[itdaniher]

I have a rescue Cockatiel I inherited from my late grandfather. He's a poor excuse for a parrot, but a great pet and 10/10 work-from-home friend. Flies from his house, sits on my monitor, bows his head expecting headpats.

Don't rule out feathered friends - there's a continuum of intelligence and dependency ranging from finches (simple lil robots, a'la fish) to African Grays (3yo intelligence as discussed) - I've found my 'tiel to be in the sweet spot - intelligent enough to have his favorite people, not so smart as to constantly demand attention.

[existencebox]

Got a cockatiel when I was... very very young. Maybe 4-5? It's nearing 30 years old now. I chuckle that you call it the "Sweet spot" since frankly, I don't think I could own one in good concience again (at least until I'm much older.)

When I moved out for college, my mom basically took over "mothering" the bird, and in hindsight I'd have been horrible to it in _any_ other situation. My mom has a lifestyle that lets her be at home with it most of the day, lets it out to fly around almost constantly, makes sure it has things to occupy it/companionship, and as a result it's aged beautifully. That being said, it requires significant amounts of aformentioned attention, (I'd even argue BECAUSE It's so smart it constantly likes bothering people, even when very young it figured out a half dozen ways to escape its cage, including lifting a slat off the outside of the cage _from the inside_, pushing a food dish out its hole, then climbing out after it, and was savvy enough to do this only when we weren't watching) and more than just attention, patience. If you give too much of a response to its teasing/let it "take advantage of you" (e.g. not enforcing a bedtime, since it will absolutely try to run away, yell at you, and nip at your fingers if it wants to stay up later) it'll absolutely learn this and leverage it more in the future. "Parenting" certainly seems fair for owning one of these animals.

I love that grumpy little fluffball so much, but after watching how hard it was to adapt from being bonded with me when I moved out, I've come to the realization that one has to really be ready for a long term commitment that often goes beyond what most people think of as "a pet" to give these birds the home they deserve.

[geebee]

People often discuss intelligence in a pet as an unqualified positive, and I understand it. We like to interact with pets, and the more human like intelligence they have, the more easily we can relate to them. Intelligence is of course something we value, but I do think we overlook how it can become a problem as well.

I have heard some parrot owners speak dismissively or disparagingly of the cockatiel's intelligence, but like you I think they are a good balance for avian pets. They're cute, curious little creatures. They aren't notably good talkers (though they can semi-pronounce a few words). They are good singers and can learn a few tunes, though they tend to warble and free form after the first seven or so notes (I find this endearing). I also find that cockatiels are more physically affectionate than many parrots with a wider range of people, and are less prone to bonding exclusively to one person to the angry, biting rejection of anyone else (one theory is that this is because they're more migratory and need to form more relationships than many parrots). Just to be clear, cockatiels do have their personal preferences and bond, but I grew up with 'tiels, and they all readily accepted extensive head scitches from every member of the family and people they recently met.

They aren't in the same league as many parrots in terms of intelligence.

Overall, having grown up with cockatiels... well, it's hard to know what's going on in their heads, but they do seem happy. We always allowed ours to be flighted (tougher with larger birds), and they all got a lot of attention which is pretty critical.

In spite of the positive words here, I am 50-50 on even cockatiels as pets. I just don't think people understand how many decades of commitment they really do take.

[MandieD]

I loved my little maroon-bellied conure and miss her greatly, but frankly, cockatiels are better pets. Sassy was many good things, but “sweet” and “even-tempered” were not among them.

Sometimes she was estatically happy, other times she wanted to take my fingers off and didn’t only because her beak was too small. And she could make that shift with little or no notice. She was able to open any cage fastening that did not require a key or human grip. All this in a bird most people would think was a funny-colored budgie.

I’m not sure about keeping parrots of any size again, at least until I’m retired or it looks like remote working will be the norm for a long time - and then, I’d lean towards cockatiels, and definitely rescues.