Which Birds Make the Best Pets?

The list of birds that are most common to keep as companion pets are as follows:

Large Birds

Amazons, African Greys, Cockatoos, Eclectus, and Macaws.

Medium Birds

Caiques, Conures, Quakers, Pionus, Poicephalus, and Rose-ringer parakeets

Small Birds

Brotogeris, Budgies, Cockatiels, Lovebirds, and Parrotlets,

Things to consider when before buying a pet bird:

Noise - Smaller birds are often much quieter than larger birds

Cost - Larger Birds not only cost more to buy, their toys, cage, food, and other products will cost much more than a smaller bird's.

Space - Larger birds will take up more space than a smaller bird because they need a very large cage.

Lifespan - Small birds will generally only live 5 to 10 years. Medium sized birds generally live between 15 to 30 years. Larger birds like African Greys and Macaws can live as old as 70 to 80 years. If you don't feel that you will be able to responsibly take care of a bird for 50 to 60 years or more, that means providing proper food, housing, and constant attention, buy a small bird instead. Birds often have the problem of outliving their owners. The children or other relatives of the owner might not want to take care of the bird and therefore the bird gets stuck in a parrot shelter or get bought by a person they are unfamiliar with, do not wish to interact with, and subsequently get mistreated.

If you have children - If you have small children, you will most likely want to buy a small bird unless your children are capable of understanding the responsibility that comes with owning a pet bird. All birds bite. If your children roughhouse with them or tease them the bird will get angry and will bite them. Even small birds are capable of biting hard enough to draw blood. Large birds, if they are not properly handled, can take off a finger or puncture through a hand with their large, sharp beaks.

Small Birds

Brotogeris

Brotogeris are a genus of small parrots endemic to Central and South America. This includes the Plain Parakeet, Plain Parakeet, Canary-winged Parakeet, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, Grey-cheeked Parakeet, Orange-chinned Parakeet, Cobalt-winged Parakeet, Tui Parakeet, and Golden-winged Parakeet.

Budgeriger

A species of small bird commonly called Budgies endemic to Australia. Budgies, often sometimes just called parakeets, average 7 inches long and are divided into two basic colors; white and yellow, although there are at least 32 primary mutations in budgies. This provides the possibility of hundreds of different secondary color combinations. The color of the cere (the area containing the nostrils) differs between sexes. Males are royal blue in males, while non-breeding females are white and breeding females are brown.

Cockatiels

Cockatiels are indigenous to the outback regions of inland Australia. Cockatiels average 11 to 13 inches in length and can live up to 15 to 20 years. There are fifteen Cockatiel color mutations, although most generally contain a variation of yellow and grey. The face of the male is yellow or white, while the face of the female is primarily grey or light grey. Both genders have an orange patch on their ear areas. The color is generally more vibrant in adult males, and muted in females. A well raised and trained cockatiel will have very sweet disposition and will make an excellent companion pet for a first time bird owner.

Lovebirds

Lovebirds are small, very social, and affectionate parrots. 8 species are of Lovebirds are indigenous to Africa, and one species, to Madagascar. Lovebirds average 6 inches in length and can live up to 10 to 15 years. Species of Lovebirds include the Black-Collared Lovebird, Red-Headed Lovebird, Abyssinian Lovebird, Black-cheeked Lovebird, Lilian's Lovebird, Fischer's Lovebird, Masked Lovebird, the Peach-Faced Lovebird, and the Grey-headed Lovebird, (which is indigenous to Madagascar.)

Parrotlets

Parrotlets only grow to be 4 to 5 inches and length and live anywhere from 10 to 20 years. The most common Parrotlet to keep is the Pacific Parrotlet, which comes in a variety of colors ranging from blue, yellow, and white.

Medium Sized Birds

Caiques

Caiques are two species of parrots in the genus Pionites. This includes the white-bellied caique and the black-headed caique. They are endemic to the Amazon Basin in South America. They average 8 to 10 inches in length and have lifespan of 15 to 25 years.

Conures

Conures are an extremely diverse group of medium-sized parrots. The most common include the Sun Conure, the Green-Cheeked Conure, the Jenday Conure, the Nanday Conure, the Maroon-Bellied Conure, the Blue Crowned Conure, the Cherry-Headed Conure, and the Blue Throated Conure. Conures range in sizes and colors, however they average around 10 to 13 inches in length and have an average lifespan of 20 to 30 years.

Quakers

Quakes are highly intelligent and social birds averaging 11 inches in length with a lifespan of 15 to 30 years depending on living conditions. Commonly, Quakers are bright green with a pale-grey forehead and breast along with light green or yellow under parts, although color mutations are known to exist, with white, blue, and yellow in place of normally green areas.

Pionus

Pionus species include the White-crowned Parrot, Blue-headed Parrot, Scaly-headed Parrot, White-capped Parrot, Plum-crowned Parrot, Dusky Parrot, and the Bronze-winged Parrot. Pionus Parrots are native to Central and South America. They average 9 to 11 inches in length with their lifespan averaging 15 to 26 years.

Poicephalus

Poicephalus is a genus that comprises nine species of parrots native to various regions of Africa. Although there are nine species of Poicephalus, the most popular to keep as pets include the Senegal Parrot, the Meyer's Parrot, Jardine's Parrot and the Brown-headed Parrot. Senegal Parrots have a grey head, green back and green, or sometimes partially yellow, chest. Meyer's parrots have a dark grey head with a green chest and, yellow under their wings. The Jardine's Parrot is predominantly green with orange on the top of its head and legs and sometimes around its shoulders. The brown-headed parrot is mostly green with a greyish-brown head and yellow under the wings. Poicephalus parrots range anywhere from 8 to 11 inches long and can live up to 15 to 25 years.

Ring-necked Parakeets

Rose-ringed Parakeets are sexually dimorphic. This means that unlike the vast majority of parrots, the male and female have different feather colors. The male sports a black neck-ring and pink nape-band while the female either have no neck rings, or have a pale to dark grey neck-ring and light nape-bands. However they have been known to have blue and lutino color mutations. There are four sub-species of ring-necked parakeets although they do not differ very much. On average ring-necked parakeets are 14 to 16 inches in length and can live up to 30 years of age.

Large Birds

Amazons

There are over thirty species of Amazon parrots. The most common Amazons to keep as pets are the Blue-fronted Amazon, Orange-winged Amazon, Yellow-headed Amazon, and the Yellow-naped Amazon. Most Amazon parrots present a predominantly green body with accenting colors such as red, yellow, and blue, on their head, wing, legs, and sometimes their tails. Amazon parrots average 12 to 14 inches in length and can live up to 50 years or more in captivity. Amazon Parrots are not for the inexperienced bird owner. All Amazon parrots require many long hours of stimulating activities to keep them from becoming bored. Amazons are cavity nesters in the wild and have a great desire to chew. Therefore, they need to be provided with lots of wooden toys.

African Greys

There are two types, the Timneh and the Congo. The difference is their size. The Timneh is generally smaller and has dark grey feathers and a maroon or dark grey tail. The Congo is slightly bigger and has light grey feathers and a bright red tail. The Timneh averages 9" to 11" in length. The Congo averages 12" to 14" inches in length. They can live over 50 years with the average being 50 to 65. African Greys are extremely intelligent and are amazing talkers. However they are bigger than the typical starter bird and require much more attention and care due to their high intelligence and their tendency to feather pick if bored. If you are up for a challenge, African Greys can make extremely good pets. They are high maintenance but with proper care will provide an owner with the wonderful reward of a bright and talkative companion.

Cockatoos

The two most popular species of Cockatoos to keep as pets include the Umbrella Cockatoo and the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Sulpher-Crested male cockatoos can be distinguished from females with their almost black eyes, whereas the female has a more red/brown colored eye. The Umbrella Cockatoo is a white parrot with brown or black eyes and a dark grey beak. Both species have a solid white body; however the Sulpher-crested cockatoo has a distinctive yellow crest as opposed to the Umbrella Cockatoo's solid white crest. Cockatoos average 17 to 20 inches in length and can live up to 80 years in captivity.

Eclectus

Originally though to be two different species, Eclectuses are an extreme sexually dimorphic species of parrot. The males have bright green bodies with orange, yellow-tipped upper mandibles and black lower mandibles, and either blue or red tail and wing feathers. The females have red heads and blue to purple breasts, with black beaks and short bright red tail feathers. Eclectus parrots average 15 inches in length and can live up to 30 to 40 years.

Macaws

The macaw family is home to the largest parrots on the planet, including the largest known parrot, the Hyacinth Macaw. The macaw family is also home to a small group, called mini-macaws, that are closer in size to conures. The popular large macaws to have as pets include the Blue and Gold Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, Green-winged macaw, and Severe Macaw. The Hahn's Macaw or Red-shouldered macaw are the most popular mini-macaw do to their above-average speech ability for its relatively small size.

Blue and Gold macaws have a very vivid appearance. They have blue wings and tail, a dark blue chin, golden under parts, and a green forehead. The Scarlet Macaws have very diverse colored plumage. Their bodies and tails are mostly scarlet, but the wing feathers are often a combination of light blue, yellow, green, and very rarely light orange. The Green-winged macaw, or red and green macaw, is often mistaken for the Scarlet Macaw due to its red feathers. However, the lower wing feathers are often a combination of green and blue green. They may also present a very small patch of either green or blue on their tail feathers. The Severe Macaw is mostly green in color with patches of red and blue on the wings and a brownish patch above the beak. The Hahn's macaw or red shouldered macaw is predominantly green with a turquoise patch on the top of the head and red patches on the wings where the "shoulders" are. The large macaws can live up to 70 to 80 years, where as the mini-macaws can live up to 20 to 30 years.

Choice

Deciding which bird is best for you and your family can be very tough. I suggest picking around five birds that you absolutely know that your budget will support. From there, pick out two or three of the most visually appealing. The final decision is ultimately up to you. Most birds can be trained to talk. Most can be trained to do tricks. But remember that ALL birds will need lots of attention from you and family members, so no matter which type of bird you buy, remember to supply it with proper food, adequate cage room, lots of interesting toys, and plenty of tender loving care.