In response to someone wanting an amazon grey parrot because they talk: Mynahs, crows and ravens are actually the most talkative birds and not the African Grey. They are not beginners birds in my opinion. A cockatiel is a good starting bird. Personally I forwent any parrots having wanted one my whole youth and as an adult got chickens by default and fell in love w them. Having cared for parrots for years professionally, and then comparing to the ease, friendliness and ability to house chickens outside where my house wasn’t dirty, smelly or loud at inopportune moments I’d never now choose indoor birds over outdoor birds. Plus I got my lovely eggs and got really into feeding my chickens first for their optimum health but then for the health n flavor of my eggs.
Raising chicks was also more rewarding than buying a mature parrot someone else influenced. A bird in the wrong hands is easily ruined and can be aggressive. Remember most parrots have the jaw strength to bite through your finger. It takes highly qualified bird handlers to get these guys back in balance and handle them safely for both bird and handler.
Consider a chicken coup in the yard and give them the biggest space you can afford. I therefore suggest building one vs buying one of those tiny backyard assembly kits. Those are always too small and unsanitary. Build one you can walk into like a 10’x10’ indoor and an attached 10’x10’ chicken wire. Then let them out daily.
Great at controlling ticks and almost a must if you grow food gardens for natural pest control. When they die you also have dinner. I buried my first few as I would any other pet. But after feeding my 11 carnivores raw meat vs kibble and having a farming mentality to some degree (I had a horse farm vs an agricultural farm) I decided to act more like a farmer and used their carcasses thereafter to feed my cats n dogs. I couldn’t bring myself to eat them but I was thankful to feed my dogs these chickens w full happy lives vs one’s agriculturally raised and with high suffering at slaughter. I happily ate their unfertilized eggs though. My yolks were deep orange w dense nutrients. Eggs in the supermarket are so disappointing. I think I miss this most of all from my days on my farm. I will have chickens again even if I don’t go back to a farm.
While my girls never spoke English to me, they talked to me all the time, would wait on my porch when I was inside, would walk all over the farm w me while I scrubbed water troughs etc, and when I sat down there was always one or two in my lap. I even took them for walks on my horse trails w the dogs, cats n my goat. Very affectionate and highly intelligent. I miss my girls. I hope you consider them vs parrots.Their benefits are so numerous.
Leave parrots in the Amazon! This also helps stop illegal pet trade and taking animals from the wild which is unscrupulous and most die from stress being shipped around the globe. No demand and this ceases. That’s the only way to stop this. If you love parrots, love them enough not to get one. Instead make a chicken’s life better than the agricultural industry has in store for them. It’s so rewarding.