A yellow-green budgie and a blue budgie perched on two people's fingers

What living with a parrot is like

Housekeeping, training, flock time

A parrot day has three parts. Morning is housekeeping: fresh water, fresh food and new paper on the cage floor, about ten minutes. Evening is flock time, when the bird comes out to sit on you, climb a play stand, shred a toy and share the room while you do something else. Somewhere in between you fit one or two training sessions of five to ten minutes each. The bird sleeps 10 to 12 hours in a dark, quiet room, so its bedtime shapes your evening. Parrots are loud at sunrise and sunset, chew whatever they can reach and drop food on the floor. People who love them count all of that as part of the company.

Which parrot should you start with?

Budgie KeepingThe smallest and cheapest parrot to buy and feed, and the best talker of the three. Males can pick up dozens of words in a small, fast voice. A budgie is quiet enough for an apartment and lives 7 to 12 years. It is tiny and quick, so taming takes patience and a gentle hand.

Start here

Ask a breeder or rescue for a young budgie, 8 to 12 weeks old, with stripes running all the way down its forehead to the beak. That age tames fastest. Decide before you go whether you want one bird that bonds to you or two that keep each other company.

Lafeber: budgie species guide

Cockatiel KeepingThe calmest choice and the easiest to handle. Cockatiels like having their head scratched, whistle tunes more than they talk and raise a crest that shows their mood. They live 15 to 20 years. They also shed a fine white feather dust that settles on furniture and bothers some people with asthma or allergies.

Start here

Spend ten minutes in a room with cockatiels before you commit, to find out how your nose and lungs handle the feather dust. If you are fine, look for a hand-fed bird that is fully weaned and already eating on its own.

Lafeber: cockatiel species guide

Lovebird KeepingA big parrot's attitude in a six-inch body. Lovebirds are bold, playful and busy, and they rarely talk. A single hand-raised bird bonds closely with its person and does not need a mate, but it needs handling every day to stay tame. They have a strong beak for their size, a sharp contact call and a 10 to 15 year lifespan.

Start here

Choose a single hand-fed peach-faced lovebird and plan to handle it every day from the first week. A lovebird left alone for a few weeks goes back to being nippy.

Lafeber: lovebird species guide

Open a card and add its gear to put that parrot's cage and pellets in the kit. Picking one takes the other two out. Perches, toys, millet and the rest of the list suit all three.

How to get started

One rung at a time. Tick them off as you go

A grey cockatiel standing on an outstretched hand, eating from the palm — A cockatiel eating from a hand

Find a bird vet first

Association of Avian Veterinarians: Find a Vet Free directory of vets who treat birds, searchable by state

Choosing the cage

Match the bar spacing to the bird. Budgies and lovebirds need bars half an inch apart or closer. Cockatiels are safe at half an inch to five-eighths. A head that fits between the bars can get stuck.
Go wider than you think you need. A budgie cage should be at least 30 inches wide, and a cockatiel needs enough room to spread both wings and turn around without its tail touching the bars.
Look for horizontal bars on at least two sides. Parrots climb with their beak and feet, and vertical-only bars turn the walls into dead space.
Check the door latches. Cockatiels and lovebirds learn to lift a sliding door, so pick a cage whose doors lock.
Choose powder-coated or stainless steel with a slide-out tray and a grate above it. Skip round cages and any used cage with rust or flaking paint, because parrots chew the bars.
Each time you clean, run a hand over the toys and perches for frayed threads, open clips and loose bells. Toes and beaks get caught in all three.

A white and a blue small parrot stepping onto a person's fingers

Skills to work on first

Read the bird, then ask for a step up

Reading body language

Pinned eyes, a fanned tail, a flattened crest or a bird leaning away all mean back off. Respecting those signals is what stops biting before it starts.

Step up

The bird moves onto your finger when asked. Every other kind of handling, including getting it back in the cage, depends on this one behavior.

Target training

Touching a stick for a reward. It lets you move a nervous bird without grabbing it and is the first step toward every trick.

Feeding well

Pellets as the base, a spoonful of chopped vegetables and leafy greens most days, and seed and millet saved for rewards. A seed-only diet is the most common cause of illness in pet parrots.

Setting up foraging

Hide food in paper cups, cardboard and shredding toys so the bird spends part of the day working for it. A busy parrot screams and plucks less.

Household dangers and the law

Nonstick cookware, air fryers and self-cleaning ovens can give off fumes that kill a parrot in minutes, even from another room. Cook with stainless steel, cast iron or ceramic, and check new appliances for PTFE coatings.
Keep scented candles, plug-in air fresheners, aerosol sprays and cigarette or vape smoke out of the bird's room. A parrot's lungs are far more sensitive than yours.
Never feed avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, onion or garlic. Remove apple seeds and fruit pits before sharing fruit.
A loose bird can drown in a glass of water or an open toilet, fly into a window, or land on a hot stove. Out-of-cage time happens with you in the room.
Cat and dog saliva carries bacteria that can kill a bird after even a small scratch. If another pet catches your parrot, go to the vet the same day.
Wash your hands after cleaning the cage and let a vet check any new bird. Parrots can carry psittacosis, a bacterial infection that passes to people through dried droppings.
Captive-bred budgies, cockatiels and lovebirds need no federal permit to own. Rules differ for other parrots (several states ban Quaker parakeets, for one), so check state and city law before you look at another species, and never buy a bird with no known origin.

What trips beginners up

Expect a nervous bird for the first weeks. Trust comes in small steps, and chasing or grabbing a parrot to speed things up sets you back by days.
Talking is never guaranteed. Male budgies are the most likely to speak, cockatiels mostly whistle, and lovebirds seldom do either.
Every parrot bites at some point. Stay calm, put the bird down and work out what it was telling you. Yelling or flicking the beak teaches it to bite harder.
Birds hide illness until they are very sick. A fluffed-up bird, a change in droppings or a 10 percent drop in weight means a vet visit now, not next week.
Do not buy a mirror or a nest box. Both can trigger hormonal behavior, and a nest box leads to egg laying that drains a hen's calcium.
Do not jump to a bigger parrot because the small one went well. Conures, greys and cockatoos are louder, live for decades and need far more of your day.

Two peach-faced lovebirds pressed together on a bare branch — A pair of peach-faced lovebirds

Where to learn more

Start with a vet-written reference for diet and health, then watch training videos so you can see timing and body language instead of reading about them. A local bird club is the quickest way to meet breeders and people who will answer questions about your species, and most welcome beginners at their meetings and shows.

A vet reference, training videos and clubs

How the kit is put together

The cage is the largest cost and the one item that depends on your species, so pick your bird below and the kit adds the right cage and the right size of pellet. Everything else is shared: perches and toys to replace what ships with the cage, millet for taming, a clicker and target stick for training, a carrier for the vet, a gram scale to catch illness early and a play stand for time out of the cage. Toys and millet are consumables, so expect to rebuy them every month or two. The bird itself and the first vet exam are not in the cart. Budget $25 to $250 for the bird and $60 to $120 for the exam.

A peach-faced lovebird on a perch in an aviary, with hanging toy chains behind it — A lovebird among hanging toys

Stock the bird room

Compare the options on each line, then set your tiers and check out from the cart. Clicking a card selects it there. The first line, the parrot itself, is not something you buy online: it comes from a breeder, a rescue or a good store. The cage and pellet lines join the kit once you pick Budgie Keeping, Cockatiel Keeping or Lovebird Keeping.

The parrot

essential · The bird

The one thing the kit cannot include. A young, hand-raised bird from a good source is far easier to tame than a cheap one that has never been handled.

Not sold on Amazon · breeder, rescue or store

Not sold on Amazon. Look for a breeder who hand-feeds and socializes chicks, a parrot rescue, or a store with clean cages and birds that come to the front. Budgies typically cost $25 to $60, lovebirds $80 to $200 and cockatiels $100 to $250. Adoption fees are usually lower, and rescues often include a vet check.

Natural branch perches

essential · Cage setup

The smooth dowels that ship with a cage hold the foot in one position all day and cause sores. Branches of uneven thickness keep feet healthy.

budget

LIMIO Bird Perch 4 PCS Natural Wood Stand Parakeet Toys Bird Cage Accessories for Parrots Conure Supplies Budgie Platform

4.6(1.3K)

$9.99

Parrot Keeping

What living with a parrot is like

Which parrot should you start with?

How to get started

Choosing the cage

Skills to work on first

Household dangers and the law

What trips beginners up

Where to learn more

How the kit is put together

Stock the bird room

The parrot

Natural branch perches

Shredding and foraging toys

Spray millet

Clicker and target stick

Bird travel carrier

Digital gram scale

Tabletop play stand

Budgie flight cage

Budgie pellet food

Cockatiel cage

Cockatiel pellet food

Lovebird cage

Lovebird pellet food