Cockatiels are popular pet birds that can easily be found in a pet store or through a bird breeder. Twice as large as the budgie, cockatiels make excellent pets when hand
The cockatiel is one of the most popular pet birds in the world. Only the budgie can boast higher popularity. A small bird with a distinctive raised crest, the cockatiel is an intelligent parrot. While cockatiels can be timid, they can easily be tamed and love attention.
The cockatiel is a relative of the larger cockatoo. A native of Australia, the cockatiel's natural colors are a pale gray with round orange cheek patches. Pet cockatiels come in several colors. The average wild cockatiel, and most pet store cockatiels, are fourteen inches long and weigh approximately 75 grams.
Cockatiel Care
Cockatiel care isn't very complicated. They require a good sized cage. Exactly how big depends on your living space, but generally the larger the bird cage, the happier the cockatiel. Small bird cages sold in pet stores are too small for cockatiels, even if the bird cage is advertised as a cockatiel cage. At the very least, a cockatiel bird cage should be eighteen inches high and just as deep, and be approximately two feet long.
No matter how large a bird cage you buy, cockatiels need time outside of their cages, both for exercise and to interact with their owners. An hour a day outside the cage is the absolute minimum. The longer a cockatiel is allowed outside of the bird cage, the happier the bird. Cockatiels also need a variety of bird toys to prevent boredom.
Cockatiel food includes a good quality seed mix without too many sunflowers, and pellet food. For good health, however, cockatiels also need fruits and vegetables. Pet store cockatiels may have been raised entirely seed or pellets, and may refuse new foods. Offer new foods one at a time, and persist in offering the new food for at least a month.
With proper diet, cockatiels can live from fifteen to twenty years. A seed only diet can reduce this lifespan to twelve years.
Finding a Cockatiel
Your local pet store is likely to carry cockatiels, but a pet store isn't the best place to buy any bird. Pet store cockatiels are not usually hand-raised: depending on the pet store's breeder the birds may have never been handled by humans. It can take a long time for pet store cockatiels to trust their owners.
Pet stores that specialize in birds are more likely to have hand-raised cockatiels (cockatiels that are fed from birth by humans). A hand-raised cockatiel can cost double the price of other cockatiels, but the bird already trusts humans and bonds with its own much faster. You can also buy cockatiels directly from bird breeders, or adopt one from animal shelters and parrot rescue associations.
Cockatiel Personalities
Cockatiels can be very shy birds. A stranger or loud noise can make utter a hissing warning as they retreat. Cockatiels would rather flee than fight, but will bite to defend themselves.
The cockatiel's shyness and timid nature means they can easily be bullied by other birds. The budgie is much smaller than a cockatiel, but is quite capable of bullying, and injuring, the larger bird. Cockatiels are best kept in cockatiel-only cages.
Once the cockatiel learns to trust its new owner, it's quite willing to play and be cuddled. While not as big a cuddler as cockatoos, cockatiels often enjoy head scratches and can be taught simple tricks. The male cockatiel is a talented whistler and sometimes learns to talk. Hens are much less likely to talk.
Cockatiel Dust
Cockatiels, like cockatoos, produce a powdery down that covers their feathers. Powder down can trigger allergies and asthma attacks, so please take this into account when considering a cockatiel.
Resources
Bird Clubs of America. (nd). Care of the Cockatiel. Retrieved 30 October 2007 from the Real Macaw website at http://www.realmacaw.com/pages/tielcare.html.
North American Cockatiel Society. (nd). Cockatiel Care Tips. Retrieved 30 October 2007 from the North American Cockatiel Society website at http://www.cockatiel.org/tips/.
