- Hey everyone, JamieLeigh
from Bird Tricks here, I have been getting bombarded
with this single question of what bird do I recommend? What is a great starter bird? What bird should I get if I
have no experience with parrots? (chicken clucks) What is a good first bird? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And then people will
usually follow it up with I want a Macaw, or I want a big bird, I don't want a small bird,
I don't want a budgie, I don't want a parakeet from the pet shop. How about an Amazon or an
African gray, which one? Guys, I might get a lot
of hate for this video, but I gotta say, - What?
- Oh no! - In case you think I'm
not going to recommend any type of bird, you're wrong. Guys, I make an entire YouTube channel, I have an entire website, a zillion different
parrot training courses, on how to fix your
relationship with your bird because birds are a very difficult pet. In fact, they probably shouldn't be pets. (gasp) Why? They are the third most
popular pet in the world, but guess which one of
those types of animals is the number one most
re-homed, these guys. So when you guys say how 'bout
an Amazon or an African gray, go visit your local bird sanctuary and look at how many Amazon
and African gray parrots there are in those sanctuaries. I could name three sanctuaries
off the top of my head that specialize in Amazon
parrots or African grays. Project Perry is one of them
that does an amazing job with African gray parrots. These guys are re-homed because
they're incredibly hard. They outlive us, they're
incredibly intelligent, which plays into why they're
so incredibly hard to keep. Most people don't understand
what you need to do for diet and behavior issues. Many of these parrots
become bonded to one person, and it ends up making your
entire household chaos because this bird attacks everyone else in the house but you. Most people don't understand how messy they are when they
eat and just in general, and how allergic people can be to them. - [Man] Hey, what's with the allergies? - They need to bathe every single day to keep that dander or dust down. They should be getting a fresh
food diet in the morning, followed by a very high
quality pellet in the evening, and then those fruits and nuts and seeds are reserved for training. A little bit different
with the smaller birds, because they need a little
bit more seed than these guys. Do you know what other
type of species really rules the roost in sanctuaries
and rescues, is cockatoos. Cockatoos are the top bird for the hardest to teach people about
because their body language can be a lot more subtle,
and because of that, it's a lot harder to read
and even that much harder to explain to somebody else. Cockatoos, I feel like belong in homes with advanced parrot knowledge. Sometimes I feel under
qualified to have a cockatoo, and I just have galahs,
so I don't even consider myself as having the
hardest type of cockatoos, which to me would be the
Moluccans and the Umbrellas. Umbrellas are at the top for me. So here's a great starter bird for you. If you are considering
getting a parrot because you have just been turned on to
them for whatever reason. Consider your age and
the age of your bird, and where you're at in your life. Are you a kid who lives
at home with your parents and are begging for a bird, but you're actually maybe
gonna go off to college? You're gonna maybe meet somebody in the future and move in with them? You maybe want kids, or you wanna travel? A parrot might not be
right for you right now because your life is gonna change so much, and you're gonna go through
all these different things of your priorities
being all over the place that you have to think about
how that is going to affect this type of bird or any type of bird, because they're very sensitive creatures. And although you can raise
them in a crazy environment, because my life is a crazy environment, and we raised all of
our birds on the road, I can't take in a rescue bird
and make it fit into my life because the stress would cause
health issues for that bird. I've tried it, so I know for sure. My best advice to you
if you truly want a bird is to one, pet sit for a
friend or a family member who already has a bird, thing, are you gonna go to the bathroom? Come here. Teach it something, right? So that you know what
it takes to communicate with this type of animal. Another suggestion, if
you still want a bird after pet sitting or you don't
know anybody with a bird, that just isn't an option for you, go to your local rescue or sanctuary and volunteer your time for a week. Doesn't have to be a week straight, and get to know the birds and
how different species act. See and experience what being
around birds is all about. See if you can handle the noise. (parrots screeching) See if you can handle the mess. See if you want to invite
those qualities into your home. Did I mention the noise? (parrots screeching) Even those small birds
might seem like the sound gets smaller and smaller and smaller? That's really not the case when
you think about sun conures. Holy moly sun conures, so loud. Some of the problems
that I've personally had is I lived in Florida for six years and never had an issue with our
neighbors of having parrots, and I kept them outside
24 seven, year round. It was fantastic. I move up to northern Idaho
where nobody has parrots, that's what it feels like, anyway, and my neighbors complain
over the dove noises, because I also have doves. If you don't know what sound a dove makes, it makes a very soft cooing sound. (dove cooing) If you have a neighbor
that's annoyed by that, needless to say if anybody
knows of some property in Florida for sale, hit me up. In case you think I'm
not going to recommend any type of bird, you're wrong. I'm going to, I promise. But first I want you to
understand all the things that totally suck about having a bird. There are some awesome things, but I will say they're
not a pet for most people. Noise, noise is probably the worst. Just like dogs bark, you can
train them not to scream, however it is a natural
thing for them to do. It's how they communicate. So if you can't stand it at all, probably not the pet for you. Two, super messy, they're
used to living in trees where they can just drop stuff they don't need and it goes away into the universe and the Earth below. So they're just conditioned to drop stuff, fling stuff, wipe their beaks on things, tear stuff up, chew on crown molding, rip cables, destroy, destroy, destroy. So you're gonna buy these
really expensive bird toys and you're gonna put them in the cage and you're gonna think they're so pretty because you picked them 'cause
they're colorful and cute, and then your bird's gonna destroy it and make it into toothpicks
and you're gonna be like, "There goes 70 bucks, now what?". Now you learn how to
make your own bird toys. Guys you gotta know this, I especially say this
because I sell bird toys, it's a good thing if your
bird is destroying them. The faster your bird
destroys them, the better! The healthier that means your
bird is, the more active. It's using its beak and trimming
it down, that's kinda nice. The other thing that
really sucks about bird is behavioral problems. Behavioral problem can be
really, really difficult to analyze and figure out why. Why does this bird hate that
person but not that person? Why did it bite me randomly? Figuring out and analyzing
bird behavior is complicated. Lucky for you, I offer consultations. (crowd cheering) Or you could just live vicariously through some Youtubers that have
birds and watch from afar, which I highly recommend. Number, what am I on, three, 43? They're expensive, they can't
have certain types of metals, so stainless steel is the way
to go, and the most expensive. An outdoor aviary, I
believe is a necessity. Even if you live in a place like Idaho where they can't be out year round. Whatever amount they can
be out, strive for that. The sunlight is so, so important for them. There's all sorts of training
you can do with a bird to incorporate it into your daily life. You can harness train so you can take it everywhere with you. We always advocate exposing your bird to new people, places, and
things as often as possible to make a more well adjusted,
better adaptable bird. Think beyond yourself, birds
are likely to outlive us, so think how can I make
this set up for success for somebody else who might
take my bird down the line? Okay, so which birds do I recommend? I wouldn't say I recommend them, but I will tell you which
birds have the fewest amount of behavioral problems naturally and are found the least in
rescues and sanctuaries. If you go to a parrot
rescue and sanctuary, you will most likely see a cockatoo, an Amazon parrot, and an African gray. It's a given. Not to say macaws don't
make it in the mix too, because I do see macaws in
rescues and sanctuaries, but I would say the top are cockatoos, Amazons, and African grays. So no, I'm not going to recommend any of those in this video. However, the birds found least
in rescues and sanctuaries or on Craigslist, or
just given up in general, though there are few exceptions, but you will find them the least, are kayeeks, pionus parrots,
and senegal parrots. I think they are a great size bird. Not because of their body size,
because of their beak size. That's also why I like galahs, 'cause in relation to other cockatoos, their beak is the smallest, which is nice. I find that when people
get excited about birds and then they just jump in to getting one, they can easily get very intimidated by an Amazon or a macaw or a cockatoo because once you get
bit you get very scared, and you start thinking oh man, that could have taken my finger off. I feel like if you guys get a cockatoo, you should get like, a matching
helmet when you get it. That should prepare you
for how bad it could be. Cockatoos are known for dive bombing, for those of you that are not aware. So those three types of birds, I've seen a lot of success
with in family households. They tend to be birds that
aren't as likely to bond to just one person, they're
more open to a family dynamic. They're very playful birds, so everybody can have fun with them, including children usually who aren't as intimidated to work with them. They are just as capable
of doing all the things that people usually look for. Can it talk, can it do tricks, can it fly, can it talk, can it talk, can it talk? Yes, they're just a great
species naturally, for people. So those are the species I would, if I was going to recommend
any type of parrot, those would be at the top of my list. I don't have any of those. Not because they aren't awesome, but because it took me
this long to figure out the information I'm giving you guys. Do I love other types of species of birds? Yes, I especially love macaws. I love to free fly macaws,
they're the safest, because they are the largest,
because they are the loudest, because it's most unlikely that a predator is gonna look at a macaw and be like, "Yeah, it might be worth it to get hurt "if I go after whatever the heck that is". Not as likely, not to say it
doesn't happen, not as likely. A predator bird usually thinks through could I get hurt during this attack, and would it be worth it? So a small bird could do
very little damage to a hawk. And because a lot of my
lifestyle with my birds is free flight, that plays
a big role in my decision. If that's not in the cards for you, then that part doesn't really matter. For me personally, I'm happy
with indoor flighted birds. Take your bird to a gymnasium. Take it to a ballroom in a hotel. Take it to a big open room
at a church that you go to. All those places are
great, even a batting cage, with the proper netting for
the size bird that you have. I'm a huge advocate for indoor flight, and it's much easier to accomplish that with a small to medium sized bird, such as a kayeek, a pionus, or a senegal. So here's the thing, I am a bird trainer, I am a parrot trainer, I work with people consistently
on training parrots, yet I don't recommend
them as pets, I know, and it's because I see
how much people struggle. I see how unprepared they were, maybe they inherited the bird
and then they feel guilty, and they feel this sense of
obligation to hang on to it. I just feel like if
people understood or had a better understanding of
what they were getting into, they would know whether or not to actually make that commitment. That's why I recommend
going and spending your time at a bird rescue or a sanctuary, spending your time around birds. Birds that end up in sanctuaries, it isn't always like this bird
was so awful and unhandleable that it ended up being
relinquished to a rescue. Sometimes, sadly, owners die and there's nowhere else to put the bird. Sometimes they're great birds there. They're not always just locked, or have behavior issues, or screamers, or breeding birds, or anything like that. Sometimes you can find
amazing birds at rescues. Other times there's a
lot of work to be done, because there's a lot of damage that has already been had that needs undoing. Would you like some petting? I'm totally talking smack about
birds and you're right here, proving that you're awesome. So I just recommend that
you spend as much time around them as possible
to really have a grasp on what you're getting into. Because there's nothing
worse than having no idea what you're getting into, getting into it, and regretting the decision. I just wanna help people
make an educated decision, and I think that's best
done with experience. So get as much experience
around birds as possible, so that you can say for sure, 100%, this is where I wanna go. And if that is the case, when you spend time in
rescues and sanctuaries, usually the bird ends up picking you, and it's most likely gonna be a cockatoo, an Amazon, or an African gray. Just please do your research,
understand those species. Understand what they're prone to. Understand that male Amazons
are incredibly difficult during the hormonal season,
and some of the scariest. Understand that it's the same
way for the male cockatoos. Understand the noise level and
commitment that you're giving to each and every one of
those species of birds, so that you know what you're getting into. The thing that drives me
crazy is when you meet a bird that you fall in love with, and then you go out and buy that type of, that species of bird, thinking
that you're buying that Cressi, or you're buying
that Bondi or Bandit. You might have only seen
the really really good side of that bird and not understand when the going gets tough
just how tough it is. And you need to be willing
to work through those things. So please understand the commitment level, please understand these
birds live longer than us. They require a ton of work, a ton of care, and don't just jump into it
and make a rash decision. Please do your research,
get your experience, spend your time. Don't let Cressi fool
you about how awesome she's being during this whole video. (laughs) I'm just kidding, she is awesome, and I love birds, but even
I would have done things differently if I would have known and had the proper experience. In conclusion, don't get a bird. You wanna wave bye to everybody? Bye! Good girl, Cressi.
