“Every time I decide I want a child I get another pet. I have 3 dogs, 13 birds and 3 horses, what does that tell you?”
Alyssa Milano, Actress
Pros and Cons of Keeping Birds as Pets
You consider getting a pet bird but are not sure whether birds make great pets for you or not? Great!
This article is exactly for you since I will show you all the pros and cons of keeping pet birds at home in the following chapters.
Table of Contents
Advantages of Getting a Pet Bird
- Birds can be kept in rather small places
- Most pet birds don’t need vaccinations
- You don’t have to spend much money on feed
- Keeping pet birds is rather cheap in general
- Birds don’t require your attention all day long
- Pet birds cannot break your stuff
- You will keep animals not many other people have at home
- You can get advice on how to keep birds on the internet
- You can become a bird keeping expert
- You can build a side hustle around bird keeping
- Nice pets for kids
- You don’t have to bird walk your little friends
Birds can be kept in rather small places
One advantage of pet birds is that you can keep them in rather confined places.
While you will need plenty of space to keep big dogs or other bigger pets, this will not be true for birds.
In fact, even if you live in a small apartment right now, you can still keep birds at home as long as you have enough space for a birdcage.
Hence, while you might not be able to keep many other pets in a proper manner in your small flat, you will still be able to keep pet birds and have some company.
Consequently, pet birds can be great companions for you in case you simply don’t have the space for other pets you may like even more.
Most pet birds don’t need vaccinations
In contrast to many other pets, most pet birds also don’t need vaccinations of any sort.
Sure, you could get vaccinations for them.
However, you will not be required to do so and most bird owners indeed don’t care about it.
This means that you will have to see the veterinarian less often and your overall expenses for your pets will be much lower.
You will also not have to spend as much time as if you kept dogs, cats or other pets that need to get certain vaccinations by law in many regions.
You don’t have to spend much money on feed
Another benefit of keeping birds as pets is that you will also not have to spend as much money on food as with most other pets.
Small birds will just not eat that much and bird feed is usually also pretty cheap in general since it mostly contains grains and other rather cheap things.
In turn, this means that you have to spend less money on food and can spend the money you saved on other things that are important to you.
Keeping pet birds is rather cheap in general
Since you will not have to spend much money on feed and also don’t have to see the vet often, birds are rather cheap pets.
Hence, keeping pet birds can be great for you if you are on a budget right now and simply cannot afford to get more expensive pets.
Sure, you should not just get a pet bird only because it is cheap.
Yet, pet birds can give you company and will still not financially hurt you as much as most other pets out there and you may even be able to keep pet birds if you are in financial trouble right now.
Birds don’t require your attention all day long
Another upside to getting a pet bird is that it will also not need your attention all day long.
Sure, from time to time, you will have to talk to your pet bird and make sure that it is fine.
Yet, the majority of the day, you can take care of your own life and don’t have to spend that much time on your birds.
This gives you a great level of freedom to do what you really want to do in your life since your pet birds will simply not require your attention as frequently as dogs or many other pets you could keep instead.
Pet birds cannot break your stuff
Keeping birds at home is also quite convenient since they simply cannot break your stuff.
For instance, if you have many precious things at your place that can break quite easily, you may simply not want to keep pets that can destroy those things.
Imagine you have a dog who wants to play around all day long.
Chances are that your precious things will not stay alive for long.
Hence, in such a case, keeping pet birds in cages can be far more suitable for you since they will just not be able to break your things.
You will keep animals not many other people have at home
Birds are also not among the most popular pets.
While some people keep birds at home, most people rather go for other pets.
While this can make you less popular among your friends, it still gives you the opportunity to stand out from the crowd since you will have a pet at home most other people don’t have.
In fact, many people will be curious about your new little friend and will come over to your place to see how your pet bird is doing.
You can get advice on how to keep birds on the internet
You may also not know much about bird keeping right now.
And this is perfectly fine!
You should not be intimidated by that.
In fact, there are many sources on the internet where you can get information from.
You can join forums or social media groups to ask questions and to get advice on how to keep pet birds in a proper manner.
Many other people will keep birds at home as well and at least one of them will have had the same issues and questions as you.
In turn, those people will be able to answer most of your questions and there will be barely any question that nobody could answer for you.
Hence, by joining those groups of people, you will learn quite fast, at least if you are willing to put in the work and time.
You can become a bird keeping expert
Over time, you may even become a real bird-keeping expert.
You may want to keep various bird species at home and you will soon realize that none of those species will look and behave the same.
In fact, like humans, also birds are different and you always have to adjust to their individual preferences and needs to provide them with a cozy home.
If you are in the game for a few years, chances are that you will know more about bird keeping than most other people do and you can therefore become a real expert in this field.
This can not only give you a feeling of importance, but you can also help out your community and also your friends who might want to get a pet bird as well.
You can build a side hustle around bird keeping
If you are really passionate about keeping birds, you may even be able to make some extra money from your hobby.
In fact, it has never been easier to turn your hobby into a business than in our current state of the world.
Thanks to the internet, you can now start a YouTube channel or a blog at virtually zero costs.
For instance, if you are a bird keeping expert, you can start one of those digital channels and build a real audience.
In the long run, you can monetize this audience and may be able to make serious money from it.
In fact, if you are willing to learn about digital marketing, you may even be able to quit your job and to go full-time on bird keeping.
Sure, not everyone will succeed in doing so. Yet, if you are willing to work hard, chances are that you will get to this point sooner or later.
Therefore, getting a pet bird may also provide you additional job prospects.
Nice pets for kids
Getting a pet bird can also make quite a lot of sense in case you have small children at home.
Pet birds are rather calm animals and will also not be able to hurt your kids in any way.
In contrast, other pets like big dogs may not be as harmful and it may not be advisable to let your kids play with those kinds of pets.
Hence, having pet birds at home instead of other bigger pets can also make sense from a general safety perspective if you have small kids.
You don’t have to bird walk your little friends
If you currently think about getting a dog as well, you should be aware that you have to go for a walk with your dog every day.
It doesn’t matter whether it rains or snows outdoors. Your dog will not care about your opinion in this regard.
In contrast, there will be no need to go for a walk with your pet bird and this means that you can stay inside your cozy four walls while other people have to leave their home also during times of unpleasant weather.
Hence, birds have an edge over dogs also in this regard.
Now that you know all the advantages of keeping birds at home, let’s also have a look at all the downsides that come along with it to give you a more comprehensive picture of what bird keeping really looks like.
Disadvantages of Keeping Birds at Home
- Pet birds can be quite noisy
- Problematic if you work from home
- You may not be able to go on vacation
- You can’t cuddle your bird
- Birds may escape
- You will have to clean the bird cage
- Keeping birds is not advisable if you also have a cat
- Your neighbors may complain about the noise
- You will not be able to teach your bird tricks
- Birds will not be that responsive in general
- Getting a pet bird is a long-term commitment
- Many people don’t know how to keep birds in a proper manner
- You may get bored in the long run
- Your pet bird may end up in the shelter
Pet birds can be quite noisy
One problem with pet birds is that they can be quite noisy.
In fact, you should not underestimate the noise level that birds are able to produce.
In extreme cases, you may not even be able to hear your own voice anymore if you keep too many birds in one place.
It can also be quite bad for your nerves to have this noise level around for an extended period of time.
Consequently, if you are a person who enjoys rather quiet places, you should definitely go for a different pet instead.
Problematic if you work from home
Since birds can be quite noisy, it is also not advisable to get one of those little friends in case you have to work from home.
If you have your own business or work in an office job where you will not leave your home quite often, you should make sure that your work environment will be as quiet as possible so that you can focus on the important things you will have to do.
In such a case, you may want to get a pet that is less noisy and that will not distract you as much as pet birds usually do.
You may not be able to go on vacation
You should also be aware of the fact that it will not be as easy to go on vacation for you if you have a pet at home.
Sure, you could still give your pet birds to your family or friends if they live nearby.
You may also be able to give them to a pet hotel for the time you are away.
Yet, this will still cause some extra work and people may also not be too keen on taking care of your birds.
You can’t cuddle your bird
Another downside of keeping pet birds is that you simply can’t cuddle them.
While dogs or other pets will be great in this regard, pet birds will not be suitable friends for cuddling at all.
Hence, especially for your children, pet birds may not be good companions since they cannot cuddle them during bad times when they need emotional support from pets.
Your kids may also lose interest in your pet bird pretty soon since it will just not be as exciting as many other pets out there.
Birds may escape
While it will be pretty safe to keep birds while the cage is closed, your birds may also pretty quickly escape once you forget to close the cage.
In fact, many pet birds escape each year and in case this happens, you will have a hard time getting your pet bird back since it may hide in the bushes or at your neighbor’s place.
Consequently, make sure that you take appropriate safety measures so that your pet birds are not able to escape in any way if you want to enjoy their company for a long time.
You will have to clean the bird cage
Another disadvantage of keeping birds as pets is that you will have to clean the bird cage sooner or later.
If you want to provide a clean and tidy living environment for your birds, you will have to clean your bird cage on a regular basis and this can be quite annoying since those bird cages will often smell rather poorly.
Hence, make sure that you are willing to do this unpleasant work before you decide for getting pet birds.
Keeping birds is not advisable if you also have a cat
Having pet birds at home can also be rather problematic in case you also have a cat at your place.
In fact, cats have the natural instinct to chase birds and to feed on them.
It is not their fault, it is just deep inside their DNA.
Hence, if you are not careful, you may wake up one day and may wonder where your bird has gone while your cat may not be hungry that day at all 😉.
Consequently, you may not want to get pet birds in case you also keep pets at home that may cause some trouble in this regard.
Your neighbors may complain about the noise
Since pet birds can be quite loud, your neighbors may also complain about the noise sooner or later.
While this may not be a problem if you have your own house, it can be problematic if you currently live in a rather small apartment with thin walls.
In such a case, it will not take long until you get in trouble with your neighbors, especially if your little friends make noise in the nighttime 😉.
Not only will this annoy your neighbors, but it may also annoy you as well since your quality of sleep will greatly suffer.
You will not be able to teach your bird tricks
Pet birds will usually also not listen to your commands and you will therefore also not be able to teach them any nice tricks.
Hence, if you want to have a pet at home that learns these tricks, you will be far better off by getting a dog instead.
Birds will not be that responsive in general
You should also not expect your pet birds to be responsible in general.
If you talk to them, your pet birds will often just look at you in a confused manner and will not know what you want from them.
This can be quite sad and you may also lose motivation to care for them due to that.
Getting a pet bird is a long-term commitment
Another problem with getting a pet bird is that it will also be a long-term commitment.
Birds can get quite old and some of them may even live longer than humans.
In fact, the life expectancy of pet birds is usually between 10 and 100 years and even if you want to keep birds that are on the lower end of the spectrum, you will still have to care for them for many years.
Consequently, make sure that you really want to take care of those little friends for a long period of time so that you can avoid any unpleasant surprises later on.
Many people don’t know how to keep birds in a proper manner
You will also have to spend some time informing yourself about pet birds and how to keep them in a proper manner.
Many people out there are not willing to do so and therefore keep their birds in a rather poor manner.
Hence, if you are one of those lazy people as well, you may be better off by not getting a pet bird or also any other pets.
You may get bored in the long run
Since birds are also not the most exciting pets, you may also get bored by them pretty soon.
Yet, your birds will still live for quite a long time.
Thus, make sure that birds are really the perfect pets for you before actually going for getting one.
Your pet bird may end up in the shelter
It is quite sad. Yet, many pet birds still end up in the shelter each year since people simply do no longer want to care for them.
Therefore, if you don’t want to increase the number of shelter animals, make sure to inform yourself properly before getting a pet bird for your home.
Top 10 Pet Birds Pros & Cons – Summary List
| Pet Bird Pros | Pet Bird Cons |
|---|---|
| Pet birds can be kept in small places | Pet birds can be noisy |
| Pet birds don’t need all your attention | Your neighbors may complain |
| Safe pets for kids | Your quality of sleep may suffer |
| Pet birds are rather cheap pets | Pet birds are not exciting |
| You don’t have to get vaccinations | Your kids may lose interest rather soon |
| Keeping pet birds is not time-consuming | Your pet bird may escape |
| Pet birds will not break your things | Pet birds may end up in the shelter |
| You can become a pet bird expert | May prevent you from going on vacation |
| You may be able to make some money | You can’t cuddle your bird |
| You can find help on the internet | You have to clean the bird cage |
Should You Keep Birds As Pets?
As you can see from the previous discussion, there are indeed many advantages and disadvantages of pet birds.
You should definitely take your time and evaluate all the pros and cons so that you can make a profound decision in this regard.
If you come to the conclusion that birds are not the right pets for you, you may get a dog, cat, guinea pig, mini pig, bunny, snake, spider, rat or fishes instead.
Sources
https://www.thesprucepets.com/top-friendly-pet-bird-species-390535
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird
About the Author
My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.
In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.
