How to Pick a Pet for Your Child -
Do Birds Make Good Pets? Part 5 of 12

Birds are usually easy to care for and can make charming pets for people, but are not much fun for children. Birds can chirp and make a melodious sound. While some people allow their birds to fly all over the house, this is not usually advisable as there is no way to train a bird. Unlike reptiles and amphibians, birds are not considered “challenging” enough for most kids and are virtually ignored when it comes to the best pets for children. Birds have long since been thought of as a pet for elderly women.

Birds are very easy to care for, however, and relatively inexpensive. Like hamsters and gerbils, they need a water bottle and a bowl of food. You can put newspaper down in their cage and will have to change the paper on a daily basis to keep the cage clean.

You are better off to get two birds instead of one. Two birds will live harmoniously together if they are both of the same species. If you are buying a parakeet, for example, you will be advised to get both a male and a female.

Your child will like watching the birds and can take part in making sure that they are fed and watered, however, there is not much more to do with the birds than this. Although, like reptiles, learning about birds can be be interesting for a child and can also give him or her an appreciation of nature. While birds may not be the most challenging or interesting pet for children, they are easy to care for and can teach your child about bird life as well as something about responsibility. Because they cannot come out and play, however, makes them not very desired by most children.

Years ago, young boys kept pigeons in coops on top of roofs in the city. Pigeons were a very popular pet for young city youths in the 1950s and before as these creatures would be taught to carry messages as people found that they would return back to the coop after flying off. However, today the pigeon coop is no longer popular or desired in the city and young people rarely keep pigeons as pets.