House pet

Question
I live in an apartment which is actually a basement renovated to an apartment. The upstairs tenants and I both rent from the landlord. My boyfriend and I are considering getting a bird. I was wanting to know if there is any specific kind of bird that would be better suited for living in a small apartment (maybe one that doesn't make a LOT of noise or has a low chirp that won't disturb the upstairs neighbors). My landlord has made it known that small animals are fine, just nothing like a dog that will tear the apartment apart. So I thought a bird would be a great pet. I had cockatiels when I was a kid and I loved them, but they could get quite loud. I also have  a cat so a bird that may easily get along with her would be great too( I know she won't mind it cause we had birds at my moms and she didn't mind them a bit). Any advise you can offer would be appreciated. Thanks.
~Taureen

Answer
Unfortunately, cockatiels are one of the quiest species of parrots there are. Usually for apartment dwellers, I recomend the following birds to start them off in their research:

Budgies (aka: parakeets)
Cockatiels (female cockatiels are quieter than males and are probably the quiestest of any parrot species)
Senegal or Meyer Parrots
Pionus
Pyrrhura Conures (like green cheek, maroon bellied or black cap conures)

However, all of these birds do make noise. When they get going, even pyrrhura conures and Pionus can be VERY loud. They just use their voices so little that it usually isn't a problem. However, if you think that the male cockatiels where too loud- I would suggest looking at female cockatiels only then. Or maybe a Meyer's parrot (they are usually very quiet too).

You can get more information on these birds at any of the following websites:

www.companionparrot.com

www.wingedwisdom.com

www.geocities.com/Conures123

www.geocities.com/PionusParrots

AND- I would HIGHLY recommend reading through the following through these articles, they will help you narrow your choices even further (and find out whether a parrot is the right companion for you and your boyfriend):

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww13ev.htm

http://www.realmacaw.com/pages/rightpet.html

I hope this helps.

-Maggie