Does your Friend need a Feathered Friend?

First-time bird owners eventually (sooner than later) are faced with the question "Should I get another bird to keep mine company?"

I had the same decision to make for our GW and finally decided on a companion B&G. More details below but in short - I think the answer is 'yes' if you can afford the expense and time committment.

We got our GW (http://www.crcamp.com/birds) when he was 5 from a friend who had to give him up. He was 10 when we got the B&G as a fledgling 6-month old. They're now 20 and 10 respectively. We were very concerned initially about whether or not they would, as two males, get along. After about 3 months of gradually increasing the time they were allowed to be 'together' (without one of us just right there to break up a squabble), they bonded. Now, they are best buddies, screaming if one is out of sight of the other (sometimes a problem in and of itself, but that's another issue). They have separate cages for sleeping, but the rest of the time are in a common cage inside or a small aviary outside or on a ringstand. They get into fierce squabbles occasionally, screaming flapping, lunging, one hanging upside down and grabbing for the toes of the other, but they've never (so far) drawn real blood. A few minor facial scratches have been the worse damage. The B&G is by far the more aggressive, which surprised us.

The only real downside is that while the GW used to have a pretty good vocabulary, it's all but disappeared except for Hello and Hi. They largely communicate with each other but still enjoy the company of my wife and I and want to be wherever we are. One big happy flock.

BTW, another benefit of being together is that they will preen each other. I used to sit for a half-hour at a time several times a day scrunching feather sheathes on Sugi's head (the GW). It was great bonding time. He'd preen himself for a while while I was doing this and then start preening *me* - fuzz-balls off a sweater, scabs on my hands, fingernails, etc. I really enjoyed it. Now, Jazzy (the B&G) does that for him (and vice versa) so the *need* for me to do it for either of them isn't there, but we still do it occasionally. I'd like to more often, but it has to be on his terms (sigh!).

I think it's all about how much time you want to spend with them. With a single bird you're obligated to spend more. With two, they keep themselves entertained and the demands on you are less. That's not to say that there should be at least *some* personal interaction each day - for us it's at least an hour of dedicated bird-on-person time a day (plus time spent for feeding, plus showers plus cage cleaning plus moving them around plus ...). During the winter, when it's too cold outside for the ring stand or aviary and they're stuck in the common cage inside, we try make more dedicated time. But during nice weather, they'd rather be outside. And when we're outside in the yard, we usually let them out of the aviary to roam around. Sugi usually perches on aviary door and watches whatever is going on. Jazzy usually explores the top of the aviary for a while then climbs down the side onto the flagstones and goes for a walkabout. Obviously, we keep a **very** close eye on him while he's doing this.

If we're sitting on the side of the house (where we have a covered area) we move them to a big perch there (you can see it in the movie on youtube) or to a big swing under the cover with us.

We love them dearly, but don't want to (and don't want them to expect us to) be attentive to them 24/7. Some of the Macaw owners apparently have nothing else to do (more power to them), but we have other activities. Having two birds that we can trust to be together and to keep each other company for extended periods while at the same time having them be glad to come out and interact with us has, for us, proven to be a perfect compromise.

Good luck in your decision.