Anyone into birds & bird rescue?

The big birds are VERY long lived.  Like 80 years or so.  They require a TON of room.  AT least to be humane about it.  The flight cage they need is way bigger than my house can tolerate, AND be really cautious because they can be noisey while you are gone. 
 
I'm not trying to dissuade you -- but they are a BIG commitment, hence there are often a lot of them in rescue of sorts.  You can often simply call area animal shelters and exotics can be easy to find.  In tropical areas people simply assume they can leave them on a patio or lanai, and they get NOISY when you're gone (neighbors complain, birds get ditched, etc.)
 
However -- that being said -- you will be taking on the bird's learned habits.  And they do get firmly attached to people -- and grieve sadly for former owners. 
 
The other thing to consider is vets -- not all vets work on exotics, particularly not on the big birds, so I'd scope that out. 
 
But if you can be patient to re-train, and IF you are willing to take on a bird and allow it to be "himself" and not be terribly disappointed that you can't teach it all YOU want it to know, do or say then great.
 
Some of them truly thrive under attentiveness -- so you can overcome much that way. 
 
But remember -- birds and dogs don't always mix -- we don't allow interaction between the dogs we have now and our cockatiel (who talks).  However, he DOES sit on top of the dogs' crates!  He and they seem to mutually enjoy the company.
 
My ex used to let his bird roam all around on the floor.  I had at the time a small pom/peke mix.  Pris had never known a bird before and Torii had never known a dog.  But they quickly established a unique rappport.  They would often be found near each other, tho not 'snuggling' or anything.  But he respected her teeth and she respected his beak. 
 
Can surely be interesting. 

Considering Australia has a lot of large parrots and I've been involved with wild birds for the last few years, I suppose I know a little about these guys.

First and foremost, they're NOISY. You can't even imagine it until you have a sulphur-crested cockatoo welcome the new day at sunrise. Talk to anyone who's lived with or near cockatoos and they'll agree that they only know of one way of communicating and that is to shout at the top of their lungs. I cannot believe how loud those buggers can be. Of course, I've lived in areas where flocks of 100 or so like to roost in the trees outside, so I know a little too well. [:'(]

They're also incredibly bright. The first thing a parrot learns is that they can get you to come and pay attention to them by shrieking and they'll shriek often to get you to come talk to them. They're very social and expect you to be spending most of your time with them. If they don't get enough to do, they pull their feathers out in captivity. I met a pair of gang gang cockatoos kept in a large aviary in a wildlife park. They were so bored the male was plucking the female. They had to deliver activity feeds numerous times a day to keep them happy. So flight space is one thing, but it doesn't mean much to a parrot that doesn't have enough to do or enough time with their people. I consider large parrots to be far more demanding than a dog to keep.

They can also be very messy. I know a lorikeet that seems to have projectile poo. He can cover the walls from top to bottom all from his cage. It's incredible. He's a fruit/nectar eater, though, which probably has something to do with it.

Because they're so smart, you can teach them just about anything. There was a famous corella over here that was trained to do all sorts of things, the coolest being toileting in the bin. The owners had an incredible relationship with him and he knew what a lot of the words he said meant, but that all came about from spending an awful lot of time with him.

I don't think the flight room is as important as having the parrot with you as much as possible. If you can train it to be good out of the cage so it can spend more time with you, it won't want to fly away.

I think they make wonderful pets provided you're prepared to spend most of your time with them. They really are miserable by themselves. Oh, and they can also be very destructive. I've heard stories of flocks of cockatoos woodchipping the framework for houses. Every year they converge on any plant that happens to have red flowers and pull all the flowers off. It's bizarre.

Ahh, listen to those corellas screeching in the background. The sounds of home.

I'm a bird person ::raising hand:: . Right now I'm kind of bummed because there was a cockatoo in rescue that I put in an app for and they didn't even CALL me. :-( I don't know what their prejudice was. SIGH.

My first bird was a green singing finch, which what they call manyard weaverbirds in the pet world. They are not wild caught, not to worry. This little bird sang wonderfully and was finger tame. Lived for 13 years, which I think is quite a record for a bird the size of a zebra finch! I even took her to college with me!

I've had and rescued cockatiels, and had big birds, too. Two Amazons and a military macaw. I wish I still had them. One died of a kidney infection, the other two I had to sell for rent money when Ole was an infant and my husband walked out on us at Christmas time. At the same time my job laid everyone off. Yes, they laid everyone off at Christmas. I even tried to sell my violin but I had no takers. It was awful.

And that was over 20 years ago and I've missed my Buster bird the most. He was a yellow-naped Amazon with quite the personality.

If you want a big bird, realize you are going to have a two-year-old for LIFE. You have to be somewhat crazy to really enjoy having a very LOUD and BOSSY bird in your life. And yep, I resemble that remark! [8D]

I would highly recommend a cockatiel as a first bird. They are relatively quiet, very cute, can be taught to talk and do tricks and can be very affectionate. They don't live forever. They non-mutated colors live twice as long as the "fancy" ones, and are healthier. (Remind you of anything?) A grey cockatiel therefore would be what I recommend. My Reebie lived 15 years, and eventually died of a degenerative nerve disorder. She was grey. They've been known to live longer.

Stay away, FAR away from conures and lovebirds. They both have supersonic screeching that drives me up a wall in two seconds flat! Little birds, but really, REALLY noisy and obnoxious! The conures can have very sweet personalities, too, but the noise, EGADs!

I would not recommend getting a big bird right off the bat. Also, the macaws are the loudest. They have the biggest voices as they use them to communicate over the canopies of the Brazilian forest. Just the way bagpipes were used to communicate over the highlands of Scotland...on a clear day pipes can be heard up to 30 miles away. A macaw is certainly as loud as bagpipes.

A wonderful first bird is a Parrotlet.  They are tiny, smaller that a budgie.  They are not considered a parakeet though, but a parrot.  They are related to the Amazons (lol the birds, not the giant women).  They really are a huge bird in a tiny bird's body.  Of my three birds, my parrotlet Kiwi has the most personality; she is fearless, feisty, bold, hilarious.  Both my dogs are terrified of her.  Should she land on the ground, she will chase them both out of the room.  Though she is super sweet and adores me, she has taken a strong dislike to my 10 year old son.  She will attack him any chance she gets.  She is also cuddly, very smart, playful and relatively quiet (only a soft chirp).  They also have a very long lifespan for such a small bird- around 20-30 years.  I have a female, but if I were to get another I'd definitely get a male; they are a bit easier to train and have a greater ability to talk.
Kiwi was my first bird.  I was a bit afraid to take on the larger birds, and she was a great learner bird.  I have since adopted a cockatiel and purchased a conure.  I love the cockatiel, but I feel the parrotlet is a much more entertaining and fulfilling pet.  I would not get another conure.  I love my Pancho, but his scream is deafening.
Here is a wonderful parrotlet breeder whose website provides loads of information: [linkhttp://www.parrotletranch.com/index.html]http://www.parrotletranch.com/index.html[/link]
And the national "breed club": [linkhttp://www.internationalparrotletsociety.org/index.html]http://www.internationalparrotletsociety.org/index.html[/link]
And a pic of my kiwi:
 

It sounds like the smaller birds (generally) are shorter lived (with some exceptions) and it also sounds like they are the quieter ones.  (Is there really a quiet bird?)  Is that generally how it goes? 
 
When talking about the living accomodations for birds, what are we really talking about?  For a parrotlet or a cockatiel, do I need a full blown aviary or what?  I don't mean this to be "how small of a cage can we get by with" but I am looking at what kind of cost, what size of enclosure do I need to be able to accomodate in the house, that kind of thing.  Are these things that we can build ourselves or do we need to have steel bar cages? 
 
What kind of training are we talking about with birds?  Are there training classes like for dogs?  I don't really remember training my parakeets when I was a kid but they all liked to sit on my shoulder, my head, walk around the house with me and stuff like that, so I am sure that I did, but I don't remember very well any training.
 
What are the cons besides the noise and the mess of birds?  What are the pros besides they are pretty, smart and can be excellent pets?  What makes a parrotlet or a cockatiel a good starter bird?
 
Also, Leslie, I know that you guys move around some, do you move with your birds?  How do you do that?  How difficult is that on the birds?
 
Also, I am very interested in rescue organizations, do they typically adopt out to first time owners?  I would assume that you will encounter the same issues with rescued birds that you do with dogs, abuse, neglect and the like, how do you rehabilitate them?  Do they do well when rehomed?
 
I'm checking out the websites and still looking for information....thanks!

When purchasing a cage for the bird, you should really buy the largest possible that you can afford.  Bar spacing is very important because a small bird may get stuck in the bars of a cage with wide-spaced bars.  This is the cage I have my little bird in- [linkhttp://www.animalenvironments.com/barcelona.html]http://www.animalenvironments.com/barcelona.html[/link].  It was a lot cheaper 6 years ago!  LOL  There are also pretty inexpensive, good quality cages on ebay.

As far as training, no classes!  But birds are a lot like dogs in a way.  They are flock animals, and there is a pecking order.  You want to be at the top of this pecking order.  Parrots should never be allowed to sit on your shoulder or head.  The top branches are reserved for the top bird, and that should be you.  Parrots like to be in your company.  When they are misbehaving, the best thing to do is isolate them.  Some use a time out cage.  By scolding or yelling, the parrot gets what it wants- attention.  If the bird bites you, and you scold, he will do it again because he got attention.  If the bird bites you, and you quickly put him alone in a time out area, he will learn that a bite= isolation.  One must also remember that these birds are not domesticated animals.  They will bite, scream, throw food everywhere.  That's what parrots do.  You can only train so much out of the bird.

Parrotlets and tiels make great starter birds because they are not as intimidating as a larger bird.  They are quieter, less messy, less destructive.  Cockatiels are very mild mannered.  Parrotlets are very feisty- more like a large parrot, but easier to deal with because of their small size.

Cons- Screaming, mess, require a lot of care, avian vets are expensive.  Feeding takes a while- birds should not eat bird seed alone.  It's like a child living on candy.  I have to cut fruit and vegetables every morning for the birds.  I feed them 12 grain bread for lunch, and they get leftovers for dinner- whatever we eat: rice, chicken, veggies, etc.  I leave a pelleted diet in the cage dish.  Seed should be given only as a treat.  It takes me more time for me to care for the birds than the dogs.

Pros- Entertaining, affectionate, beautiful, smart, silly.  A lot of the same pros I would say for my dogs.

We've been lucky in that I have not had to make a big move with the birds.  We've been in San Diego for seven years, and I started getting the birds six years ago.  I would image that a long drive would be stressful on the birds, but they would make it.  They can fly under the seats during air travel.  Some parrots (like Quakers) are illegal in some states, so that should be researched before any purchase/adoption.  The West Nile Virus has made travel with birds a little more difficult., so I suppose you would have to look  into state travel restrictions.

There are two parrot rescue organizations here in SD.  They require that future adopters take their bird care classes.  Those wishing to adopt the smaller species take fewer classes (3, I think).  They also require home visits.  I haven't dealt with either personally.  I bought two of my birds, and I found my tiel in someone's trash on trash pick-up day.  Some people! 
If you do get a parrot through one of these organizations, I would try to get one whose owner has moved or died.  Problem birds can be very difficult, and you may never have a tame well-adjusted pet.

Though I am all for adoption, I would get my next bird from a breeder or a quality bird store.  Hand taming parrots take a lot of time and money.  After the bird is hatched, it is removed from its mother and hand fed every few hours.  Hand fed birds make the best pets because they see humans as their own kind.  They make much better pets than the birds you may find at Petco or may find at a rescue.  It's pretty much the same thing as dogs- you should buy birds from a quality breeder or bird store. 

Problem birds can make your life hell- they can be mistrusting and vicious, they can be feather pickers, they can scream nonstop all day long.  So it's really important to either get your bird from a good source, or if adopting, make sure that you and the bird are a good match.