# A tiel in an apartment?



## Ran (Aug 16, 2011)

Hi folks - I lurk over on talkbudgies and talkparrotlets, and posted a similar topic on both some time ago looking for some info 

I'm looking for a bird to add to my flock, but the problem is that I live in an apartment so obviously my choices are very limited. I have two budgies at the moment that I love to spoil rotten, even though they're not particularly tame and prefer to have nothing to do with me. I don't mind at all, as I get more enjoyment from them just seeing them interact with each other and, well, being budgies 

I've been spending some time getting information and winnowing down my choices of potential apartment-suitable birds for a number of months now, and although I'm still months away from setting my mind on anything (or not at all), I'm trying to get as much knowledge as possible. So far, I've pin-pointed my studying onto GCCs, parrotlets and cockatiels.

I've read that all can be kept well in apartments, not taking individual characteristics into account. I'm mostly thinking about noise factor, as I enjoy cleaning up after my birds and find it a breeze. Thankfully I'm on the very top floor of the block, which means that (for some reason) my flat has cement flooring and brick walls, as opposed to the wood and brick of the lower floors. The Catch 22 is that I've never heard a peep from the neighbouring flats, so I simply don't know just how much noise pollution gets through, if at all 

I've never cared about the talking ability of parrots, and although appearances are a nice bonus they aren't important at the end of the day I think. All of the general personality traits of the three birds I listed all appeal to me for different reasons, but what's actually more important to me are the bad points (like potential noise factor, 'one person bird' tendencies, etc) rather than the good right now. So I'm asking help from people who've lived with 'tiels (or any kind of parrot really!) in apartments, and what problems - or lack of - they've encountered. General info is hugely appreciated as well and will really go a long way to helping me out! 

(I'd like to point out again that this is neither something I'm taking on lightly, nor is it happening any time soon. If I can't decide on something I won't be getting something, simple as that - I refuse to get a bird, only to potentially need to rehome it a month or two later. There's no such thing as a '100% perfect bird' so if I'm not able to appreciate the faults of an individual as well as the good points, then I'm leaving it off until I win the lotto and get me a nice country house )


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

i have 2 tiels and 2 lovebirds in an apartment. no complaints. the lovies are louder 

plets are fine for apartments too theyre just chatty


gcc are not really as they can be loud screamers but thats an individual thing... but be warned they may be too loud

gcc can be nippy
plets can be too and aggressive with you and other birds
gcc can be very loving and sweet

tiels arent so nippy males can be a little loud and can be cuddly and sweet


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## pink.snootchies (Jan 23, 2011)

i have two tiels one of which likes to scream obnoxiously... and honestly i can sometimes hear him outside still when hes in one of those moods... but ive not had any complaints, most people find birds relaxing and natural... as opposed to dogs barking or something. as for the others.. i cannot say... 
I love my two brats and id move if someone told me they had to go. 
but if its concreate floors and bricks... its usually pretty sound to the others... mind you maybe a bit echod in your place


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## darthkrallt (Aug 27, 2011)

I just moved with my cockatiel into an apartment, but I have two housemates as well! I'm still waiting to see how he's received by them. I've noticed that if I leave the window open, he calls much louder... mostly he calls loudly when I'm entering or leaving the house... also when the window is open I can hear him across the street easily! So if you're concerned about noise make sure to close the windows. I'm super paranoid that he's going to bug my neighbors, I can't really tell what could/ could not be heard... I never hear my neighbors though.


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## Ran (Aug 16, 2011)

Thank you for the replies! I got lucky with my budgies as their screaming can sound rather like the swallows that have migrated here, and which like to congregate around our building to hunt.

I live directly over a busy main road so I'm not too concerned about noise getting through the windows at the front of my apartment, but the bedroom window faces a hollow that does indeed have a number of other windows. I keep that window closed and the blinds shut most of the time obviously! I also have a nice thick fire-door that shuts off my living room, where my birds are, and with that and my front door shut the only time you can hear them in the echo-chamber of a hallway outside is when they're screaming and if you're listening specifically for them. Otherwise they could easily pass off as wild birds.

Thankfully I'm a bit of a book nerd so I've got loads of stuff piled up the walls, which does very well at deadening the echo in my apartment  I'm planning on hanging towels or blankets some time on the inside doors and having the boyfriend listening outside, to see if that helps deaden the budgies' screaming more so. I've always been pretty confident that their quiet echo out in the hallway doesn't obtrusively get through the front doors of the other flats.


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## Annie (Nov 20, 2009)

Welcome! Yeah I am also holding out to win millions so I can get that country house. I suppose that means I should buy a ticket right? 

I have 1 cockatiel, Sunny, and I am in a condo (on the top floor) with my dad who has 3 finches and 1 canary of his own. Sometimes when Sunny does her flock call I can hear it when I'm standing out in the hallway directly in front of the door but otherwise people can't really hear anything out in the hallway. My dad once asked this lady who lives diagonally across the hallway from us (her unit is the closest to ours---all other units are pretty far away) if she could hear the birds in her unit cuz he was worried it was too much noise and she said no. So I think it would be fine as long as you don't get a really old, run-down apartment with paper-thin walls.

Sunny has free flight around the condo whenever I'm at home and I haven't had any problems with it. It is a relatively small place but she has worked out all her flight routes down to an art and can fly very close to walls and windows in very fast circles without crashing into anything. Sometimes I hold my breath because I thought she would crash into something but she never did. Sometimes I feel bad that she can never fly in a straight line for a long time but oh well, what can I do. My only worry is that one day she might escape through the door and get into the hallway and I'll never be able to get her back. But it hasn't happened yet and she hasn't made any attempts to get out the door (she's a big coward really ). And even if she does make it into the hallway, she won't be able to make it out of the building so I will have lots of time to catch her. But still, my dad and I just have to be careful when we're leaving to make sure she's not anywhere near the door.


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## Ran (Aug 16, 2011)

I've been hovering between a cockatiel and a p'let lately, though my only hesitation with the p'let is potential nastiness against my budgies. From what I've read tiels are generally more laid-back with other birds, so the ability to live relatively peacefully in the same vicinity as smaller birds is really important. I personally don't think I'd be too worried with a cockatiel, though I definitely would be more concerned about a p'let being bold.

Although they're clipped at the moment, and although the cage is open all day for them if they want (the female has a tendency to fling herself out of the cage if she gets too excited  ) I'm going to be letting them have the run of the place when they're flighted and able, although I suspect they'll still be spending most of their time on or in their cage. The male is too dainty and lazy to have fun, though the female is unbelievably hyper and I predict many mad flights around the living room with plenty of delighted shrieking to accompany it, sigh!

If I settled on either, I'd be trying to obtain a bird from a breeder, a hand-raised one of course, to get it started with acclimatisation to the other birds, handling and socialising in general.


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## jscottpaschall (Apr 18, 2011)

My living conditions are very similar to yours, so maybe I can advise you a little. I have one cockatiel who doesn't scream too much, but he can get loud whenever I leave the room. I have concrete floors and brick walls just like you, and I will say that, unless you've got a considerable amount of fabric in your apartment to eat up sound, screams will echo and be amplified. We keep Jasper in the living area that contais the entrance to the apartment, and, when he gets loud, I can hear him all the way down the hall (probably 100 ft away). 

That said, I have neighbors all around and I've had no complaints for nearly 5 months. We have lots of other animals in the apartment building that all make noise, so we're lucky to live in a noise friendly environment just in case. If you're friendly with your neighbors, and you do wind up with a cockatiel, just forewarn them. Tell them to let you know when they think the noise is too much. I've been in situations like this before, and it seems to help when you start a direct line of communication with your neighbors.


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## Ran (Aug 16, 2011)

Unfortunately I never seem to have the opportunity to keep up with neighbours, as they don't tend to stay here for more than six months at a time, and most of them seem to be students or work, as there doesn't usually seem to be anyone here during the day. I certainly don't ever hear anyone, unless they're moving in the hallway outside.

The echo within the flat was very bad when I first moved in, before I got my budgies, but since I moved all my stuff in it has deadened a lot. There is indeed still a bit of one (I'm actually surprised it isn't worse, since I only have hardwood flooring and some tiling) but with my living room door closed it reduces any sound the bird's make to more of a soft chattering.

Thankfully the landlord's a really nice guy, who I trust to inform me or my boyfriend (who's known him for longer than anyone else currently living in the building) right away if there's any problem or complaint. There are plenty of other pets I'd love to keep it I decide against another bird for the time being (more fish woohoo!).

It's a real shame there aren't any parrot rescues where I live that I know of - otherwise I would've jumped at the chance to volunteer and get some first-hand (ear?) noise experience.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

if you dont want aggression to your budgies you will have less problems with a tiel


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

I live in an apartment with my 'tiel. She is generally pretty quiet, but does scream at times, especially when I have people over and we are talking in a group. 

Like you, I never hear any noise from the apartments on either side of me. My guess is that if the walls really were thin enough for lots of noise pollution, I WOULD hear things because there just wouldn't be any way around it. I figure even if my 'tiel yells loud enough to be heard, not enough noise would come through to really be intrusive. My neighbors certainly don't seem to mind. I think especially if you can hear road noise in your complex, a 'tiel should be no problem. Of course, people can always be unreasonable, but I tend to think some amount of noise pollution is to be expected with apartment living, and I'd rather hear bird noises than dogs barking or kids screaming.


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## Ran (Aug 16, 2011)

While I have had some pretty interesting suggestions on other places, I'm thinking a 'tiel is probably just the easiest and less complex bird to focus on. There's so much info on them, I'm so much more likely to find a breeder nearby and they seem to be rounding out to be the closest to what I'm looking for.

Now comes the fun part - hunting down a potential local breeder and getting ready for some big purchases in two or three months or so


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## NardiB (Jun 16, 2011)

i have 2 tiels and live in a small apartment


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## jc119007 (Dec 28, 2009)

I live in a modern appartment (concrete and brick) with my monster and even though she can scream at times I've never had any complaints from the neighbours- my closest neighbour even thinks it's "cute" that she carries on like an alarm when I open the door! If my flat is all shut up then it can be quite difficult to hear her outside, and even then the sound is muffled. In summer we tend to keep one window open with the shutter down (to keep the place cool) and the balcony door, and again only my closest neighbour can really hear her if Kikou gets going, and she's never said anything.
I think you'll be ok in your flat with a cockatiel, the only real concern is of course how modern your place is, if your flat is 15 years old with no double glazing (for example) you might have more problems with the neighbours because of the noise.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Cockatiels can do great in apartments!


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## Shotoetoe (May 1, 2011)

Me and my partner have 7 cockatiels and we live in an appartment 

It's hardly a problem. They have their loud moments, but generally they are pretty quiet birds (especially the females, so you could get a female to be sure).
Also as long as you do not stimulate noisy behaviour by giving them attention when they're noisy, they usually only make a fuzz when something happens around them.

I do have doubts about budgies and tiels together though, as I've found plenty of instances where the budgies attack the tiel. But I don't have any budgies (nor will I ever) so I'm not the right person to talk about that


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## littletiel (May 15, 2011)

I have 1 tiel and am also a musician... No complaints. My tiel is not really loud. Sometimes he is a bit loud, but when he gets what he wants he stops immediately. At any rate, I don't think it is a problem at all to have a tiel in an apartment.


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## Woodstock (Feb 25, 2011)

I just moved into an apartment. Cockatiels and budgies are allowed, BUT parrots are not. Hmmmm.....  They are all parrots, but I understand a large parrot would be louder.


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