Early last year, Barbara Heidenreich was nice enough to offer readers of Best in Flock a free e-copy of her wonderful Good Bird Magazine. She redesigned her site recently and not only is she continuing to offer a free digital sample to followers of this blog, but she’s offering a newer issue. So even if you took advantage of the offer previously, you can now follow the updated link here to grab another free sample.
If you’ve never seen Good Bird Magazine, you’ll be impressed with the sheer volume of great info on parrot behavior and parrot training in each issue. Please check it out, and if you like it, be sure to subscribe to the print magazine.
To grab your copy of this free digital sample of GoodBird, please visit my previous post and follow the instructions on how to request your copy.
I have to admit that one of the best byproducts of sharing my life with parrots, and starting this blog, is the relationships I’ve been able to build with other bird lovers. One of the people who I’ve been particularly happy to “meet” is Rebecca O’Connor, who writes the Heckled by Parrots blog and is probably best known to parrot owners as the author of the acclaimed book: A Parrot for Life: Raising and Training the Perfect Parrot Companion.
So when Rebecca sent me a review copy of her new memoir LIFT, I was beyond thrilled. Not only do I love books about birds, but I love books.
It turns out that her African Grey parrot only makes very brief appearances in LIFT, but I barely minded. You see, LIFT is an incredibly moving memoir combining wonderful story-telling with strong, personal writing. In fact, it’s so personal that I find it really difficult to write about it in any detail – this isn’t the kind of book that is well served by a plot summary.
It’s about falconry, but it’s not about falconry. It’s also about being a woman, having faults, learning to forgive, learning to trust and coming to grips with one’s past.
The author’s relationship with the bird is an allegory, as Rebecca learns to fly her peregrine and learns to let go of old hurts and inner demons; but it’s not just an allegory. For those who want more than introspection, there’s enough detail and building anticipation to really get you interested in the world of falconry. There were a few falconry terms and concepts here and there that could have been explained more clearly to a non-falconer myself, but overall I definitely enjoyed this glimpse into a world I never gave much thought before.
(As a bird owner myself, the passages where O’Connor describes losing and subsequently chasing her falcon across the landscape was particularly unnerving.)
O’Connor does an excellent job building tension, releasing it just a little at a time as her story of working with her first peregrine unfolds … all the while you can almost imagine yourself as a falcon chasing a lure, following it as the author spins it away from you again and again, until its time to resolve the conflict and you can devour your prize.
This is a book that can appeal to men, women, falconers, bird lovers, anyone who’s ever struggled to overcome a difficult childhood, anyone who’s ever struggled to master a new challenge, and people who like being afforded a glimpse into someone else’s life and passion. I finished this book in two long sittings — reading late, late into the night, much to the detriment of my functioning the next day. It was just that hard to put down.
In other words, I enjoyed LIFT and think my readers may too. Get LIFT at Amazon
Sally Blanchard’s Companion Parrot Magazine, Issue #72, is available as a FREE download. This 62-page, full-color online issue is chock-full of information, stories and pictures dedicated to the topic of parrot playtime.
When I started this blog, I added a bunch of links to my sidebar in order to share other great parrot resources. Since then I’ve added a few links here and there, but quite a few more parrot blogs have either sprung up in the mean time or come to my attention; and quite a few others seem to have fallen inactive or been pulled down.
So it’s time to update the Best in Flock blogroll – I’ll be going through my links and evaluating the bird blogs I already know about, but would love some input from the community on other parrot sites I should consider. I’ll also be dropping a bunch of links – so if you think I should keep something, make sure to let me know.
What I’m looking for in blogroll suggestions:
The blog is primarily/exclusively about (or “by”) parrots.
Blog should be at least several months old. This will help weed out that huge percentage of blogs that gets started and abandoned almost immediately.
Blog should be currently active and updated at least once or twice a month.
Here’s what I probably won’t link to:
Blogs that offer what I consider to be bad advice or poor examples of how to care for a companion animal.
Blogs that may mention parrots every once in a while but aren’t primarily about birds.
Thin affiliate blogs whose sole purpose is peddling crappy parrot training DVDs. These are a dime a dozen, offering nothing original, and very often written by the owners of said DVD program and/or people who don’t even appear to have parrots, but create blogs with recycled content and fake testimonials in hopes of making a quick buck off of affiliate commissions.
I do consider the blogroll to be my recommendations (aka, a de facto quasi-endorsement to a small degree), so I think it’s important to have these criteria — I’m not trying to be snobby or judgmental, just making sure I only link to the best stuff. (The blog doesn’t need to be “professional looking” or self-hosted – it’s the content I care about.)
So, what’s your favorite parrot blog? Who do you read?
Here are some of my (new and old) favorites to inspire your creative juices:
I’ve probably mentioned that I recently read Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, a book that popularized clicker training among pet owners in the United States, and which spawned a whole industry — including clicker training books like Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson, which talks specifically about how to train parrots.
Since I just reviewed that clicker training book on this site, I decided to post my book review of Don’t Shoot the Dog to PetKnows.com, where I thought the topic could appeal to a broader (read: non-bird) audience.
But if you already own Clicker Training for Birds and want to get a broader understanding of the clicker training philosophy or just want to know what inspired Melinda Johnson’s how-to guide for birds, please check out my latest post on PetKnows: Don’t Shoot the Dog – Book Review.
Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson is my bible for anything related to parrot ownership, including taming or training my parrots. If you read my blog or read the Bird Board forum, you’ll notice that I mention it frequently — both to people who have problems with their birds (e.g. “my bird bites me”, “how do I teach my bird not to scream so much”, “my new parrot is scared of me”) as well as bird owners who have great relationships with their pets and are interested in teaching their parrots to do some cool tricks to show off.
Can clicker training solve every parrot problem? No. But it’s a fantastic place to start. And I bet it’ll help way more than you expect it to. Can I guarantee your bird will be the next Alex the African Grey? Probably not. But you and your bird will have a ton of fun learning and impressing everyone with what he can learn.
Clicker Training My First Bird
I belonged to the former camp when I discovered the concept of clicker training birds. In the summer of 2007 I adopted a sun conure from the local animal shelter. The name I chose for him was Stewie, after the Family Guy character because that Stewie was also a misanthrope who especially hated his mom. But as a baby, no one could understand what Stewie was saying so they all thought he was just being cute and babbling when he was really saying “Louis must die!!” and plotting her demise.
That’s what I thought my little orange ball of feathers was thinking about me.
After several months of trying to make friends with a bird who enjoyed nothing more than biting me, I started doing research on taming an unfriendly parrot and stumbled across the Bird Click group, moderated by Melinda Johnson.
There I learned that clicker training is a great way to improve your relationship with your bird because it teaches you to communicate with your parrot, so I gave it a try. The process of training helped me to tame Stewie by building trust. I showed him that I was the source of yummy treats and that it wasn’t that hard for him to manipulate me into giving them to him. Because of the training he eventually stopped biting. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen faster than I thought it would.
Today, Stewie still has a nippy moment every now and then but he’s no longer out for blood. He’s an affectionate bird who enjoys hanging out on my shoulder, preening my face or trying to climb into my shirt.
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Check out the Clicker Training for Birds Starter Kit:
Clicker Training for Birds, 150 page book of complete training and care
i-Click Bird Clicker
Target Stick
Sample Treats
Or just click on the banner and browse the site to buy any of the items individually or check out related bird clicker training resources.
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The Best Book for Training Birds
The thing to understand about Melinda Johnson’s Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds is that it doesn’t focus on step-by-step guides to individual tricks. Clicker training, as I see it, isn’t really about the tricks. It’s about learning a common language, about teaching trust, about establishing a rapport, about learning how to teach and learning how to learn. One Amazon reviewer only gave the book a so-so review saying:
“This book is mostly about behavior in parrots. There is a lot of good information on that subject but not enough on the clicker training which is the reason I bought the book. Still, there’s enough to give you the idea of how and why it works to make it worthwhile reading. What I would rather have seen is a book that concentrated on just the clicker training aspect.”
But I think this review misses the point of the book. It’s not a cook book with a bunch of recipes to follow. Melinda Johnson’s approach is about learning how to train your bird as much as it’s about your bird learning how to learn. A book that only focuses on the step-by-step of how to teach a particular trick, might show you how to teach that one trick… and then you have a bird who might know one trick. But a book that explains the whys and hows of positive reinforcement training and the principles of training, gives you the resources you need to teach any trick you can think of and a parrot who understands the joys and rewards of figuring out what you want, and then trying different ways to please you.
Chapter 1: Clicker Training Is for the Birds! explains that training can add “a special dimension to a bird’s life” because birds in captivity tend not to have use their minds the way their wild counterparts do. Training stimulates their creativity and resourcefulness. When they figure out that you’re trying to communicate and play with them in new ways, it sets the foundation for a great new, multi-dimensional relationship. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of what “clicker training” is, the role of the clicker, why this type of training works so well, what types of birds can be trained, what kinds of tricks can be taught and who makes a good clicker trainer (hint: it’s you!) From there, we go backwards a bit to set a foundation to make sure you and your birds are set up for success.
Chapter 2: Birdie Basics explains the importance of diet, exercise, sleep, lighting, parrot health, wing trimming, and toys.
Chapter 3: Getting Ready covers things like when you should start training, how you train multiple birds, where to train, how to train cage-bound or aggressive birds, how long training sessions last and who makes a good parrot trainer (hint: it’s you!)
Chapter 4: How Learning Takes Place is, in my opinion, the money chapter. This is where Melinda introduces concepts like classical and operant conditioning (and explains positive reinforcement, punishment and non-consequence). You learn the purpose of an “extinction burst”. You learn why punishment is not effective at behavior modification — not just that you shouldn’t use punishment, but why it doesn’t really work. Basic concepts like dominance, flooding, systematic desensitization and the “ABCs of behavior” are also discussed. If you understand how learning happens, you’re already armed with some amazing relationship-changing tools.
Chapter 5: Treats is about… you guess it: treats! What’s a good training treat, what’s not, how do you deliver a treat reward, what’s the difference between a bribe and a treat, using praise, how to work with a bird who doesn’t want treats, etc.
Chapter 6: All About the Clicker explains everything there is to know about the device that makes the clicking sound. What is a clicker, how does it work, why does a clicker work better than no clicker, why is timing important and how can I improve mine, when do you click, what do you do afterward, and lots of other clicker FAQs.
Chapter 7: Clicker Training Basics is about putting into practice what we learned in earlier chapters. It helps you create your training plan and goes into specifics of how to train: capturing a behavior, modeling a behavior, luring, shaping/refining behavior. It gives specific examples of how to chain a behavior. We also learn about begging in this chapter, how to deal with blocks, learning how to observe carefully and, importantly, how to deal with unwanted behaviors.
Chapter 8: Prop Behaviors is where we get into the nitty gritty of teaching specific behaviors. Start inside the cage if you have a cage-bound or aggressive parrot or outside if you have a friendly bird. Either way, you should start with targeting to a target stick. Chapter 8 teaches you how to do that. The book then covers various aspects of stepping up (that’s right, step up isn’t the first trick to teach) and gives some suggestions on half a dozen or so prop behaviors you can start with. At this point, it’s pretty much up to you to teach whatever you’re comfortable with – the book gives some tips on how to start. Find parrot training props here.
Chapter 9: Non-Prop Behaviors goes into a lot of fun tricks that don’t require props or toys. Ever want to teach a bird to dance on cue, take a bow, nod, flap, wave, shake hands or roll over and play dead? These are things you can learn in Chapter 9.
Chapter 10: Star-Spangled Manners answers questions like: how can I get my bird to go back in his cage? How do I potty train my parrot? How can I get my birds to stop chewing on my furniture or encourage them to stay on their playgym? Can I teach my parrot to enjoy showers? Come to me when I call? Stop using foul language? How can I get my bird to cooperate with a wing trim or nail clip? How do I teach my bird to accept a harness? Take medicine from a syringe? In other words, how can I teach my bird to behave? By now, at this point in the book, you probably already have some ideas about how reinforcement works – it’s just time to apply it.
Chapter 11: Screaming: The Call of the Wild. Birds vocalize to communicate and express themselves. This chapter talks a bit about parrot vocalization to put everything into perspective and gives some tips and tools for curbing and coping with yelling. How to stop a screaming parrot isn’t really a major focus of this book, but luckily there are plenty of other resources on the Web that teach you how to curb excessive screaming.
Chapter 12: To Chomp, Or Not to Chomp discusses biting and what you can do about it. The first trick to discourage your bird from biting is — ready for this? — to not get bitten. First and foremost Avoid the Bite! That’s right, avoid getting bitten. You’ll notice this runs counter to a lot of advice you find on the web, which says to “ignore the bite.” When I first learned about avoiding the bite (and how counterproductive ignoring the bite really is) in the Bird Click group, it was the most profound and best advice I’ve ever gotten.
In this section of Melinda Johnson’s book, we also learn how to discourage biting before it becomes a problem (among young birds), how to give your words meaning, dealing with learned aggression. We learn why we need to observe body language, how to change motivation, about height dominance, laddering, shouldering, fear, cage possessiveness and how to get creative.
Chapter 13: ‘Fraidy Birds discusses how to clicker train phobic birds and gives an example in Melinda’s own life dealing with an extremely fearful Goffins. The concept of systematic desensitization (covered in chapter 4) is detailed in practice as the author explains step by step how she got her Goffins to slowly accept and then welcome her. We also learn how we need to change how we approach a scared bird to earn its trust, how to build confidence, the importance of cage placement, how to educate family members about respecting the bird’s space, the effects illness can have, fear of falling and more.
Chapter 14: Resources is a short chapter with some additional resources for clicker training birds, including the Bird Click Yahoo group. Too bad this site here isn’t on that list!
Silly Parrot Tricks
I started clicker training with Stewie over a year ago and it has been an amazing journey. I’ve learned so much and I feel like I’m doing better by my birds because of it.
Today, between the two of them, my birds know several tricks, including prop tricks: targeting to a target stick, how to fetch various objects, put a ball in a cup, deposit coins in a piggy bank, fit a puzzle piece into a slot, put rings on a peg. And perform non-prop tricks on cue, such as: step-up, wave, turn, flighted recall, wings up. Best of all, I think they are much happier and smarter birds because of the mental stimulation they get.
Other cool bird tricks you can teach include: basketball, bowling, flighted retrieve, obstacle courses, play dead, roll over, potty training, nodding yes on cue, riding a scooter, and on and on. The list is practically endless, limited only by your imagination and your parrot’s physical limitations. All these things can be relatively easily with clicker training.
What are you waiting for? Resolve to improve your relationship with your birds by teaching them some fun tricks (or just interact with them more). Buy Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds from the publisher (Karen Pryor, the clicker training guru) or from Amazon.
I recently read Irene Pepperberg’s book about her life with Alex the world famous African Grey, who could identify colors, quantities, materials, shapes and use language in astonishing context. Alex, and the work he did with Dr. Pepperberg, completely changed the way scientists perceived parrot intelligence. The full title of the book is Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence — and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process, which gives you a clue that this book is more than just a story of a scientist and her study subject.
Anyone with an interest in parrots knows Alex and the incredible contributions he made to the understanding of parrots… and that he touched all of us when he died in the fall of 2007. So it should come as no surprise that a story written in the wake of his loss is going to be touching and sad — and indeed, the opening chapter had me bawling — but it’s also uplifting and at times funny.
Chapter 1: My Wonderful Life Moment
The book begins: “How much impact could a one-pound ball of feathers have on the world? It took death for me to find out.” The opening sets the stage describing Dr. Pepperberg’s relationship with Alex, who was never quite a pet, never only a scientific subject to her… as well as the world’s fascination with the most famous African Grey who ever lived. His obituary was run in mainstream media that would never dream of eulogizing an “ordinary” animal, but Alex was anything but ordinary. The coverage of his passing showed that he truly touched everyone who knew of him.
I found it fascinating and touching, how Dr. Pepperberg admits that in her 31 years she struggled with maintaining some level of emotional distance in order to stay objective. This isn’t a criticism… when I say that Alex was never really a “pet” that doesn’t mean that I think he wasn’t loved (he clearly was) or that he didn’t have a full and fun life. He had a better life than most “pets”, especially in a time when the average bird owner didn’t know very much about parrots and their needs
Chapter 2: Beginnings
As much as I had read about Alex, I honestly didn’t know anything about Irene Pepperberg. Chapter 2 of Alex and Me tells the story of Dr. Pepperberg’s first experiences with birds as a child, as well as her childhood growing up and her relationship with her parents. She lays herself pretty bare on a subject that she didn’t need to be as forthcoming about (i.e. her relationship with her parents) considering that the book is about Alex, but it explains a lot about her personality and approach to relationships. I am grateful for her honesty about such a personal subject because it does shed a lot of interesting light into her relationships with her parrots later on. The second chapter is not only about the beginnings of her interest in parrots but also the beginning of her career in avian learning. (What was most interesting was that the “Dr” in her title referred to a PhD in Chemistry, not any sort of behavioral or biological sciences.)
Chapter 3: Alex’s First Labels
The third chapter of Alex and Me is where we start learning about Dr. Pepperberg’s training method and get a glimpse into the very beginning of Alex’s path to stardom. The first label that she began to teach Alex was “paper” and she began to teach him to link the label (word) with the object. She did this using social context and a “rival” — a method she had researched earlier in her academic career. It wasn’t long before Alex asked for the object using the label (although his pronunciation needed some work). Early on there were steps forward and some roadblocks, but the more confident he became the more he trusted Dr. Pepperberg and the more progress they made together. Soon, in addition to “paper” Alex learned “key”, “wood” and a variety of new labels by watching Irene and the “rival” interact and use words in context. There was little doubt in Dr. Pepperberg’s mind that Alex understood that words meant specific things and that he wasn’t just mimicking:
Give him a banana when he’d asked for a grape, and you were likely to end up wearing the banana. Alex was not subtle…. I had wanted him to learn labels, and to express his wants. I guess I had succeeded.
But despite exciting advances, Dr. Pepperberg constantly struggled with getting respect… and funding… for her work.
Chapter 4: Alex and Me, Vagabonds
As fascinating as the field of animal language are to me, and no doubt to parrot lovers everywhere, at this time (the late 1970s/early 1980s) there was little scientific interest in Alex’s work as far the major scientific publications were concerned. Dr. Pepperberg wasn’t targeting publications like BirdTalk after all; she was looking to get published in serious scientific academic journals and there was little precedent for the work she was doing. Chapter 4 of Alex and Me starts by describing the controversy of ascribing “language” to animals since language was often held to be “a defining character of what separates ‘us’ (humans) from ‘them’ (all other creatures).” In this chapter we also get some context of the time, with insights into simian (ape) language studies happening at the time.
It’s also the chapter where he says “I love you” for the first time. Which leads Dr. Pepperberg to say (in a way that neatly sums up the overarching theme of Alex & Me):
… from the very start of The Alex Project I had determined that my professional approach would be rigorous in training and in testing my Grey. I had come from the so-called hard sciences, after all. I needed my data to be unimpeachable, to meet high standards of credibility. I wouldn’t let emotion cloud my judgment. I wouldn’t get too attached. My experience at the Clever Hans Battle made me even more determined to maintain as much of an emotional barrier as was feasible between Alex and me in order to keep that credibility intact, no matter how hard it would be. And it was hard.
Chapter 5: What’s a Banerry?
What’s a banerry? It’s a lexical elision of the words “banana” and “cherry”. It’s also a hilarious anecdote of Alex creating a new word to describe “apple” and trying to teach it to Dr. Pepperberg and her students. The more they tried to teach him “apple” the more insistent he became about “banerry” being the correct label for this big red, round thing that looked a bit like a cherry but was yellow on the inside.
By this time, Alex was getting a lot of press for being able to identify objects, colors, shapes, sameness/differences, etc, but Dr. Pepperberg’s struggles to be recognized as a scientist and to get funding continued. And then Alex got sick with aspergillosis, a sometimes deadly fungal disease. One of the most touching Alex anecdotes, for me at least, is when he has to stay overnight at the vet’s office and as Irene turns to leave he says plaintively “I’m sorry. Come here. Wanna go back”. Those parrots sure know how to tug at your heartstrings.
Chapter 6: Alex and Friends
In this chapter Dr. Pepperberg starts exploring different training variations, including use of audio and video tapes, but it was clear that the model/rival technique was more effective than anything. In other words, social interaction and context are key to learning to communicate. Dr. Pepperberg’s earliest theory was confirmed! We also learn about some of the other African Greys that became part of the project — and how Alex would like to correct them if they got their lessons wrong and admonish them to pronounce their words more clearly. Alex also begins to demonstrate a sense of humor and slight rascally temperament, when he purposefully gives wrong answers to frustrate the researchers, but then calls them back with an apology and the right answer when they turn to leave.
Chapter 7: Alex Goes High Tech
At this point in the book we’ve made it all the way to 2000, and Alex is surfing the Web (!) and learning phenomes, which leads to one of the most astounding anecdotes of Alex demonstrating learning that wasn’t explicitly taught. In this story, Dr. Pepperberg is working with Alex in front of some important visitors demonstrating that he can sound out letters. After each correct answer he insists “Want a nut.” Because they are under time constraints, Pepperberg keeps telling him to wait, that he would get a nut later. Finally Alex gets frustrated and demands “Want a nut. Nnn…uh… tuh.” The thing is, he had never been taught to sound out words, only individual letters.
In Chapter 8, Alex the Grey again breaks new ground by getting Pepperberg to ask him a “trick question” and demonstrating that he understands the concept of “none”. Alex was being asked to identify the color of various groupings of blocks. When asked “what color three?” he kept answering “five” when there wasn’t even a grouping of five blocks (and he obviously knew that five wasn’t a color). After repeating the question and getting the same answer several times, Dr. Pepperberg said “ok, smartypants. What color five?” and Alex answered “none.” He was using “none” to indicate the absence of a series of five blocks… in other words, none meant “such a thing does not exist”. Zero is a highly abstract and complex concept, something that small children don’t grasp… so for a bird to teach it to himself (sort of) was truly groundbreaking.
Where could you possible go from there? From here, Alex’s work with numbers starts getting pretty sophisticated. In addition to mathematical addition, Pepperberg teaches him numeric equivalence (showing him Arabic numerals and a number of blocks and asking him which was the bigger “number” — not in terms of physical size but in terms of value) which he gets correct; showing that his concept of numbers is more sophisticated than that of chimpanzees similarly trained. Dr. Pepperberg is ecstatic about the boundaries Alex is pushing and the work they have ahead of them.
Then, prematurely, in 2007, Alex dies. His last words to her were “You be good. I love you.”
Conclusion
Dr. Pepperberg’s work was scientific, but her story is absolutely accessible and relevant to any of us, whether we’re interested in linguistics or not, whether we love parrots or not, whether we believe birds are “smarter than children” or whether we think that’s taking the conclusions too far. There’s no denying that Alex had a profound impact on our understanding of animal intelligence and our appreciation of the parrots in our lives. Is the book Alex and Me a literary masterpiece? Of course not. It’s a memoir, a little thin in some places, but there is no other story out there like it. Alex was one of a kind, and Dr. Pepperberg’s story is one I would recommend to anyone. It is thought provoking, touching, funny, sweet and tragic.
Go Buy This Book! Seriously, I mean it. If you read this blog, it means you’re interested in understanding your parrot better, and you’ll love Dr. Pepperberg’s memoir.
Very broadly speaking, most parrots and most children just don’t mix. Children tend to be far more boisterous, loud and quick moving for the liking of parrots, who are after all still just wild, prey animals.
That said, parrots can be a delightful addition to a family, so if you’re considering adding a bird to your flock, consider which species would be more likely to fit into your family. Parrots live a long time. If everything goes right, they’ll still be part of the family long after the kids go off to college, so take your time researching which species is best given the activity level, noise, schedules etc. of your particular household.
All parrots require patience, understanding and stability (as well as not being screamed or poked at), but some are less ideal than others in terms of being around children. The first step for setting up your family, and any pets, for success is understanding that different species have different temperaments and not all birds will be equally good at adapting to little humans.
But without further ado, here are our recommendations for the 5 Best Parrots for Families:
5. The Humble Budgie (aka Budgerigar) Parakeet
Nibbler by Lodigs
The budgie (short for budgerigar, and often simply called “a parakeet” in the United States) is probably the most underrated bird in the parrot family. Few people even properly recognize them as parrots. At an average weight of around 30 grams, these hookbills are tiny, but don’t let their small size fool you.
Did you know that the bird with the world’s largest recorded vocabulary was but a wee budgie parakeet? Just like their larger cousins, budgerigars can be trained to do tricks, talk and generally be fun members of your family. (To see an adorable, talkative budgie in action check out Li’l Babi Versailles’s YouTube channel.)
Because of their tiny size, however, they are much more delicate than their larger parrot brothers and sisters, so all family members need to respect that grabby hands are a no-no. Budgies can be flighty and expect an untame parakeet to be nippy — but as single birds they are not that difficult too tame and no one will lose an eye in the process.
4. Meyer’s Parrots
Petey by bcymet
Meyer’s Parrots belong to the Poicephalus family of African hookbills. They tend to be quieter than many other types of parrots, making them appropriate for apartment dwellers or those who can’t handle loud, incessant screeching.
They can be acrobatic, affectionate and entertaining. At the same time, their beaks are not huge and intimidating.
One website wrote about the Meyer’s species: The Meyer’s is reputed by many to be the nicest of this very nice-to-be-around family.” Calm and steady by nature, the Meyer’s is a good choice for a homes that include children. [They] are likely to maintain balanced relationships with a number of people. They are unlikely to bite. It’s been my observation that Meyer’s have a certain demure quality about them that gives them a fresh and unique charm. They are sweet, but not shy. And they tend to truly like people, even strangers. One famous breeder put it this way: “Senegals loved being loved by you, but Meyer’s love loving you.”
3. Pionus – Sweet, Gentle and Quiet
Blue Headed Pionus by GrayGeek2008
The pionus is one of the most underrated parrots today, probably because they don’t have bright, colorful plummage like some parrots, nor are they known for being good talkers.
That’s too bad because Pionus have fantastic personalities that make them great family pets. Not only are Pionus gentle, compared to many species of parrot, but they aren’t noisy or needy either. While all parrots need interaction and out-of-cage playtime, a Pionus is often happy to sit on top of his cage, just observing what’s going on, without demanding lots of attention.
Xafsmom likes the Blue-Headed and Bronze Winged Pionus and calls these two species “beyond a doubt two of the best family birds ever. Quiet, friendly, playful… not very cuddly but will sit and be pet for hours. They also form strong flock bonds over a single person bond.”
One thing you’ll need to be aware of when considering a Pionus Parrot is that they have a slight musky odor that some people don’t enjoy. In addition, because they don’t have a preening gland, they produce some dust/dander so spend time with these guys to make sure it doesn’t bother you. Personally, I love the way my White Capped Pionus smells.
If you want to know about of the Pi personality, check out the Life of Pis blog, where my Mika girl occasionally shares her own thoughts on life in the Best in Flock household.
2. The Sweet and Smart Cockatiel
Ziggy by I GEMZ
Cockatiels are one of the most, if not the most, common pet parrot in the United States, although few people think of ‘tiels as parrots. ‘Tiels are smart, sweet and delightful, while being less hyper and spastic as some of the other small birds.
Katie, who shares her life with 8 delightful cockatiels says this about the species:
“They usually don’t have the same behavioral or hormonal issues that other birds can have. Their hormones are generally easy to manage as well. They like to be with you but aren’t generally really needy and are generally pretty quiet. They don’t need as large of a cage that bigger birds do and they are just perfect.”
‘Tiels are friendly, have cute voices, usually learn to whistle well, don’t tend to overbond to a single person (as a rule), aren’t as expensive as larger birds, and come in a variety of beautiful mutations.
Cockatiels are great birds for families who may not be experienced parrot owners, but they aren’t disposable birds. Just like “real” parrots, they live a long time and require attention, proper care and training and lots of love.
1. The VERY Best Parrot for Children…. Squawkers McCaw
Squawkers meets every (unreasonable) requirement for best parrot I’ve ever been asked about:
- He’s NOT LOUD and won’t aggravate you or the neighbors
- But he is GUARANTEED TO TALK up a storm
- He doesn’t poop all over the place or make a mess
- He NEVER BITES
- He doesn’t demand attention and doesn’t need a large cage
- He won’t go through a hormonal phase
- He’s CUDDLY, even more so than a cockatoo
- No vet bills, no expensive food, no toys = cheapest parrot ever!
And when your children get bored with Squawkers, they can ignore him without any consequence. He’s my #1 choice for a children’s parrot – a recommendation echoed by several members of BirdBoard.
But if you’re looking for a lifelong friend, a loved and loving addition to the family that will give back as much as you put into your relationship, the bird species listed above are excellent candidates for further research on your part.
Thank you Kibibi for choosing Best in Flock as the August 2008 Outstanding Avian Site of the Month.
We’re honored to have our blog chosen and excited that Kibibi is encouraging fans to add the Best in Flock feed to their RSS readers (e.g., Google Reader, Bloglines, MyYahoo, etc).
If you’re new to the blog, check out some of the most popular posts from the last year:
Updated November 2009: Link has been fixed. The new download is of the Fall 2008 issue.
Parrot trainer Barbara Heidenreich is generously offering a free issue of Good Bird Magazine to readers of the Best in Flock blog. Just click here, enter your information and you’ll receive the free copy via a link in an email.
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Welcome to my parrot blog, where I share insights with other and would-be parrot owners on ways to keep their pet birds happy. I'm not a professional trainer or avian expert; these are just my opinions, observations and insights based on my life with Stewie and Mika, and my efforts to do the very best for my birds. I also read voraciously and will share other cool stuff I find related to parrot ownership and training.
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