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Hi all. I'm curious as to the MOST sought after parrots out there...what species do guys always wish you had more babies from? What species do you always have a waiting list for? You get my drift...what birds are selling like hotcakes now?

Thanks for the discussion! Kevin

PS..on the flip..what birds are NOT in demand?

I'm curious how your pionus are selling? Which of them are most popular?

TIA

Greys sell well all year round, amazons are in demand winter months, cockatoo's are in demand ( when everyone has sold out for the season) being the hardest to hatch and wean. Pionus - blue head is a good seller,red bellies are good sellers if you breed small birds.

Nothing is selling good now. Food is going through the roof. People do not have money to even keep what they have. It's getting so bad people are releasing the birds they can not care for. In over 50 years I've not seen things so bad. I'm personally not encouraging any of my pairs to breed, and will not hang nest boxes till our national economy improves.

I was wondering if anyone has seen a downturn in birds sales related to the economy issues. Man, I hope people really are not just turing their birds loose. Do you guys think this will put downward pressure on the prices we can get for our birds?

Yes I think it will impact the prices you can get for your handfed babies. Also, with shipping skyrocketing, it is going to real difficult to ship your babies. I cut down to only two pair of green cheek conure mutations. They are small, relatively inexpensive, and make good pets.

I have noticed tons of birds in the classifieds at give-away prices. Most common reason is that they can't afford to feed them or buy them toys etc. It's really sad when the animals suffer. Rescues are getting overrun.....its a truly difficult time. JMO

Sally
Idaho

I have bred the smaller Australian keets for over25 years. They sell well,but it depends on howmany competitors are out threr at the time.

As a general rule, I would say that rare birds and rare mutations sell well, because the COLLECTORS seem to have more money and more desire to keep up their collections. Cheaper type pet birds also sell well, like Cockatiels, small conures, etc. I would say, since I attend bird shows regularly and see what's going on, the hardest to sell items, are handfed Macaws and Cockatoos and Amazons, single wild breeder birds, and large parrot breeder pairs that you'd have to wait on for them to produce.
Breeders selling out that bring their pairs to the show, have the hardest time, esp. if they bring plucked breeders, old stuff etc.

Impulse buyers are buying things like lovebirds, Tiels etc. I would say that mutation handfed Tiels might do well right now.
This is all based on what I see selling at bird shows.

I live in Florida, where there are many breeders, and nobody I know is releasing any birds to the wild. If they can't afford them, they will always try to sell their birds even if at rock bottom prices. Plus, in order to be a bird breeder, you have to love your birds, since this is NOT a giant money making venture anyhow!, and no reasonable person will release their birds into the wild, to starve to death or be eaten.

Hope this helps, but I have to add that if you want to make money with birds, don't have any!

Personally, I think it's best to sell birds you believe make the best pets, not whatever happens to be selling like hotcakes at the time.

With the struggling economy and mortgage crisis, I've been seeing more and more ads for people who can no longer keep their pets. Either they are losing their home and must move somewhere they can't take their pets, or they are no longer able to afford their care. I've never seen so many ads for parrots at incredibly cheap prices. I took the nest box off my productive pair and am reluctant to put it back on.

Good advice Pet Diva! I've also seen classifieds full of parrots at low, giveaway prices! Most of the ads are due to owners who admit they can't "afford to buy their food" or are moving to an apt and can't take them (foreclosure). My heart goes out to these poor birds and to their owners. This economic situation is not good and who knows when/if it will get better?

Sally
Idaho

Economy is horrible. Everyone is downsizing.
Popular birds? The ones that are listed below wholesale prices

The bird market in Texas has been down since 9-11 for the larger birds.

The smaller, less expensive birds still sell. Good quality English budgies are ALWAYS in high demand. Everything about these birds is recessive so careful, individual cage breeding is called for. NO hand feeding for these birds!

There seems to be a moderate demand for lesser sulfur cockatoos. There has been a jump in the demand for budgies, especially English, but I doubt if I could make a continuing profit if I expanded production.