Unlike dogs you don't have to walk them all the time--unlike cats you don't have to clean litter boxes--unlike fish you don't have to spend hours cleaning tanks and making adjustments.

I never even thought of a bird as a pet--I was always partial to dogs--but I gave it a chance on March 16, 2002 and haven't regretted it since. I did make a few mistakes--2 major ones--not doing research before I bought my first bird(s) and buying a pair to start with.

The types, colors and sizes of birds are various as the pictures below will show.

They are very easy to take care of and you can be involved with them as you want or get a pair and they won't/don't need you except to feed them, give them water and change the paper on the bottom of the cage or, being lazy like I am, you can put layers of paper on the bottom of the cage and just remove the top sheet each morning.

I normally suggest getting a budgie (you call them parakeets) or a tiel as a first bird or, if you just want to watch them and not get involved, finches.

Birds can talk--using real words--cuddle--kiss and/or be trained to do tricks--they can even be 'potty' trained if you have the patience.

I do strongly suggest that you do research first about the right kind of bird for you--there are many ways to do that--there is a yearly magazine called Bird USA put out by Bird Talk magazine (they also have a web site birdtalkmagazine.com) that gives a lot of information--you can google birds or a particular breed--there are web sites like wwwconuresandmore.com, www.animalnetwork.com, www.upatsix.com just to name a few.

One important thing--BUY THE BIGGEST CAGE YOU CAN--the cages you see for budgies sold in pet stores are too small--they need room to climb, flap their wings, exercise, etc.

There are many controversial subjects dealing with birds--like clip their wings or not (I don't)and there is all sorts of information out there to make your own decisions.

Should you have any questions feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer them or get answers for you--having a bird as a pet is amazing!!

Here are some pet birds--there is one (or more) out there for YOU!!