Just as there are differences with our personalities and where we come from, there are also differences between birds. The environment we are raised in and the attention, love and care we receive play a big part in all our lives. Positive feelings or negative behavior that we are exposed to daily, here we have who we are. Here we have who your bird is.

This newsletter will focus on four parrot species. Next month I will talk about four more, and so on. In the near future, you will be able to download our new E-Books from our Read Your Bird Series. These books will address the Care, Personalities, Feeding, Bathing, Training, Behavior Problems, Socializing and more. Look for them coming soon to our site. The first will be on African Greys.

So let’s start with the most popular Parrot:
African Grey Congos are the largest of the Greys. They are the most popular because they are the best talking of the parrot species. They are super smart birds and very sensitive. The sensitive part is why it makes them one of the types of birds most likely to featherpick. Smart adds to this because they need a lot of stimulus to challenge their intelligence. Before you worry too much on the feather picking, there are many more out there that don’t pick versus the ones that do. Socializing and your mood will make a big difference with Greys. Timneh African Greys are normally less sensitive and a bit better with other family members than the Congo which is usually more partial to one person in the family. Even though the Timnehs can be great talkers, the speech records out there are held by Congos. Noise is usually not a problem with owning an African Grey. But careful, they can mimic every type of noise possible.

Cockatoos are cuddle bugs. There are differences though between the large and the small Cockatoos. All Cockatoos are very clever and they are masters at getting their way. Usually this happens from us thinking they’re cute and then they turn into loud uncontrollable handfuls. All Cockatoos can be loud, but if you live in an apartment or Condo, stay with the smaller ones. The larger ones will get you kicked out of your home unless you socialize them well and don’t let them get away with screaming for attention. It is tough though. You will need to devote more of your time to care for a larger Cockatoo. Teaching talking at an early age can be a good way to get them to use that as an attention getter rather than screaming. They can be good talkers. If you enjoy sitting for hours on end petting your bird, the Cockatoo is for you. They will love you tremendously. Another difference in Cockatoos over many other Parrots is the creation of dust from their feathers. Even though the dust keeps your Cockatoo clean, it makes your home very dusty. If you have allergies, make sure you are around Cockatoos for awhile before you take one home to make sure the dust does not bother you or get an air purifier.

Conures are great friendly little buddies. They love to be with you and hang out. Noise can be a problem with any of the Conures except for the Pyrrhura family. The common quiet ones are the Green Cheek and Maroon Belly. Other Conures are squaky and can also screech for attention, such as the beautiful Sun Conure. Teaching speech can also help with this so that they talk for your attention. They can be great for kids and usually do well with other family members. They come in variable colors with some becoming more striking as they mature. The smaller Pyrrhura conures can be tough even though the smallest. They think they are bigger than all Macaws and will take on anyone or anything. Be careful as you introduce them to other pets. Pyrrhura’s tend to be more of a one person Conure than the rest. Any Conure is a great friend though.

Macaws come in all sizes. From the smallest which is the Hahns Macaw to the Hyacinth being the largest. Not only do the color and sizes range drastically but so do the personalities. The Mini Macaws include many, but the most popular are the Hahns, Noble, Yellow Collar and Severe. These can all be squaky birds similar to the Conures. They are Green in color and are more feisty and active than the larger macaws. The good thing is you won’t need as much room for them as you would the larger Macaws. They can be pretty good talkers even though the voice is usually higher. The larger Macaws are more like having a large dog versus a Chihuahua in the mini macaws. The common large ones are the Blue and Gold, Greenwing, Military and Scarlet. They can be good talkers but also loud. Speech training will also help reduce the noise. They are very loyal and people will love to see them due to the bright colors. Personalities vary, but the large Macaws usually are pretty good at going to different people if you accustom this from the time they are young. From my experience, Scarlets and Militaries are naturally more nippy than the Blue and Gold or Greenwing Macaws.

Hopefully this gives you some general information on making a long term decision of owning these parrots that I am so passionate about. You will see soon, if not already, how much fun they are and how entertaining they can be as part of your life.