I'm looking for a bird who is good at imitating sounds and songs (such as ping pong balls bouncing and whistling a tune of a song), who is not overly large (largest size would be a cockatiel) and who can deal with a students day of class while being played with and let out in the afternoon/night time. I wasn't sure if a budgie or a cockatiel was more adept at the sound mimicking or if there was another bird who was superior to both? Thanks.

The bigger more expensive parrots are usually the best mimics but some cockatiels and budgies excel...it depends on the bird.

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i have 3 cockateils here who chatter and whistle clearly, listening to them you can clearly hear:
peeka boo> hello pretty birdie> come on>hello birdie, pretty pretty birdie and various whisltes - must get a vid and upload cuz its so cute, if you go for cockateils u want a male the females are as vocal as the males

i had budgies before but they never spoke just made budgie noises

heres an old vid when they were younger , its much clearer now but u get the gist, theyre really sociable aswell, clever birds and often disregarded

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we had a cckateil he use to wolf whistle, say give us a kiss, pretty boy, good boy, and use to sing half a pound of tupenny rice half a pound of treacle.etc. He use to make other sounds form the house also. There bright birds. cock birds are meant to be the talkers. My auntie has also a myna bird and he speaks loads and does so many sounds but hes very messy and its getting his diet correct.

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Banner By Smudge.

I used to have a little yellow budgie, who could whistle a fair few tunes... like the haribo tune, kill bill tune, old mac donald... can`t remember the others... but he could also wolf whitsle, whistle the dog... basically he could whistle alot of different things.

I brought him from the pet shop when he was about 14 weeks old and I couldn`t whistle myself, but I learned to whistle, just so I could teach the budgie to whistle.
I would whistle from the moment I woke til the moment I went to bed... whistling various tunes etc... I thought the budgie would never mimick my whistles... but after a year, one day, I heard him whistling haribo and then wolf whistle... kill bill ... and they just kept coming, it was lovely to hear him whistling throughout the day.

After I split with my partner, the budgie stayed with my ex and went on to learn to mimick other sounds... like the alarm clock that must have been fun... hearing the alarm clock sounding all day long

Also, altho I had been sold a boy bird... it was actually a girl the cere was mauve for a long time, but after 2 years it went brown.

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theres only one at the top of my list .......
a........... mynah bird.........r if you can get one a lyer bird....they can mimik anything
try this link ////////you like it .....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y

I suggest male cockatiels as they are great learners if you teach them
I have 8 of them they are very loving birds and quick learners

How about parrotlets, (smallest parrot in world).

They mimmick lots of whistles and sounds, and can talk with training.

Very cute

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It's a lot like nuts and bolts - if the rider's nuts, the horse bolts!
- Nicholas Evans

What about a conure? Green cheaked conure may be good.

U said about classes, so may not be good if in shared accommodation, as they can be loud, but these make great pets. I couldnt decide between these and a lovebird, and went for a lovebird! (but lovies dont copy words etc)

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1 Lovebird called Uno

In my opinion I think cockatiel is the best bird to own because they can talk and they're cheaper than other talking birds. I've also read about breeding them and it’s apparently easy and if you hand feed the babies you’ll have a very friendly pet that trusts and you enjoys it.

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