6 Reasons Why Birds Make Great Pets

When most people think about owning a pet, they usually look at common household pets such as dogs and cats. However, an increasing number of people are choosing to adopt birds as their pet of choice–and for good reason! Read on to discover 6 reasons why birds make great pets!

Birds are becoming more popular as pets due to their unique appearance, high intelligence and different kind of maintenance as opposed to dogs and cats. So in this post, we’re going to take a look at a couple of reasons why birds make excellent pets and why you should absolutely consider it if you’re looking for a companion.

6 Reasons Why Birds Make Great Pets:

1. Birds don’t require as much of your attention as dogs and cats

One of the most enticing things about adopting a bird as a pet is the fact they’re not as needy as a dog or a cat. Whereas a dog can be considered on the higher end when it comes to maintenance, birds are certainly on the lower end because they generally just get up to their own thing and you can leave them be.

Of course, they do love affection and you can spend plenty of time interacting with your birds, but they aren’t going to demand your attention like a dog or cat. Dogs and cats need plenty of attention, along with high-quality food for their health; find out more at Freshpet reviews, but pet birds only require bird feed made from grains and seeds, so no special food is required.

In addition, taking care of a bird isn’t as stressful. Of course, there’s no such thing as a maintenance-free pet, but birds do take a lot less immediate care than other types of pets.

When it comes to feeding your bird and other general well being concerns, you have a fairly easy time in that department too. Products are well-labelled, such as all natural parrot food and supplements targeted at smaller birds, and there’s plenty of information about the different breeds of bird and how to best take care of them.

In terms of exercise and other maintenance factors, you can rest assured knowing that your bird will get plenty of exercise from just flying around the house or even a large cage. Of course, you’ll need to give them plenty of space to spread their wings (and even some time outside of the cage once you’re comfortable doing it) but that’s about it in terms of exercise.

As you can see, birds are a lot easier to maintain than a lot of people first assume, hence why it’s a pet option especially for people that are worried about committing their time to a dog or cat.

2. Birds aren’t expensive to take care of

When you consider the average size of a bird compared to a dog or a cat, it’s easy to see why they’re inexpensive to take care of. Buying bird feed is incredibly cheap and you get plenty of food to feed your bird for a long time.

Dog and cat food, on the other hand, can be quite costly and you’ll definitely need to dedicate a larger budget to your companion’s diet. This is another common reason why people are getting interested in birds as pets–they’re just cheaper to take care of over a long period of time.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can just skimp on food quality because it’s cheap. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, then you can absolutely get more expensive and nutritious food for your bird. In addition, you can spend a lot more on their cage and fun things for them to do.

We also can’t forget about any potential veterinarian costs when it comes to owning a pet. But in general, owning a bird isn’t nearly as expensive as owning a dog or a cat and it’s a great way to own a pet without investing too much of your money.

3. Birds can be surprisingly affectionate and social with owners

When you think of affectionate pets, cats and dogs tend to come to mind because they’re larger, can hug you and will generally be all over you to show their love. Birds, while small, can also be surprisingly affectionate towards their owners.

Birds love to socialize and show their affection to owners. They love being pet, they like hopping on their owner’s shoulder or hands and you’ll certainly develop a strong bond with your winged companion.

One thing to point out is that birds tend to show their affection towards a single family member. There are, of course, plenty of cases where birds will be affectionate to all family members. But in most cases, birds will stick with one family member and get accustomed to them before spreading out and showing affection to other family members.

This means that the family member that takes the most care of the bird and shows them affection will generally be chosen as the favorite by the bird. A bird’s unique way of showing their love is one of the highlights of adopting one and is certainly something that you’ll quickly grow used to.

4. Birds are intelligent and easy to train

Birds are surprisingly intelligent creatures, making them easy to train and a lot of fun to interact with. When it comes to training a pet, a lot of people are put off with the idea of cleaning up after their dog or cat and lecturing them about doing their business where they’re not supposed to.

When it comes to birds, training is actually fairly simple. They love affection and interacting with their owners, meaning they’re very easy to train and grow accustomed to. Certain birds, such as parrots, will even mimic the way humans speak and even sing.

So if you’re looking for a pet that is low maintenance, easy to train and full of surprises, why not consider adopting a bird? You’ll find plenty of guides on how to train birds and you can teach them all kinds of interesting tricks.

5. Birds have a long lifespan

One of the main reasons why people avoid getting a pet is to avoid growing attached to it. Since pets tend to have much shorter lifespans than us, we eventually need to say goodbye to them and it can be an incredibly devastating experience. In fact, some people find themselves facing depression and requiring therapy to overcome the loss of a pet. These problems draw many people away from pet ownership, scaring them from ever wanting to own one or take care of one.

However, birds actually have incredibly long lifespans compared to some other pets. Common birds can live well over 20 years, and some birds like Macaws can actually live well over 50 years. So if you’re concerned about the lifespan of your pet, birds can be a fantastic option thanks to their lives.

6. Birds don’t need much space in your home

For a lot of people, space considerations are generally the biggest problem in pet ownership. A small home generally won’t cut it when it comes to having dogs and cats since they need quite a lot of space to move around.

If you live in an apartment, then dog ownership becomes even more difficult and is often forbidden in some cases.

That’s why a lot of people have decided that birds make great pets. Birds don’t need that much space but can certainly benefit from having a larger cage or more space to fly around in.

However, even a large cage is considerably more convenient to manage than having a large home for your dog or cat to roam around in. So if you’re looking for a pet that doesn’t take much space, why not consider a bird?

Pet ownership is very rewarding and I hope that after reading these reasons why birds make great pets, you’ll consider adopting or rescuing a bird of your own!