• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Umbrella Cockatoo or African Grey?

monkeywrench133

monkeywrench133

zealously apathetic
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
877
Reaction score
12
Points
0
Location
playing in traffic
I'm thinking about getting a larger bird. I've got a cockatiel right now and want something with more personality and larger.

I've narrowed it down to an African Grey or an umbrella Cockatoo. My concern is this. I don't have a ton of time to spend with a bird considering all the other critters, not to mention the 18month old 1.0 human I've got. The cockatoo is the more attractive bird in my opinion, but I've been told that they are very high maintenance, requiring lots of time spent with them, and they get very possessive, but they are extremely affectionate.

However, I've also been told that the African Greys are smarter, have larger vocabularies, and while they will bond with their owners, they are much more independent, akin to cats. But they will remain handleable and not get self destructive if you at least spend time around them. I'm thinking this would be more ideal since I work from home. I wouldn't be able to spend tons of time directly with the bird, but I would be here and around the bird.

Any thoughts?

Also, if anyone knows of any good info resources for parrots, let me know? Thanks!
 
It is like compairing apples to oranges. Cockatoos are better suited for people who stay at home most of the day. They are also extreamly loud, so if you live in an apt, townhouse,condo, you may want to ask your neighbors if they dont mind the extreamly loud sounds. 2's are also very intelligent, they love smart bird toys, they like to figure things out. But they are also destroyers, they need things to shred, you will easily go through 1 toy a day. They are very affectinate, but even so, my friends umbie had left some love bites on her....and boy they hurt. They do learn to talk, and they can talk fairy well, it is just not as clear as the greys voice.

Now the grey is playful, fairly quite, and not as sweet and cuddly as the umbie. The umbie is the bird to cuddle under the blanket with you, the grey is the one sitting on your shoulder. They do not need the constant attention that a cockatoo does(aka velcrow birds), but like all parrots, they need alot of time. Greys have specific diets, they need more vit A in their diet as they have trouble absorbing it. Although they enjoy smart toys, you sometimes have to watch introducing new thigns to them as they can become neurotic and stressed out. They do talk well, But IMP DYH Amazons have a bigger vocab, the greys just have a clearer voice.

If you want a happy medium, I would get a macaw, like a B&G, these are know for being one of the sweeter macaws, they are both cuddly and playful, and they usually talk OK, but do not require higher fruit(like for the umbie) or more vit A(like the grey), they do however require more nuts in their diet(not seeds but nuts).

I personally have a vos eclectus and a BH caique.
 
flat out.. if you don't have time.. please do NOT get any large bird. They require a TON of time.

they are both VERY emotional birds, so please give a TON more thought about this.

if you don't have time.. they may pluck, scream, be very aggressive etc.
 
Back
Top