Living vicariously through you all for the time being

[sugarbeth]

Hi all, my name's Beth and I live near Seattle, WA. I'm a former research scientist, now "just" a stay-at-home mom of two (3 and 6 years old). My daughter has been doing lots of chores and saving her money because she wants a budgie. I imagine she'll have enough in a few more weeks. She's already collected enough for the cage and food, etc., just needs the bird now.

I had a budgie when I was a kid too. His name was Perky and he lived to be 11. I know my mom ended up doing a lot of the caretaking for him, so now it's my turn to do that for my own daughter when she's slacking. :) He was a great little bird.

Anyhoo, all the gearing up for our new family member has made me remember how much I've always wanted one of the bigger birds. And it dawned on me that I'm in a pretty good position to get one now. I'm home most of the day, and once both my kids are in school, it'd be nice to have some company. Eventually I'll be working from home (making ceramic tile) and having someone to chat with would be nice while I'm working. We have the space, we have the money, we have the time, and we're all crafty over here, so any bird would have an endless supply of homemade toys.

So I've been reading, reading, reading. I'm definitely leaning towards one of the african greys - I think it's my science background - I'd love to see what one is capable of firsthand, and I can totally see myself coming up with challenges for him/her. I'm no stranger to mischief - I have a young son, and tons of patience. lol I think it'd be a good fit.

Oh, I've also volunteered for a summer at the local wildlife shelter feeding the baby birds. That was the coolest job! Totally have a special place in my corvids (baby crows are so very sweet), but I'm happy just watching the ones in my yard.

I'm a bird person without a bird. Soon we'll have a budgie for my daughter, and then I'll start thinking about a bird for me. We're going to be doing some remodeling and I want to wait until that is all done. But I still look! I definitely would prefer to take in a bird that needs a home rather than a baby. I wouldn't mind if they were a little ornery - I work well with ornery. :)

Someday...someday. Just wanted to introduce myself if you see me lurking. I'll be visiting a lot! If anyone is in my area and can point me to bird clubs, etc., it'd be nice to meet some bird people in person and I can get the real scoop.

[bkmaurer]

Hi Sugarbeth! My name is Bonnie and I have 4 spoiled quakers, 2 blue and 2 green and 7 lovies! I was a breeder for many years, now I just give them away. LOL. Nice to see you on! I hope you post some pics of your budgie when you get him/her. I want one also, but I have to remind myself that I am keeping it down for now. I have 3 huge cages for my fids. I have my lovebirds in a huge aviary. Which I love. I just can't wait for spring to take them all outside!

[Courtzrocks]

Welcome Beth! Arent crows awesome! They have to be one of the smartest birds if not the smartest. Looking forward to seeing your "daughters" budgie lol. And any other fids that enter your life in the future.

[sugarbeth]

Thanks for the welcomes! I found more typos in my post, but I just found out about the 15 minutes for editing thing - lol!

Courtzrocks, I could go on and on about crows. My first house was right across the street from a city park and I befriended a lot of the crows that lived there. I've witnessed several crow "funerals" which are really amazing to see. Definitely some high intelligence at work there.

[Courtzrocks]

Yeah my mums friend had a baby crow she raised to release and he was so smart, he would come back every day for food and would tease her flying foxes and dogs, was so funny...we barely ever see a dead crow on the road. I think they are gorgeous, i love when they have piercing blue eyes upon the shiney black feathers. I know alot of people hate them but i think they are really beautiful..they may not have the colours like the other parrots but they make up for it with their intelligence.

[catschair]

[abnmojo]

Hi there. When I first started (years and years ago) looking at the bird "for me", I was taken with the big white cockatoos and african greys do their reputation as "super smart" birds.

however, after much reading and soul searching I found that both would not be the bird for me, for various reasons.

The reason I responded to your post is that I would suggest a Hahn's Macaw - this is probably one of the MOST under-rated, under appreciated birds out there. My Trixie is less than a year old and has learned numerous tricks (and I am no master trainer at all, I am not all that good at it - she seems to pick up what I am trying to get her to do by osmosis) and talks and talks and talks and sometimes won't shut up. All this in a smaller package, which has its benifits when Trixie shows her stubborn side. If you have never had a 'bigger' (grey, cockatoos, amazons) bird, I would suggest something smaller first. Also, pound for pound, nothing beats a conure for personality, but tricks and talking are not their thing. They pretty much do whatever they want, and a very rough voice only I can understand. Some are loud and 'bigger' (sun, nanday, etc) others smaller and 'quieter' like green-cheeks and their family members. All have HUGE personalities you probably could not handle in a african grey size bird.

Seriously, look into these cool little macaws, I think you will be impressed.

[Courtzrocks]

Alex's are underrated too. We have a lady over here who does a show with her alex's. It's crazy cool but can go wrong if they dont want to do it lol cos she doesnt force them to do anything if they dont want to lol. But really just research lots of different birds as i did. Although I do love the green cheek conures they are a smaller bird though.

[Lisa B]

[Valo's Moirana]

welcome to BB