The Best Birds to Keep as a Pet

There are so many different species of pet birds, we’ve narrowed our list down to a few of the most beginner-friendly pets. They still have plenty of personality and are great fun to keep you company. Caring for any bird requires time, effort and a lot of research and the place to start is figuring out what you’re looking for in a pet and matching your lifestyle to what they need.

Cockatiels are fun, brightly coloured little birds that are one of the most common species kept and for a very good reason. They’re native to Australia and are known for their beautiful and delicate songs. Once they bond with you, they’ll usually direct these songs towards you. They grow to be between 12 and 13 inches so they’re not the biggest but also not the smallest birds to keep. Small birds can sometimes be quite hard to handle while bigger birds have more needs, so cockatiels are a good place to start. They usually live to around 20 years old but some have been known to reach the ripe old age of 30. They have a variety of beautiful colours including white with a yellow mask and rosy red cheeks, some even have spotting of different colours throughout their plumage.

They are social birds and enjoy living in pairs, however, if you have a single bird, they will need much more interaction from you. They enjoy playtime and getting out of their cage to spend time with you so you should make sure you spend time with them every day. They like to be housed in a room where you spend a lot of time so the bedroom, living room or any area you like to relax in is perfect. They’ll need a cage double their wingspan, which is usually between 20 and 30cm. The Liberta Lotus Black Bird Cage would make a great home for a single or pair of cockatiels to enjoy their time in. They love to have lots of different perches and toys to try out.

A cockatiel’s diet should be a mixture of pellets and seeds with some fresh greens offered every other day and the occasional piece of fruit as a treat. A diet like Country Wide Parakeet & Cockatiel Bird Food will meet all of their needs and would only need supplementing with some fresh vegetables.

Lovebirds, also sometimes called pocket parrots, grow to be between five and six inches so they’re quite a petite type of bird. They’re an African species that live in flocks so they’ll generally like to have company. It’s usually thought that lovebirds need to be housed with their own kind, however, if you have lots of time to give them one on one attention, you can fulfill their need for company. Often your own lifestyle will dictate if your feathered friend needs their own friend to keep them company when you aren’t able to. A cage for a lovebird should be wider than it is taller as they need room for their long tail feathers that can become damaged in narrow cages. As a smaller species, they’ll also need nice narrow bar spacing.

They love to chew so make sure they have plenty of toys that are safe to put in their mouth like the Sisal Rope & Block Climbing. They can live up to fifteen years with proper care and need time to come out and play with you every day. Their temperament is very social and they grow to be very affectionate and cuddly with whoever they bond with. There are lots of different subspecies of lovebirds, all with different and brightly coloured feathers. There are often blues, greens and yellows.

Lovebirds are a species of parrot and need a similar varied diet. They need a mix of seeds, fruit, vegetables and grasses. A pellet-based diet should make up the bulk of their food, however, you should be offering them supplementary foods to keep things interesting. Lovebirds enjoy cuttlebone like Vitakraft Vita Fit Cuttle Fish Bone 2 Pack for extra calcium.

Canaries are sweet little undemanding birds that are great for the beginner bird keeper. They grow to be between four and eight inches and can live up to fifteen years with good care. They are a species of finch and are known for their bright, usually yellow colouration. They enjoy having human company, however, don’t enjoy very much handling so they’re a perfect pet if you enjoy watching them over any hands-on interaction. They can live alone, with other species or some of their own kind, however, you should never house two male canaries together as they might end up fighting one-another. If they’re given plenty of toys to keep them occupied, they’re often quite happy keeping themselves entertained. Male canaries will have beautiful songs while a female will chirp so you can even choose the sex of the canary you get to suit what you would prefer.

They will need a cage at least 50cm wide. The Mandelieu Round Bird Cage and Stand would be suitable to house a single bird with plenty of room for toys and perches. While they are hardy little birds, they don’t do well with draughts or with artificial lights keeping them up through the night. They may need a cage cover to make sure they get enough rest. Wild canaries feed on a mixture of seeds and insects. A suitable diet for a pet canary would be a bird food specially made from them like Country Wide Premium Canary & Yellow Biscuit Bird Food.

Parrots come in lots of different shapes and sizes and are often the first bird you might think of when you consider bird-keeping. Keep in mind that while they make for great pets, they’re certainly not very beginner-friendly. A species like the green-winged macaw can live up to 50 years, however, some have been said to reach their eighties. It’s common to hear parrot owners say they’ve written their pets into their will because they live so long. A parrot is a lifelong commitment and requires several hours of interaction a day but in return, you get a forever best friend. They’re friendly and playful and can even learn words so they are a wonderful addition if you want to teach a bird to communicate with you.

They’ll need a lot of space as they can grow to have a wingspan of 50 inches so will need a several-foot wide cage. They’re on the smaller side for a parrot but if they spend too much time in their cage without interaction they are known to develop issues like plucking out their own feathers. They need daily servings of fruits and vegetables along with a species appropriate diet like Bucktons Fruity Parrot Food with Spirulina.

If you want the excitement and interaction of owning a parrot but don’t have the space to care for one, a parakeet, also called a budgie, could be the ideal choice. They’re much smaller with most species, growing to be only around six or seven inches, and are less demanding of your time and space. They can reach up to twenty years old and come in a variety of different subspecies, all with bright and beautiful colourings. They are social animals and do well with their own kind but they love to spend time with their humans too. They’ll happily perch on your shoulder as you go about your day. They’re a great companion bird if you want a pet to interact with.

Parakeets are able to learn words, however, they tend to not be as expressive as their larger counterparts. They also still need lots of time outside their cage where they like to explore the house but are often content in the things they find to entertain themselves. With a good diet like Jollyes Parakeet and Cockatiel Food, they can be a hardy and healthy pet to keep you company for many years.

For more information on your feathered friends, swoop in store or online today.