage - moving the perches and changing out the toys. This is usually enough to stop her. Also, when she does lay eggs, I always leave them with her. Taking them out can actually encourage more laying (like how chickens lay eggs every day because we take away their eggs!).

Zasu is my most recent addition. She's an 8-year-old female. She has never laid eggs according to her previous owner, and hasn't shown an inclination to do so here either.

I hope this helps!

[Izzy]

Oh I forgot to add, my meyers is an AWESOME bird and not nippy at all. But I can't take any credit for it since I only got her last year. Someone definitely raised her right, but I have met aggressive meyers. Of the poicephalus though, I hear meyers and brown headed parrots are the calmest and sweetest, so you should look into them too.

[tielfan]

Cockatiels are one of the best in terms of gentleness, but they seem to be less toy oriented than a lot of other species. They certainly enjoy tearing things up but don't show a lot of interest in nondestructible toys (unless it's a mirror lol). Cockatiels are playful but they're not generally described as a high-activity species (nobody told this to Shodu!) and there are other species who surpass them in this department.

One activity that my tiels DO enjoy is picking up small "foot toy" type objects and dropping them off the top of the cage. If I happen to be changing the cage paper at the time I'm likely to get bonked in the head.

[Eliza]

Originally Posted by MaryG1959

A Director of a large rescue told me he recommends cockatiels. They are sweet, very active and every bit a "Large bird" in a compact body.

Agreed -- cockatiels are wonderful.

Lovebirds, parrotlets, budgerigars and lineolated parakeets are also species to consider.

Any species of parrot can be nippy. Gentle handling and positive reinforcement go a long way to help in that regard.

My lovebird never bit me but he did get a bit beaky: he liked to take my finger between his beak and rub his tongue on me. But he never clamped down on me.

[PyscoFalcon]

Depends how small you mean by small?
Most of the above I would say are medium sized birds.

Small birds I would class as budgies, lovebirds,parrotlet - those types :)
Budgies are very active and love toys in there young days.

[Astrid660]

Indian Ringnecks are really playful! Quakers are a big bird in a small package... Cockatiels are very sweet (and playful!) .. there are many small birds that have tons of personality and are active.

[lovesbudgies]

I would say a budgie. i have a budgie and she is very gentle and loves to play with her toys all day long, and is very active.

[Wilder]

Parrotlets are real characters but they are also nippy. They are fearless and do NOT hold back from trying to tangle with anything that gets in their way -- and from their point of view, everything gets in their way.

That's not to say they aren't sweet when they want to be, and they are certainly cute. But if you want something small and gentle, I'd go for a lineolated parakeet. If you want a four inch high toddler to cater to, who likes to bite and stomp his feet, get the parrotlet.

[Addicted to Tequila]

GCCs are not that different in size to a Lovie... or is mine stunted somehow? LOL