I had parakeets and canaries when I was a kid all the way till I was married. Mostly parakeets and they were great. They were a little on the squawky side at times...when I'd run the vaccum cleaner or some other loud noise was happening or if two people in the household were arguing a little loudly, they'd often go on a rampage with loud squawking. They're sensative that way. But most of the time, they'd just sort of chirp and make warbly sounds. They're very easy to tame, very interested in interacting with you and lots of fun.
One thing to be extra careful about is that if you don't keep the wings clipped so they can fly a bit in the house, make sure no one opens a door to the outside. I lost a bird or two that way and apparently they don't have much of a sense of direction and it's extremely difficult to get them back. But I had so much fun with mine.
My mom and I would be doing the dishes and would leave the cage door open for a time and the bird would fly over to my shoulder, hop down my arm and ask to have a bath under the running water and in my cupped hands. Soooooo cute and as he would scrinch down low and wiggle around in my hands, it felt so soft.
Once or twice throughout my life, I had two at a time. But normally, one was tamed already and as long as I worked with both, they stayed tame to me. I tried to breed a pair. My dad made a breeding box according to specs, but alas...they were too tamed to me and weren't that into each other. So, I bagged the idea. I loved my canaries too....not the type to tame or train, but they sang beautifully. The canaries were a thousand times messier than the parakeets. LOL. But both will molt and make a mess...feathers all over. The canaries though, tend to scatter the seed and gravel out of the cage more. But they're at least smaller messes than those bigger birds. Whatever bird you decide on after checking things out, have fun! enjoy!
