oh man you can hope to teach them "manners" but they will show you that they have a mind of their own and they live life by their schedule, not anyone elses. And yes it is life changing and thats why most people cant handle it and birds get rehomed all the time. And thats sad, they have VERY strong bonds with humans and look to them as flockmates, when they get rehomed they dont understand whats going on. It takes a long time to gain a birds trust and have him just be comfortable around you. My boyfriend has been living in my house with me for about 6 months now and my grey doesnt quite trust him enough for some things.
A handful indeed, but so worth it.