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Color. Song. Playfulness. These are some of the reasons people choose birds for pets. Birds don't take up a lot of space and they are very social creatures.

Pet birds fall into two categories: the parrot-types and the non-parrot species. Parrots are characterized by a curved shape of their beaks. They are often colorful and are considered the most intelligent of birds. Many parrots are capable of imitating human speech. They vary in size and have very long life spans, up to 80 years for large Cockatoos, Amazons and Macaws. The most common types of pet parrot-type birds include:

• African Grey Parrots
  
• Amazons
  
• Budgies
  
• Cockatiels
  
• Cockatoos
  
• Conures
  
• Eclectus Parrots
  
• Fig Parrots
  
• Kakariki
  
• King Parrots
  
• Lories
  
• Lovebirds
  
• Macaws
  
• Moustache Parrots
  
• Parakeets
  
• Parrotlets
  
• Pionus
  
• Poicephalus
  
• Quaker Parrots/Parakeets

Nonparrot birds that make great pets are also preferred for their color and vocalizations. There are wide varieties among these leading species:

• Canaries
  
• Doves
  
• Finches
  
• Pigeons
  
• Quails
  
• Mynahs