Thinking of getting a bird. this is what you should know !

I worked at a Mom and Pop pet store, the owner knew her shit when it came to birds. Fish not so much, but that was my job anyway :) Anyway, I also took care of many different types of parrots, watching them


grown from hatchlings to juveniles to adults. I've interacted with Amazons, macaws, parakeets, conures, lorikeets, african greys (both types), and cockatiels. I worked with the birds for 2 years. Hands down, Green cheek conures were my favorite. I have 2 of them now, along with a SunDae (Sun and Jendae(sp?) hybrid). The green cheeks have the most personality of any bird I've seen. They're smart, can learn tricks, and can be very snuggly. Despite their diminutive size of approximately 5" tall standing, they act as if they were much larger, often chasing my cat or dog away from their cage. Another nice thing about these birds is that their beaks are small, so you won't get the massive crush wounds possible with the larger macaws and greys. Don't get me wrong, Green cheeks can still make you bleed, but the bite is nowhere as bad as the larger birds. From experience :)
Also, I found green cheeks to be the quietest "smart" bird when it came to maximum volume and frequency of calling. The SunDae conure I mentioned earlier has a noticeably shriller and louder shriek than the green cheeks.
Now, no matter what kind of bird you get, you need to spend a lot of time with it. Go easy with it for the first few days, maybe sit by the cage in a darkened room, talking quietly to it, or whistling. You can even try to hold it, depending on how confident you are. The birds wings should be clipped (both wings, not just one) so that it can't freak out and fly into a mirror. Broken necks and beaks can result :(
Birds are very social creatures, and unless you're going to be spending a lot of time at home (unemployed, stay at home mom/dad, work from home), you should probably get a second bird to keep him company. This second bird should probably be purchased a few months after you and the first bird are comfortable with each other. Gender is difficult to determine without an inexpensive blood sex test. I bought 2 birds, Quincy and Lady. However, once they hit puberty, it became clear that Lady was a male, and Quincy the female. We are still adapting to this new reality.
Do your due diligence before you buy any bird
You are taking the responsibility of care for another living creature that is totally dependent on you for it's care. Don't fuck up. Clean water needs to be provided, food bowls get stirred once a day (birds sometimes won't dig below the top surface of empty shells in a bowl) and changed out with new food if necessary. Get wooden or other natural fiber/dye toys for them to play with. Buy as big a cage as you can, preferably with a play area on top (make use of that roof).
I was going to write up a synopsis of wing clipping, but I can't do it justice. Just watch a few videos on youtube, or find an experienced bird keeper to learn from.
From my experience with keeping fish (6 tanks in a 400 sq ft apartment!), I found that the big chain pet store don't really know very much, and often give out wrong advice. I'm sure this translates into the bird world as well. You are much better off finding a reputable local pet store to start visiting.