Estimate the setup cost for a pet bird.
A bird setup is one purchase decision plus a cluster of small ones. The cage dominates, and it is the item worth overspending on — cage size is the primary welfare constraint for a captive bird, and an undersized cage cannot be compensated for with toys. The share figure makes the balance visible: if the cage is well under half the setup budget, the money is probably going into accessories that a larger cage would have made unnecessary.
Bird cage setup cost
Setup total = cage + (perches and toys + feeders + stand) + opening food and substrate
Typically half or more. Cage dimensions set the bird's daily range of movement and cannot be traded against enrichment, so the cage is the line to protect when the budget is tight.
Food and substrate every few weeks, replacement toys as they are destroyed — which is the point of them — and annual avian veterinary checks. The opening consumables figure here covers only the first supply.
Only after thorough disinfection, and never if the bars are galvanised or painted with anything that may contain zinc or lead. Both are toxic to birds, which is why a cheap used cage can be a false economy.