Questions from a newbie

Quakers can run to extremes when it comes to noise levels. My QP Ralph is a pretty quiet one-- he doesn't really screech or scream, and is only loud when he occasionally does a QP alarm call. But I've met other Quakers who were quite noisy; I remember one in a local pet store who had a screaming contest with a Sun Conure, and the QP was winning. I've lived in an apartment for a long time with three different parrots, and noise has never been a problem; the people and dogs in the building make more noise than any of the parrots have. For a while, there was a rather noisy Amazon living on another floor in my building, and no one around here ever complained-- but someone living two blocks away did.

Health issues don't seem to be a major problem with the color mutations, as far as I know. Ralph is a standard green Quaker, and I've never lived with QPs of any other colors-- but there are several on the Forum, and their human companions can weigh in on the subject.

I can only speak for Ralph, who isn't especially nippy. He usually only will bite when I handle his food dish, or will bite  playfully (sometimes a bit too hard, but not often). A Grey's bite is typically a lot worse than a Quaker's. The worst parrot bite I ever received came from a Rose-breasted Cockatoo in a pet store, who suddenly decided she's had enough head scratches and let me have it.

As cnyguy said, quakers aren't too bad noise wise. They can be loud at times,but usually there is a reasons. They are generally hardy birds. They are prone to fatty liver disease. This can be largely avoided with a pellet based diet and fruits and vegetables. Overall they are great fun to have and too smart for their own good sometimes.

Hi Nene, I feel I must weigh in here...our quaker is mostly not too noisy in terms of VOLUME, but she can emit a rather annoying squawk every 2 seconds when she's unhappy or seeking attention.
She does this if we walk out of the room or she knows we are going out soon. It can be extremely annoying at times, particularly for my husband (who has noise sensitivity), but it's all right for me.

I can't comment on comparisons between quakers and conures, as I've never had a conure...

I guess I'm saying it's the constancy of the squawking that can be irritating, not so much the volume. Cockatoos and other larger parrots are much noisier. If you can put up with some flock-calling squawks on a daily basis you'll be fine.

Hi again! No, I've never felt that and wasn't aware of that as an issue...in fact your comment in your initial post re reading about it has been the first I've ever heard this mentioned.
The only thing I've noticed personally is that the blue quakers seem to be slightly smaller than the green ones.
Bonnie weighs about 95-100 grams - lots of the greens on this forum seem to weigh a lot more and I went to a Bird Show once and saw a green quaker that looked at least one third larger than Bonnie.
I don't know if my perceptions are accurate. It could be that my quaker is just smaller regardless of colour.
Cheers & hope this helps!

Perfect! Well, the main dealbreaker (noise) has been resolved, and I'm glad to hear that you haven't experienced any health problems with your blue. Yesterday I found a breeder in town (as opposed to the 3 hours away that the other breeder is located) who anticipates having babies in the next few months, and will have mauves, which is my dream colour on a quaker, and are ridiculously hard to find around here, so it looks as though I'm all set!