If you get a young bird from a breeder that is socialized and tame half your training is already done. A young bird will readily bond with you and try to please you. Here are my recommendations from experience. A Quaker, nanday, Senegal, gold capped conure, Patagonian conure. Of these birds a quaker seems to be in your ball park. The one I had did everything to please me and he danced , played dead, peek a boo, high five, played catch. and laughed a lot. Talked but not much. A breeder in my area (WNY) is selling tame ones for $150 -$250. They can be noisy but mine was not. My nanday conure lived to the age of just short of 28 years. Gold caps and Patagonians are out of your range although a both are very funny birds. Senegals run about $500 but they are worth it. Very active and quite charming. Sun conures and jendays are nice birds but they are noted for being noisy. They run about $300.

Don't forget you need a sturdy cage for any of these birds. Do not put them in a flimsy wire cage as they will bend the wires or snap the welds and escape. Been there . Done that.

Budgies are very active and energetic little birds but they are not as social as some other species. They aren't loud, though they do chirp often especially the males(in all species males tend to be more vocal) I find there chirps soothing and in my experience they rarely scream.

Cockatiels are social birds and very loving. They are louder then Budgies but compared to other species they're not that loud. They make a great beginner bird. This species holds a special place in my heart.

Lovebirds, good birds just not a beginner bird in my opinion.

Parrotlets, these birds have big attitudes. They make a very sharp sounds.

Pionus - A little more pricey, they are medium/large size birds. There mostly quite, very calm and make good pets.

Quaker are intelligent and social, these make good beginner birds. Though, they are illegal in some places since they are a threat to the agriculture in some states.

Conures are loving, nippy and very loud birds with a lot of personality. The Green Cheek Conure is the least loudest of the Conures but still loud.

The cages alone for these birds are going to cost $150-$400 minimum (Canadian prices) Edit: unless you get the budgie. Lovebirds and Parrotlets are small, almost like Budgies but need larger cage then a Cockatiel because of how active they are.

Edit:

All these birds are going to live 20+ years including the Cockatiel(15-20+ years)

Every species is a little different, some are all over the place while some are content sitting in one place and then there are some in the middle. I'm to tired and sleepy to write it all just do lots of research on the species.

Edit: Bugies live 5-8+ year.. I need sleep haha

Best thing to do is look-up on yahoo.com what kind of bird your thinking of buying the internet has all the information on any bird you like see which one you be interested in before you buy.....the important thing to remember is do you have the time for this say one bird you get.???? now this bird will be alone ,,how much of your time will he be alone ....1 bird no friend he`s got to have a lot of your time to train and play......good luck

I've been considering getting a bird lately and I'm having trouble finding info I need online, so I'm hoping there's some kind of bird expert here who can help me. I don't know a lot when it comes to birds and I don't want to get the wrong one. The only bird I've ever owned was a parakeet. Really, I just need some suggestions on a good starter bird, maybe a little bit of info about the bird you're suggesting.

When I say I want a bird, I'm not saying I want a budgie or a cockatiel. I want a bird that's a little bit more interactive but that can be a lone bird (I understand it will need a LOT of attention on my behalf, though.) I don't even care that much about something that can talk, though that would be extremely fun to have. I want a bird that is intelligent, but not necessarily a big parrot or African Grey. Quiet most of the time is a bonus (and something I'd love), but I understand that may be hard to find. I also want something that lives for a while - 20 plus years.

From what research I have come away with, I've heard that conures, especially green cheek conures, are a good starter bird, and that's what I'm looking into right now. I'd love to have a conure or something similar to it, but this is where I need your expert opinion. Is a conure a good starter bird? If not, is there something I can get that is interactive and is $400 or less?

Thanks in advance.