Domesticated Parakeet - Some Habits

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on you.
1- They wake latter than other birds.
2- They feel sleepy near sun set.
3- They distinguish between various members of house.
4- They know the regular visitors, if they like them, they welcome them and try to loudly communicate with them with sense of likeness.
5- They try to convey to the keeper in different sounds.
6- They get sad if mate is sick. On one occasion, when male was on ground with severe illness, female came and tried to put food and then water in his mouth. After him, she became silent and one day, she left the cage with speed of light [idiom] as soon as door was opened for regular cleaning.
7- If they sit facing toward a certain direction, it means they want to go that way.
8- At night, if light is lit, they will show patience, then little protest which will grow steadily, until the light is off.
9- They like to eat, seeds, cucumber, chopped mint after morning feed.
10-Exactly 15 minute before sunset [no mater if time keep changing] , they raise one sound, it is signal to put a cover on them.
11-Of two, there is dominant one who was present in cage before the second one came in.
12- They chirp in morning, at noon and in evening.
13- They do not like heat and too much cold.
14- They like sparrows to come near their cage to get their gifted-out feed.

 

[Iti oj]

thanks for sharing this, I have nbeen considering getting a pet bird

 

[Valjean]

thanks for sharing this, I have nbeen considering getting a pet bird

Consider carefully, Iti. Many birds, particularly the parrots, are very high-maintenance. They require hours of one-to-one interaction.
Watch Parrot Confidential | Nature on PBS | Nature | PBS

 

[Valjean]

Very interesting post, Dawud.

 

[Iti oj]

Consider carefully, Iti. Many birds, particularly the parrots, are very high-maintenance. They require hours of one-to-one interaction.
Watch Parrot Confidential | Nature on PBS | Nature | PBS

I know I am trying to find a quiteish bird good for an apartment that likes to be hold but does not need to much attention.

 

[Jainarayan]

I know I am trying to find a quiteish bird good for an apartment that likes to be hold but does not need to much attention.

Cockatiels and parakeets (budgies) are good for that. They're quite trainable, affectionate and playful. They chirp and whistle but they don't scream. Lots of room in a cage and safe toys will keep them occupied while you're out. Do not even consider a conure of any species, small as they are (avg. 4 oz. in weight). They are adorable, smart and affectionate but they are total velcro birds, and their screams can make your ears bleed.

 

[Valjean]

Why a bird, Iti? They can be affectionate, but they're not really cuddly, and the more affectionate (interactive) species are often very demanding and time consuming, not to mention loud. Most parrots become very distressed if alone. Are you really ready to commit to several hours of interaction every day for the next 60 or 70 years?

If you want something quiet that likes to be held why not consider something with fur rather than feathers?

 

[Iti oj]

Why a bird, Iti? They can be affectionate, but they're not really cuddly, and the more affectionate (interactive) species are often very demanding and time consuming, not to mention loud. Most parrots become very distressed if alone. Are you really ready to commit to several hours of interaction every day for the next 60 or 70 years?

If you want something quiet that likes to be held why not consider something with fur rather than feathers?

I already have 2 cats. I would like a bird because they sing. They are also pretty. I do not want to cuddle a bird but I do want one that likes to be held on occasion.
Though I am also considering rescuing a cat an also looking at some lizards.

Jainaryan thank you for the tips and advice.

 

[Penumbra]

Consider carefully, Iti. Many birds, particularly the parrots, are very high-maintenance. They require hours of one-to-one interaction.
Watch Parrot Confidential | Nature on PBS | Nature | PBS

Definitely true.

My father had a blue and gold macaw, and a blue fronted amazon, and they were like people with the amount of personal attention they needed. Way more than a cat or dog. They were bought for me as a child and when I went away to college, they became distressed, because in their eyes my father was not the same person as me and they were not nearly as affectionate with him, since I was their "mother" because I fed them with syringes when they were babies.

After I moved to college and then moved into an apartment where I could not have parrots, finding a caring and knowledgeable home for teenage highly affectionate parrots that I knew since childhood was a major time commitment in and of itself, because the number of people truly capable of bringing in an older bird into a healthy home is very limited.

Parrots are not for those that want a low maintenance pet. Some of the smallest birds that don't need as much social interaction and don't live as long aren't quite as big of a commitment, but the parrots that live for several decades and have human-level requirements for attention are more like a family member than a pet and require similar levels of care.

I guess if I were to recommend a small bird to someone, it would be a cockatiel. They're a decent balance of interaction and simplicity.

 

[DallasApple]

We were ignorant .(when we were younger) about birds.

We had a Salmon crested cochatoo .BIG bird . We bought in a feed store that was named "Baby" and supposedly had been hand trained by an elderly lady that had to give him up.

He was MISERABLE .He plucked all his chest feathers out so his chest was balled I could see his heart beat. He SCREAMED in the middle of the night like a person being murdered. .If we tried to hold him he bit us .(which he had the potential to do serious damage)He threw his food on the floor out of the cage.(apples,pears etc)We had a nice cage that we could open at the top too. So he could climb around.He talked a little too so I know he had been worked with some.He said "baby want a cracker" . And "hello " .

I did not have 2 hours a day to sit there and work with him.+ I didn't know how .I was like a 23 year old mother of 2.(+ we had 2 cats and 2 dogs at the time)We found a couple that were looking for that specific breed .They knew what they were doing. We didn't even sell him we gave him to them.With the cage.

 

[DallasApple]

OH and yes I liked your bird description Dawud . Very sweet.(((HUGS)))

 

[Awoon]

We have a rescued Cockatiel "Jasper" since April. We had to put our other Cockatiel "Hobo" to sleep last February. They are so much fun, whistling and talking in the mornings.

 

[Jainarayan]

We were ignorant .(when we were younger) about birds.

We had a Salmon crested cochatoo .BIG bird . We bought in a feed store that was named "Baby" and supposedly had been hand trained by an elderly lady that had to give him up.

He was MISERABLE .He plucked all his chest feathers out so his chest was balled I could see his heart beat. He SCREAMED in the middle of the night like a person being murdered. .If we tried to hold him he bit us .(which he had the potential to do serious damage)He threw his food on the floor out of the cage.(apples,pears etc)We had a nice cage that we could open at the top too. So he could climb around.He talked a little too so I know he had been worked with some.He said "baby want a cracker" . And "hello " .

I did not have 2 hours a day to sit there and work with him.+ I didn't know how .I was like a 23 year old mother of 2.(+ we had 2 cats and 2 dogs at the time)We found a couple that were looking for that specific breed .They knew what they were doing. We didn't even sell him we gave him to them.With the cage.

Unfortunately that is very common, especially with cockatoos. Most people don't know this. Cockatoos are beautiful and intelligent birds (as are all parrots), but they are in a class by themselves. They are very needy and clingy birds. They are really only suited to stay-at-homes: home office workers, moms, dads or retirees. They need and want constant attention. When they don't or can't get it they will throw temper tantrums, and when they are bored, depressed or distressed, and that includes shuttling from home to home, a vicious cycle, they will pluck and become destructive. I'm glad you could find a forever home for him.

 

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

I actually love birds, including loud ones, and always wanted a parrot, also even a singing male canary.

My problem is, I actually would pamper the birds to the extreme, often let them out of the cage, and in the case of parrot or such intelligent birds, even take them outside to parks. So unless I could really train them, they would probably fly away.

The other problem I have is my wife would never have it, she is scared of birds (like as if they are going to fly in her hair, or tangle in her cloths such as scarves and peck her earrings and things like that).

And it is a fact a parrot (I would get a green one) lives a very long time and also such a bird would make it very hard to travel or complicate vacations involving travel (such as to India or Europe). Who to trust to take care of the bird? Big problem.

But I always like to visit those who have birds, just so long as they allow the bird to have lots of freedom and very big cages. My Didi Maa in Calcutta had sort of like a structure that was like a cage, there would be what looked like myna birds and exotic birds that were once probably caged or pets who would come, they would come from the "wild" and take up residence and not want to leave. Quite interesting actually, they liked humans.

When I was a boy I had two, free, pigeons, who lived free in a fort or wooden structure I built. They were very nice. But one day, they just were gone.

I have lots of bird friends, on my property, since I feed them. Woodpeckers are fascinating, and I also get Eurasian Doves and California Quail (even once a Gambel's Quail which is supposed to be only Southern California). So I enjoy even without a parrot pet.

Om Namah Sivaya

 

[Jainarayan]

So unless I could really train them, they would probably fly away.

Wing clipping. It doesn't harm the birds; they don't even feel it because it is only the flight feathers that are trimmed. Unless one is confident enough to do it, it's best to let a groomer do it. What will hurt and can cause profuse bleeding is clipping a "blood feather". That is a newly emerging feather that has a blood supply. Counter-intuitively, if you do damage a blood feather, you pull it out. The bleeding will stop immediately.

No bird should be allowed out of its cage unclipped, except if the bird lives in an aviary. Then it should be allowed free flight. On the other hand, if a bird is clipped, it is vulnerable. Most birds learn that when they're clipped they... well, they have their wings clipped. They learn their limitations.

However, smaller birds like conures, and even those as large as African Greys, even clipped can gain lift if there is a breeze. They can't gain altitude, but they could glide over a fence, into a pond, or into other trouble. Moreover, when they are taken outdoors, you have to know if there are raptors in the area. Where I live we have red-tailed hawks. They will swoop down and snatch a pet bird that's left on its perch, unless it's under some kind of protective overhang, like a porch.

Parrots really are very high maintenance. I love them, but I will never, ever have another one.

 

[apophenia]

I know I am trying to find a quiteish bird good for an apartment that likes to be hold but does not need to much attention.

Please change your mind Iti.

 

[DallasApple]

Unfortunately that is very common, especially with cockatoos. Most people don't know this. Cockatoos are beautiful and intelligent birds (as are all parrots), but they are in a class by themselves. They are very needy and clingy birds. They are really only suited to stay-at-homes: home office workers, moms, dads or retirees. They need and want constant attention. When they don't or can't get it they will throw temper tantrums, and when they are bored, depressed or distressed, and that includes shuttling from home to home, a vicious cycle, they will pluck and become destructive. I'm glad you could find a forever home for him.

YES ! Baby threw a a temper tantrum's .(non stop) Including self mutilation.

 

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on you.
1- They wake latter than other birds.
2- They feel sleepy near sun set.
3- They distinguish between various members of house.
4- They know the regular visitors, if they like them, they welcome them and try to loudly communicate with them with sense of likeness.
5- They try to convey to the keeper in different sounds.
6- They get sad if mate is sick. On one occasion, when male was on ground with severe illness, female came and tried to put food and then water in his mouth. After him, she became silent and one day, she left the cage with speed of light [idiom] as soon as door was opened for regular cleaning.
7- If they sit facing toward a certain direction, it means they want to go that way.
8- At night, if light is lit, they will show patience, then little protest which will grow steadily, until the light is off.
9- They like to eat, seeds, cucumber, chopped mint after morning feed.
10-Exactly 15 minute before sunset [no mater if time keep changing] , they raise one sound, it is signal to put a cover on them.
11-Of two, there is dominant one who was present in cage before the second one came in.
12- They chirp in morning, at noon and in evening.
13- They do not like heat and too much cold.
14- They like sparrows to come near their cage to get their gifted-out feed.

15-They recognize, the owner is sleeping or waking if their cage is in same room.
16-After a certain time, in morning, they start extremely high chorus type chripping to indicate time to go out.
17-Both male and female parakeets like to talk to human female more than human male, in terms of welcome, coming close as if trying to say hello, etc. If one is talking on phone, they think they must chirp loudly at same time.
18-They play with threads, try to un-knot knots.