I am a very experianced bird handler. I bought my first bird when I was 12 years old, by the time I was 18 I owned 27 birds. I started working (training birds) at the local zoo when I was 14, however when I turned 20 I was forced to relocate to a different zoo (and a different type of animal). The combination of the move of about 500 miles and housing restrictions when I got there sadly forced me to sell/give away all of my birds (took me FOREVER to find them all good homes).

That was 5 years ago, now I am just itching to get another bird... I just can't take it anymore. The house is far to quiet... BUT now I have a wife and a baby. My wife has never owned a bird and the only experiance she has had was with a super aggressive Lesser Sulpher Crested Cockatoo that a friend in her home town had. She has told me I can get whatever bird I want, therefore the search began!

Now heres my problem. I have narrowed down my search to:

   1) Umbrella Cockatoo - I love the cuddle-factor, have plenty of time (so thats not a problem), and had great luck with them before in regards to training them various tricks, but obviously not a wonderful talker... which is a factor.

   2) Congo African Grey - Love the intelligence, the "not a screamer" mentality, but not a very cuddly bird, and I am a little worried about having a "I hate the wife and baby" syndrome.

   3) Blue & Gold Macaw - Love the "kinda cuddly", fairly intelligent, moderate talking ability, and playfullness. Midline on the screaming, but obviously a very intimidating looking bird for an inexperianced person (wife).

I need to decide which breed to go with, I guess I am pulling towards the cockatoo at the moment, but just thought I would throw it out there for discussion (hopefully get some good feedback). I hope to get a bird that will give my wife a good first-time experiance so she allows me to get more birds in the future .

And before anybody goes there... yes I know that finding a good baby is important, and that every bird has their own personality... I am just looking for some generalized advice. I am very VERY picky when I actually start going to the breeders to meet prospective new family members... and so far I have never had a "Bad" bird... a few with "interesting" personalities, but I have had great luck.

Alright... your turn... shoot.