Birds, with their vivid colors, melodious songs, and fluttering feathers, have always fascinated human beings. They have been domesticated and kept as pets for centuries, sometimes for their singing ability, beauty, or simply as a companion.
Birds are kept in homes worldwide, sometimes in cages, sometimes in aviaries or bird rooms, and even in specially designed outdoor enclosures.
Their presence brings peace and tranquility to the home, and their chirping and singing provide a refreshing atmosphere. However, keeping birds in the house requires attention, care, and responsibility.
This article will highlight the many aspects of keeping birds in the house, including the benefits and challenges of being a bird owner.
14 House Birds You’ll Love To Pet
If you’re looking for a feathered friend to keep you company, you might want to consider one of these 14 house birds that are easy to care for and love to be petted.
These birds are not only beautiful and charming but also intelligent and affectionate. They can brighten up your day with their cheerful chirps and cuddles.
Here are some of the best house birds you’ll love to pet.
1. Bluebirds
Bluebirds are a North American species of small to medium-sized birds belonging to the thrush family. They have stunning blue and rose beige plumage, with males having brighter colors than females.
These beautiful birds mainly feed on insects but can also eat some fruits or seeds occasionally. Bluebirds reside in open fields, meadows, and backyards across much of North America.
Their cheerful songs bring joy as they fly through their habitats, looking for food during the day before returning home at nightfall.
Seeing these beautiful creatures is often associated with happiness and hope – making them beloved by many people.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Turdidae |
| Subfamily | Myadestinae |
| Genus | Sialia Swainson, 1827 |
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2. Eastern Bluebird
The Eastern bluebird is a small migratory thrush in North America’s open woodlands, farms, and orchards.
The male has bright-blue breeding plumage, which makes it easily recognizable by birders.
It produces melodious songs such as jeew, chair-wi, and chili WEEW widow.
This popular species was declared the state bird of Missouri back in 1927 due to its beauty and charm.
In addition to being beautiful, these birds are also beneficial for farmers because they eat insects like grasshoppers and beetles, which damage crops.
They nest in cavities, so providing nesting boxes helps them thrive even more.
With their vibrant colors, sweet melodies, and helpful nature, it’s easy to see why the Eastern Bluebird is beloved worldwide.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Turdidae |
| Genus | Sialia |
| Species | S. sialis |
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3. House Sparrow
The house sparrow is a small bird of the Passeridae family. It has an average length of 16 cm and weighs 24-39.5 gm.
Females have dull brown and grey plumage, whereas males are brighter, with black, white, and brown markings on their wings and back feathers.
This species is one among 25 different kinds in its genus Passer. These birds are found worldwide, mainly near human dwellings where they feed off food scraps from garbage bins or gardens.
They also make nests close to houses, making them even more visible to nearby people.
House sparrows can be seen hopping around yards for food during daytime hours but usually hide in colonies at night.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Passeridae |
| Genus | Passer |
| Species | P. domesticus |
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4. Carolina Wren
The Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) is a medium-sized bird in the eastern United States, southern Ontario, and northeast Mexico.
They typically live in dense shrubbery or thickets near open areas such as gardens, parks, and woodland edges.
These birds are quite adaptable in nesting sites – they will build their nests anywhere from tree cavities to manmade boxes.
Their diet consists of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, which they forage for on the ground or among vegetation.
The males have an unmistakable song of loud whistles interspersed with trills reminiscent of laughter; you’ll often find these cheerful little birds singing away during the early morning hours.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Troglodytidae |
| Genus | Thryothorus Vieillot, 1816[2] |
| Species | T. ludovicianus |
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5. Barn Swallow
The Barn Swallow is a beautiful passerine bird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. Found in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
It has an astonishingly large natural distribution spanning 251 million square kilometers globally, likely making it one of the world’s most widespread species.
This swallow typically nests near human habitation and other open areas such as fields or grasslands, providing them with suitable invertebrate prey to feed on.
They are insectivorous birds that often fly together in flocks looking for food over rivers or marshes, usually just above tree-top level.
The barn swallow can also be identified by its strong flight of swift, continuous wing beats interspersed with glides. They hold their wings slightly raised at the shoulders, giving them distinct V-shaped silhouettes in the sky.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Hirundinidae |
| Genus | Hirundo |
| Species | H. rustica |
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6. Swallows
Swallows are small songbirds found worldwide on all continents, even Antarctica. They have a distinctive appearance and are highly adapted to aerial feeding with their long wings and forked tails.
There is an estimated 90 species of swallows in 19 different genera, making them one of the most widespread bird families on earth.
The barn swallow is perhaps the most well-known species among these birds due to its presence near human settlements across Europe; they’re so ubiquitous that “swallow” has become synonymous with this particular type of bird there.
Swallows also play important roles in ecology as insectivores, some species migrating vast distances yearly between summer breeding grounds and wintering locations.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Suborder | Passeri |
| Family | Hirundinidae Rafinesque, 1815 |
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7. Swifts
Swifts are small, aerial birds that belong to the Apodidae family. They look similar to swallows but aren’t related in any way.
Swifts have evolved differently from other passerines and instead share an order with hummingbirds – the Apodiformes.
The Hemiprocnidae also shares a close relationship with swifts, referred to as ‘treeswift’, due to their affinity for perching on trees rather than flying through the air like regular swifts do.
While these two species may appear quite similar at first glance, closer inspection will reveal vast differences between them, which have come about over time via convergent evolution.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Apodiformes |
| Family | Apodidae Hartert, 1897 |
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8. House Wren
The House Wren is a small bird of the Wren family found in Canada and South America. It’s quite common in suburban areas and is one of the most widely distributed native birds in North and South America.
Its taxonomy can be complicated, with some subspecies groups considered separate species.
The House Wren has a brown back, grey head, white eyebrow stripes, light chestnut belly, and buffy flanks.
They often inhabit old or abandoned buildings and shrublands near fields or open woods for nesting sites.
During the breeding season, they are highly territorial, so create an inviting environment if you wish to invite them into your yard.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Troglodytidae |
| Genus | Troglodytes |
| Species | T. aedon |
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9. Tree Swallow
The Tree Swallow is a migratory bird of the Hirundinidae family, first described by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot in 1807. It has glossy blue-green upperparts and white underparts with iridescent violet on its throat and breast.
Its wings are blackish above with pale grey below, while its tail feathers are blackish-blue with white edges.
During the breeding season, they build cup-shaped nests out of grasses or twigs lined with animal hair or fur found near their nesting sites.
They feed mainly on insects such as flies and beetles that they catch while flying over fields or water surfaces during summer when food is abundant for them to survive migration back southward in the wintertime.
The tree swallow is an important part of our environment both aesthetically and ecologically due to its insectivorous diet helping keep pest populations low in certain areas where crops may otherwise be damaged without these birds around.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Hirundinidae |
| Genus | Tachycineta |
| Species | T. bicolor |
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10. Violet-Green Swallow
The Violet-green Swallow is a small North American passerine bird belonging to the swallow family.
These birds are known for their aerial insectivorous diet and beautiful green coloration with white rump side patches that appear to separate them from other swallows.
They inhabit areas along the west coast of America, ranging from Alaska down to Mexico and extending eastwards to Montana and Texas.
This species can be seen swooping through open air in search of food or heard chirping away during its mating season, usually between April and late summer months.
It’s an important part of many ecosystems because it controls insect populations.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Hirundinidae |
| Genus | Tachycineta |
| Species | T. thalassina |
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11. Purple Martin
The Purple Martin is a beautiful passerine bird in the swallow family and the largest in North America.
It has dark blackish-blue feathers with an iridescent sheen, making them appear blue or deep purple depending on the light; they may even look green.
These birds are quite social creatures and often build communal roosts with multiple nests, having as many as hundreds of individuals living together at once.
They feed mainly on flying insects such as flies, moths, wasps, and bees.
Their habitats include areas near bodies of water like lakes or rivers where there’s plenty for these birds to eat all year round.
The Purple Martin is truly an amazing species worth protecting.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Hirundinidae |
| Genus | Progne |
| Species | P. subis |
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12. Western Bluebird
The Western Bluebird is a small North American thrush formally described by English naturalist William John Swainson in 1832.
It has six subspecies and measures 15 to 18 cm long, with the adult male being bright blue on top and light orange-brown underneath.
Its wings have white bars which contrast against its bright plumage. The female is duller overall but retains the same wing pattern as its counterpart.
In addition, it also sports an attractive reddish patch near its bill area when breeding season arrives.
This species can be found inhabiting open woodlands, grassy meadows, or agricultural areas of western America from Alaska southwards into Mexico and Guatemala, where they feed mainly on insects such as beetles, flies, ants, etc..
All in all, this gorgeous bird adds color to any environment.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Turdidae |
| Genus | Sialia |
| Species | S. mexicana |
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13. True Sparrows
True sparrows, known as the Passer genus, are small birds with thick bills for consuming seeds. They come in grey or brown shades and comprise 28 species, including the common house sparrow and Eurasian tree sparrow.
These birds are predominantly found in the Old World and have been introduced to different parts of the globe.
Despite their size, true sparrows have adapted to survive in various environments. Their wide distribution, resilient nature, and humble size make them a familiar and much-loved bird species.
Watching these charming little birds forage for seeds is a delightful sight and an excellent way to connect with nature.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Passeridae |
| Genus | Passer Brisson, 1760 |
14. Wrens
Wrens are small passerine birds that belong to the Troglodytes genus. They measure around 11-13 centimeters long and have brownish feathers on their upper and pale feathers on their lower sides.
They have strong legs and short, rounded wings with a dark, barred pattern. Their tails are frequently cocked, and their flight pattern is direct and buzzing. Wrens prefer cooler habitats compared to other birds.
They are known for their melodious songs, especially during the nesting season. Wrens are also known to build dome-shaped nests that have small entrance holes.
They are known for their agility and are often observed hopping through thick vegetation in search of insects and small invertebrates that make up their diet.
Wrens are essential in maintaining ecological balance and are a precious part of our natural habitat.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Troglodytidae |
| Genus | Troglodytes Vieillot, 1809 |
Conclusion
There are many delightful options for house birds that make fantastic pets. Whether you’re drawn to the vibrant colors of budgies and lovebirds, the enchanting songs of canaries and finches.
The intelligence and personality of parrots like cockatiels and African greys, there’s a feathered friend to suit every preference.
These avian companions can bring joy, entertainment, and a sense of connection to any household with proper care, attention, and companionship.
