People adopt pet birds for different reasons. There may be some who find feathered friends extremely relaxing and love the colourful plumage. While, there are others who take interest on the ability of some birds to adapt human language.

Pet birds can be both those common and domesticated breeds of birds. People have taking care of birds since three to four centuries ago. These birds graced numerous kingdoms and palaces before it entered out living rooms.

So, if you are thinking of getting a feathered friend and unsure about what to pick out, there are some considerations that you have to think about. This would include ability to handle additional financial obligations and taking care of a pet. Birds are not easy maintenance pets, unlike what most people think. They are social animals who need attention from their owners. And you can be surprised how long these birds can live!

If you have fully considered taking care of a bird but indecisive of what kind you can take care of, here are some information about the most popular bird choices:

• Parakeets – this bird can also be called a Budgerigar or sometimes Budgies. These birds are ideal if you are just a starting bird owner, they are sociable towards each other and to humans. Their size range from small to medium making it easier to care for compared with big birds. Their life expectancy is about 12 to 14 years. But they tend to be noisy sometimes and destructive of their surroundings.
• Cockatiels - are birds members of the parrot family making them capable of learning human words. Ther are also pretty much advanced in their singing and whistling capabilities. They are also very much capable of copying sounds like a car alarm, ringing phone or other bird calls. There are different colors for these birds and can live up between 15 to 20 years.
• Canaries- are also very popular birds. This kind of bird is ideal for those pet owners who cannot give maximum attention to their birds. These birds pay little attention to humans and prefer to live in small flocks. Their life span would be about 10 years. What‘s great about canaries is that they sing beautifully. Male canaries have richer voices than females.
• Lovebirds – these birds are ideal if you live in a place where you are very close to neighbours who do not want too much bird noise. They can be very quiet and can live up to 20 years. They are also part of the parrot family. Some pet owners would rather have a single lovebird rather than a usual pair, so that the bird can bond more with the owner than the other bird.
• African greys- are said to be the most intelligent of the birds, especially in terms of their vocabulary. This intelligence is why it is important for an African Grey to have a lot of stimulating toys around their cage. These kind of birds can live up to 50 to 70 years.

But not all pet owners are happy with having domesticated pet birds. There are pet owners who prefer exotic birds which are usually from countries in Asia, Africa or Australia. Most of pet owners would choose birds from the parrot family since they would have very delightful colors and can show supreme intelligence.

But when importing birds from other countries, there are important regulations and rules which should be followed. Smuggling birds in countries can have an effect on the number of birds in their natural habitat (which sometimes lead to endangerment) and worse health for the birds and humans too.

Serious diseases happened in the United States because of failure in undergoing the proper procedure for bringing exotic and wild pets in the country. Examples of these diseases would be avian flu or the exotic Newcastle Disease.

When bringing in a bird in the country, make sure that you birds have been checked by veterinarians and avian experts for diseases. They should have a health certificated from the veterinarian and at the same time the permit issued by the government. Most cases of aviary disease and their outbreak can be traced to birds who have entered the country by illegal means.

There are many options when picking out the right pet bird for you. Regardless of its breed, size, or appearance, the most important thing is to take into consideration is that they would be around for a while. So make sure to pick the bird that you can enjoy, because they are not just commodities that you can throw away if you no longer want them to be around.