All the Poicephalus species make good "Home Alone" birds for those who want a parrot but who can't spend lots of time (more than an hour or so per day) with their companions; or where the bird will spend the day alone while you're at work. How much time can the bird be alone and caged? A day or two or a long weekend is OK but much longer isn't good. For one thing there's the matter of food and water which won't last much more than that without refilling.
Just weaned hand-fed babies from a breeder are preferable to pet shop stock. Not that pet shops are bad sources of birds, but buying from a breeder, you'll know exactly what you're getting in terms of health, age and degree of imprinting on humans.
Other Poicephalus: P. cryptoxanthus Brown-head 8-9" Occasional pet $200-500 P. robustus Cape 13-14" Occasional pet $1000+ P. rueppelli Ruppells 8-9" Occasional pet $300-700 P. crassus Niam-niam 8-9" Seldom if ever seen P. flavifrons Yellow-faced 8-9" Seldom if ever seen
Vocalization:
The Poicephalus aren't noted screamers or otherwise loud or noisy. Most of their sounds are low key whistles, chirps, squeaks, and assorted chattering. Cockatiels are often more noisy (and more obnoxiously so) than Senegals, Meyers, or Jardines.
Activities:
Poicephalus love acrobatics - hanging, swinging, and climbing. Toys such as chopsticks, plastic film cans, Olympic Rings, and a bell on a string are favorites. They love to cuddle, climbing into your lap, shoulder sitting, and otherwise tucking their head into your neck. All love head scratching, and will often lie on their back in your hand, totally limp, while you scratch away. All them love bathing, and will usually do so on their own a couple of times per week if you provide them with a bath; if you don't, they may just use their water bowl! Some individuals can be potty trained, and one reader noted that his companion was self-trained in that regard. Generally the Poicephalus get along well with other companion birds of diverse species without displaying the jealously common to many species in that situation; but occasional individuals can be bullies.
Cages:
All but the Cape Parrot can be nicely housed in an 18"x 18" x 24" cage. Bar spacing of 1" or 7/8" is preferred; 1/2" or 5/8" spacing is too close and will cost your pet ragged tail feathers. A good rule of thumb on cage size is that smallest dimension should be 1.5x the wingspan
of the resident. That way there's room to flap without bashing into walls. However, "the bigger the better". The cage should have a floor grate, and should be cleaned every other day at least. Poicephalus seem to like to nibble a bit of food from their bowls then drop it to the floor to save as a "scavenged" snack later; so cage cleanliness is important to prevent them from eating fouled or stale/moldy food.
Foods:
Some Poicephalus may be leery of trying new foods, others won't. Given a second or third look, most will eat virtually anything you set before them. Although converting them to pelleted diets is not often successful, LeFeber Nutriberries are a good transition food or nutritious treat. Favorite foods include grapes, peanuts, cherries, cooked pasta, and boiled or sprouted bean mixes. They'll prefer fruits over vegies, given half a chance. Zucchini, other squash, corn on the cob, radishes, bell peppers of all colors, jalapenos of all levels of fieriness, yams, apples, oranges, and multi-grain breads are all acceptable foods. The important thing is a balanced diet. Keep a good seed mix in their cage cups, and serve the other items as daily snacks by hand or in a playpen food cup. About 1/4 cup of assorted food per day is average for Poicephalus (the larger Jardines will go for 1/2 cup).
Finding a breeder:
Check Bird Talk magazine. And your local bird club. Most will ship and guarantee health. The only disadvantage to a really distant breeder is that you can't go pick out the one you want.
Publications:
Editor: Randy Karg P.O. Box 204 Clarinda, IA 51632-2731 $15 per year.