These were their second and third birds, respectively. The family's first love, and most favored companion bird was a common monk parrot. We kept hearing such wonderful things about African greys and yellow napes, and such rotten things about quakers, we thought we were missing something. But our two large-bird experiences have only served to show us how wonderful our quaker is. I believe this is one of those cases wherein the more you get to know individual members of the group, one on one, the more you love them.
Quakers are behaviorally predictable and respond dependably to common behavioral techniques.
Because they aren't cavity breeders, companion monks aren't usually as destructive as many of their cousins. He even grooms his own nails by blunt filing them on the rough bars of his wroght iron cage. Monk parrots are the darlings of the pet trade and subject to limited availability even in states where the are legal. I sell more quakers than any other small parrot. Karen Goodman, owner of The African Grey, a birds-only store, reports than in nine months when they are available, she sells more quakers than cockatiels.