Calling all Cockatiel owners!

[Yako]

Hello I wanted to know a little more about cockatiels from owners, I understand that every bird is different, I just want to know a little more about them. What do you like about them, What annoys you a little about them? Favorite thing about them? Personality? If you could change one thing about them what would it be? Thanks

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

yup..each one is different..BB is my first cockatiel. After reading many posts here,I decided on getting one after Smokey passed away. I've always had two birds,amy grew up with Smokey and was depressed like I was when she passed.

Beebs came from a breeder,who has been in business for nearly 40 years,and breeds all sorts of birdies,so I was confident with were BB was coming from.
With getting ANY bird,let him/her choose YOU,it'll make it so much easier when bonding/training begins. Out of four Normal Gray birds available to go home that day,BB was the only one who was interested in me The other three either didn't give a hoot,or ran away when I got close to them. BB hopped right on my hand and walked up my arm to sit on my shoulder then twittle/chirp in my ear He had picked ME and he came home with me that day.

Right from the get-go he was a sweet heart. I didn't even put him in his new house when we got home,I let him sit on my shoulder while I played on the computer. He took to head skritches right away. I talked to him as he twittled away ( the very first thing he learned was the wolf whistle,that took about five days for him to get down pat). He was clipped so he couldn't fly,and he hadn't even molted his baby clothes yet (that took what seemed to be a LONG time lol) So for him to get around,he had to use me as his taxi.
I immediately introduced him to friends,to socialize him. My brother when he came over,my son,my buddies Joe and DJ (who are now "Uncle Joe" and "Uncle DJ").
So Beebers got used to new faces fast! He does his wolfie whistle to Joe and DJ..he doesn't even have to see them,just hear their voices lol.
He learned to whistle the andy Griffith and Addams family theme songs very fast. He says a few words very clearly.."little boy..little boy"..."BB good boy!".."hello" "Beebers"..and a few others. He whistles and mixes up on the theme songs lol. I let him learn to fly,which he does very well. He'll fly to me when I call to him.
He plays a game with me..I let him out of his house then sit on the couch. he'll come running across the floor to me saying "c'mon..c'mon" then as soon as he is ready to step up on my hand,he turns and runs off in the other direction,still saying c'mon c'mon lol and he'll do this for five minutes or so then finally step up on my hand

Cockatiels get frightened easily (at least to me). If he gets scared,he'll take off flying at full throttle,yelling his fool head off,and fly like he is out of control! He has smacked the wall a few times I was considering getting him clipped at one point,but now he can zoom down the halls and turn on a dime,can even fly in circles in my kitchen without crashing!

I can put my hand around him while he is on my shoulder and kiss his little face and he makes kissy sounds back to me. He will SING HIS HEART OUT,in my ear,beaky pressed to my cheek. As soon as he hears me get up in the morning,doesn't even have to see me,he just lights up and whistles his heart out.


He can/will/does get night frights at times...teils do this..something scares the crap out of him when he is in bed for the night and he thrashes around in his house. I have to get up and turn on the lights and uncover his house and reassure the poor boy

The only thing he really does that bugs the crap outta me is..He WONT stay off my flat screen! No matter what I do!! I don't want him crapping on it!!! Oh...and he WILL NOT stop and try to do the chaa-chaa on my hand! He is relentless! I shoo him away just for him to walk down my arm to the other hand! Back and forth we go til I get fed up with it and put him back in his house!!!!
did I mention that he'll also "box" with my ear??

I paid $150 for him..If I knew then that he would turn out the way he did,I'd gladly would have paid $1000 This is JMHO though lol.


Jim

 

[Yako]

Does his powder dust ever bother you?

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Does his powder dust ever bother you?

Nope!






Jim

 

[Yako]

Wow Cockatiels sound awesome, I was also interested in free flight, Its not something I think of seriously, Just a thought. Has anyone freeflighted their cockatiel and/or has experience with it?

 

[LaManuka]

You could “free flight” but personally I wouldn’t. Cockatiels are VERY strong fliers, wild cockatiels cover vast distances searching for food and water in the wild and “domestic” (for want of a better term) birds who escape can travel a long way indeed. Also they can be quite easily spooked (see previous post about night terrors) and can easily fall victim to predators. My advice for what it’s worth is keep your ‘tiel indoors for safety’s sake.

 

[reeb]

Berry is a darling. She is sweet, gentle, and has a lovely temperament overall. My avian vet always says that she is possibly one of the sweetest cockatiels she has ever met. Although being very attached to me and calling while I am away from the room, she is actually quite independent and doesn't mind being alone with her budgie friends for a little while. She is good with other birds, and has never tried to bite them, or even other humans. She is so affectionate, and always loves scritches, and is very playful. She also doesn't make an excessive amount of noise (probably partly because she isn't a male and doesn't whistle or anything). So, personality wise she is just the best.

I can't think of many annoyances, but perhaps her slightly attention seeking behaviour is a little frustrating at times. Sometimes (not always) when I am in the room, and she is not the centre of my attention, she will do naughty things to get my attention. So she'll start trying to destroy objects, she'll go where she knows she isn't allowed, etc. However, I consider this to be a minor fault, and I don't take it too seriously. She does have night frights, unfortunately, but a night light next to the cage really seems to help. The dust is an issue for some, however I just keep an air purifier running and I haven't had any issues. Cockatiels would not be the best birds for people with asthma I don't think.

Clipping wings is a matter of preference. Berry's wings are not clipped. Free flight outside is not something that I would recommend with a tiel, though.

So yeah! She is a gem, and shows many of the traits of female cockatiels.

 

[itzjbean]

I had two cockatiels and they are both very different!

Boo is my 7 year old male whiteface grey. I got him when he was 3 with his mate Peach and they had babies for me in 2016 which were adorable. They tried again this year but sadly unbeknownst to me, Peach was sick and passed away from kidney/liver failure. Even after having babies he will step up for me and sit on my shoulder. He is fully flighted and likes taking laps around the living room. He won't let me touch or pet him though, he is not a very cuddly bird but is still hand-tame.

Ember is my 5 month old male pastelface pearl cockatiel, got him from a breeder after he was weaned (he flew on an airplane to get to me) and it was love at first sight for both of us. He has been my best buddy since the day he came home, he is much more cuddly than Boo is and demands pets and scratches, and loves sitting on my shoulder. He has never bitten me, he'll give me an annoyed beaking if I'm trying to make him stop doing something he wants to do. He is clipped so can't fly very well but still manages to make it a few feet before landing on the ground. I'm in the process of harness training him (aviator harness) and can't wait to bring him places.

COckatiels are great, I love them because they're small and easy to handle, their bites are not bad to endure (Boo has gotten me a couple times over the years), they do make noise but it isn't anything unbearable. We live in a duplex with someone above us and have never gotten any complaints about their noise. They do like to sing in the morning and evenings.

Their diet is pretty easy to handle, as they are small they don't eat a ton every day and so that also goes without saying that since they are smaller, it's less expensive to care for them then larger species like greys or amazons. Mine aren't destructive with their perches so they will last a long time. Since they are small it makes it easier to spoil them too with a big cage as mine wasn't too expensive and will last a long time.

So yeah, as others have stated it really does depend on the bird, you will get ones tha aren't so cuddly or affectionate but you will also find ones that just want your love, lol. It's always best to meet the bird before you take it home so you can bond and see if it likes you. Ember was sort of special in that he was extremely calm when he got home to me, it took him a few weeks to even make a chirp but once he did, he hasn't stopped.

I want to get Boo a girlfriend, lol as he is more happy with a mate (in my opinion) but I love both my birds

With a tiel, I would not recommend any sort of free flight. There are TONS of crows and hawks in my area and all it takes is one big gust of wind and your bid is gone and lost forever. They can, however enjoy flying in your home or in a screened in porch, something like that, or better yet, harness train them and they can come outside and sit with you on your shoulder and even make short flights to the ground with the tether around your wrist.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

I love cockatiels, in fact, they’re my favorite birds! Ducky, my female lutino cockatiel, is an absolute sweetheart. She has never bitten anyone, and all she wants is love. She is very affectionate and one of her favorite things to do is to nuzzle up against my cheek and stay there. She bows her head to beg for scritches, and when you scritch her, she turns her head and closes her eyes. It’s so cute!

Cockatiels are known to be very calm and peaceful, and Ducky lives up to that reputation. She just loves to sit on my shoulder and preen. Ducky isn’t hyper or always on the go like my conure. Also, she isn’t loud at all. The only time she makes any noise is when she’s in her cage and wants out. Keep in mind that male cockatiels are noisier because they whistle a lot.

Ducky is also very intelligent and has learned many tricks. She can do recall, wave, wings, spin, tunnel, fetch, basketball, and ring toss. The only thing she has refused to do at this point is any trick that involves her going upside down - it’s just not natural for cockatiels like it is for conures. So most cockatiels aren’t going to be doing acrobatics or rolling over on their backs.

I am a strong advocate of leaving birds flighted. Ducky is an excellent flier and just loves to fly circles around the room! She flies to me when I call her, and I’ve taught her to fly down the stairs to look for me. However, I wouldn’t recommend free flight, which is when you fly your bird outdoors. It’s just too risky, especially with a bird that spooks easily. Cockatiels are small and easily lost outside.

I really can’t think of a single thing I don’t love about Ducky. The dust may be an issue for some, but I’ve never had any problems with it. For me, Ducky is the perfect companion bird. So there you have it

 

[texsize]

My Cockatiels cover the board as far as behavior is concerned.

Cheeky is not hand tame, He sings beautifully, and I can only get him to step up on a wooden spoon to move him around.

Mango and Angle are two female birds I raised from the egg. The love to be scratched on the neck and petted on the head. The are 3 years old last month.

None of my Tiels are Velcro birds.

wes

 

[EllenD]

I currently have one female Cockatiel who I got as a hand-raised baby and who is now 4 years old, and she's just a sweetheart. Her favorite thing in the world is getting her head scratched, and no matter who she meets, the first thing she does is put her head right down for scratches! She's just a sweetie, she loves cuddles and kisses and loves to play with both me and her brother Green Cheek, Bowie. She's definitely the most docile Cockatiel I've ever encountered.

I grew-up in a house that bred Cockatiels, so we always had a lot of breeder birds and babies around, and then I bred them myself for about 10 years. And just as everyone else has stated, each bird is an individual. I've seen Cockatiels who are cuddle-bugs like my Duff is, I've seen Cockatiels that want to do nothing but play, play, play all day long, and I've seen Cockatiels who are a bit more high-strung. They do seem to usually make great companion birds, some are more independent than others, some are just always babies. I actually adopted a male-female pair who were only 6 months old when I was in college that I was intending on having as pets, they were parent-raised birds who went to a really horrible household/owner as just-weaned babies, and the owner actually had them taken away from him by the court system (they were reported by someone and they ended up losing the birds). They were put into a local shelter, someone told me about them, and I went and adopted them. I worked with those two birds for over a year, every day, trying everything to just get them to step-up, I separated them into different cages and put them into different rooms, I tried training them together, I tried EVERYTHING, and after more than a year the only thing that I had accomplished was that I got their health in good shape. They both bit so hard that they drew blood pretty much every time, the poor things were just so abused and neglected by their first owner that they just weren't going to trust anyone ever again. So I finally tried them out as a breeding-pair, and they eventually became a wonderful set of parent-birds for me. And they were happiest living that way, so I let them be happy.

I love Cockatiels, I always have. It's kind of interesting when I look back on how things change over time, as I'm now 38 (born in 1979), and when I was a kid growing up, it didn't matter what pet shop you went into, you saw both Budgies and Cockatiels for sale. Every single store had both, and they were usually hand-raised and very tame too (try to find a hand-raised Budgie or Cockatiel in a pet shop or bird shop now)...And then around the early 2000's, suddenly it was like Cockatiels went extinct or something. They went from being the most popular pet bird in the US to just vanishing. My mom stopped breeding birds around 2003, and I stopped about 5 years ago (I actually stopped breeding Cockatiels around 2005 and went to only Budgies and Sun/Green Cheek Conures), and since I have had numerous people who have bought babies from me in the past track me down on Facebook or through my mom to ask if I am going to have any hand-raised baby Cockatiels any time soon, because the one that I sold them as a baby in the late 90's has just passed away, and after looking everywhere they can't find one anywhere, not a hand-raised one, anyway...I always have to explain to people who call me looking for a hand-raised Budgie or Cockatiel that the reason you don't see many of them for sale anymore, least of all hand-raised babies, is because it's absolutely impossible to make any profit at all hand-raising them; in-fact, I was actually losing money overall at the very end of my Budgie breeding days. You just can't sell them for enough money, hand-raised or not, to merely break-even. So I'm assuming that's why they completely disappeared from pet shops, and slowly the parrots you can sell in the $200 and up range took over the market (I'd bet right now that the average price paid for a hand-raised baby parrot, regardless of the species we're talking about, if we just average all sales of hand-raised, baby parrots is somewhere around $500-$600, with the most-popular parrots right now being the different Conure species, because you can make an average profit of at least around $100 per Green Cheek, and around $200 per Sun/Jenday)....This makes me so sad as a lover of birds, because it's the money that is driving what pet birds are popular, simply because the profit is what is actually deciding what types of birds are even available. Sad.

This current situation is really upsetting to me, as both a former breeder and life-long parrot owner...I'd be willing to bet that if you took a poll from breeders who have bred different species of parrots throughout the last few decades what their favorite species of parrot to breed and hand-raise is, that the Cockatiels would win by a landslide, followed by the Budgies and other "Parakeet" species...It's too bad that if you want to breed and hand-raise them, you have to do it simply for the love of it, because you certainly aren't going to make a cent hand-raising and selling them, that's for sure. But the Cockatiels have always been one of the best-loved pet parrots, world-wide, and hopefully they always will be. They are intelligent, they're playful and funny, and they're loving and cuddly; Cockatiels really do give their owners the whole package. I was pleasantly surprised a few months ago to see 2 "Hand-Fed" baby Cockatiels for sale at my local Petco...Actually I was shocked, as they were the first Cockatiels I had seen for sale in a pet shop in years and years...Now as far as Petco's "Hand-Fed" description, well, notice that they never label any of them as "Hand-Raised", as that would be a lie; calling them "Hand-Fed" is technically not a lie, as someone has to pick the baby bird up and hold them while they stick the tube down their throat and into their crop for the 5 seconds it takes to shoot a couple hundred milliliters of formula into them; I hate Tube-Feeding and don't agree with it at all, but nothing you can do about that...At least they are now selling Cockatiels again...and they were absolutely gorgeous birds, both Pearls that were just stunning, and very healthy looking, I must admit. (Priced at $169, I guess their price was comparable to what a hand-raised baby pearl cockatiel costs from a breeder, they really were beautiful, stunning birds)...

 

[Karlys]

I didn't realize finding hand raised cockatiels in other places was so hard! Granted, we could only find them from non-sketchy places for $200-250 and $250 is what we paid for Skye. So I guess the price really has gone up!

Everyone has pretty much already said everything I would have about how amazing they are. I, unfortunately, hadn't met very many pet birds in my life and the ones I did meet weren't socialized or taken care of properly so they were mean. So, I never really even considered a bird as a pet that I would ever want or get because I had just wrongly assumed they didn't make good pets. But my SO had much better experiences with birds in the past and cleared up my misconceptions. As soon as we met all the sweet baby cockatiels, I knew that we had to bring one into our lives and I haven't regretted it at all. Even though I'm slightly allergic and she somehow gets Harrison's pellets EVERYWHERE, I wouldn't trade her for anything.

 

[smbrds]

I've had my little guy since 2003. He was 12 weeks old. I remember being up in the front of the pet store near the cockatiel bin looking at them, he comes up waddling up to me looking at me with his little black beetle eyes. The rest was history. He says a variety of words like Pretty Bird, Baby, Hello, Peekaboo and also plays peekaboo. I love his squeaky voice. He has a loud whistle that my dad taught him that could be heard in the backyard. During his time of maturing and hormonal periods that he used to have, he would do fly attacks since he is flighted. Not anymore though. I let him fly for exercise, but it's his choice if he wants to. Sometimes he'll fly over to his cage if he wants to go back or decides he wants to go on a shelf himself so then he'll take off. He steps up just fine, though since he's now a senior his feet gets a little stiff but he has a variety of perches and loves his rope perch. He at times relies on me to put him places.

While he doesn't like to be petted, we have our own ways of cuddling and he really is a cuddlebug. He can be demanding. Since he is a member of the cockatoo family, with his contact calls he makes they can be loud sometimes but certainly not on the level of a conure or cockatoo for that matter. He can also scream at times but that's only on rare occasion he lets out. Otherwise he's a happy little boy, more calmer these days and just happy to be on me and taking naps, hanging out and cuddling. He loves to shred paper, old magazines and books. He's pretty adaptable aside from having to change his cage recently because he's had his old one for years, but I managed to get the cage he used to have and now he's comfortable and happy again.

I love how his eyes look cross-eyed when he's focused on something or eating. That has to be my favorite thing. And the way he smells, it's the powder down dust that makes Tiels and Toos bury your nose in them. As a result of the dust, I do have a HEPA air cleaner.

I was originally going to get a budgie at the time as a first bird and researched both birds, but I'm so glad he picked me. I wouldn't change anything at all about him. Maybe he would eat more veggies but that's partially my fault for not introducing them early on, but he gets a bird chop mixed with grated veggies or sometimes I'll get him the Higgins Worldly Cuisine mixes. We are closely bonded and have a good relationship in ways that we also communicate as he extends his wings out doing the ''baby bird sign language'' to what he wants. It's cute watching him do that as I put him back in his cage, as if he's flying in motion.

I am forever glad that he's been with me this long and my best bird friend throughout all these years.:smile054::smile015:

 

[reeb]

I love Cockatiels, I always have. It's kind of interesting when I look back on how things change over time, as I'm now 38 (born in 1979), and when I was a kid growing up, it didn't matter what pet shop you went into, you saw both Budgies and Cockatiels for sale. Every single store had both, and they were usually hand-raised and very tame too (try to find a hand-raised Budgie or Cockatiel in a pet shop or bird shop now)...And then around the early 2000's, suddenly it was like Cockatiels went extinct or something. They went from being the most popular pet bird in the US to just vanishing. My mom stopped breeding birds around 2003, and I stopped about 5 years ago (I actually stopped breeding Cockatiels around 2005 and went to only Budgies and Sun/Green Cheek Conures), and since I have had numerous people who have bought babies from me in the past track me down on Facebook or through my mom to ask if I am going to have any hand-raised baby Cockatiels any time soon, because the one that I sold them as a baby in the late 90's has just passed away, and after looking everywhere they can't find one anywhere, not a hand-raised one, anyway...I always have to explain to people who call me looking for a hand-raised Budgie or Cockatiel that the reason you don't see many of them for sale anymore, least of all hand-raised babies, is because it's absolutely impossible to make any profit at all hand-raising them; in-fact, I was actually losing money overall at the very end of my Budgie breeding days. You just can't sell them for enough money, hand-raised or not, to merely break-even. So I'm assuming that's why they completely disappeared from pet shops, and slowly the parrots you can sell in the $200 and up range took over the market (I'd bet right now that the average price paid for a hand-raised baby parrot, regardless of the species we're talking about, if we just average all sales of hand-raised, baby parrots is somewhere around $500-$600, with the most-popular parrots right now being the different Conure species, because you can make an average profit of at least around $100 per Green Cheek, and around $200 per Sun/Jenday)....This makes me so sad as a lover of birds, because it's the money that is driving what pet birds are popular, simply because the profit is what is actually deciding what types of birds are even available. Sad.

That's really interesting. Cockatiels and budgies are very popular here in South Africa. Most pet shops stock both. That being said, they stock more budgies because they are a little more popular I think. I also see hand-reared budgies much more frequently than cockatiels in stores. There's at least two that I know of that always, always have hand-reared budgie babies available.

It is pretty easy to find hand-reared cockatiel babies outside of the pet-shop business if one can't one there. The local South African bird magazine, Avizandum, has an entire section on both their website and in the mag that are updated with people both looking for/selling birds. That is how I found Berry. There's also a site called "Bird Trader" where breeders advertise.

The prices may seem pretty cheap to a foreigner, but that's because earning in dollars absolutely drowns earning in our currency, rands. The current exchange rate is R14,79 to $1. So, goods are cheaper by dollar standards, but just normal by ours.

Berry is a cinnamon, and was R550, which is like $38. She was hand-reared, and sold by an established breeder who also offered various conures and cockatoos.

I just had a look in the magazine, and other more "special" mutations, such as Lutino Pearl cockatiels, go for around R600-R700, $41-48 (ish). I'm sure the price goes up further with some other mutations.

That probably seems super cheap lol, but even larger parrots will seem so much cheaper here than the States. Just had another look, and you can get a hand-reared Galah from a well respected breeder for R5500, which is a mere $371,81! To us, that isn't really so cheap for a bird haha! Then there's other species that are a bit more expensive, blue fronted amazons going for R10 000 ($676,01), and black headed Caiques going for R6500 ($439,41). Then, African Greys (possibly one of the most popular parrots in South Africa) can go for "just" R2000 hand-reared ( $135,20), sometimes as low as R1500. The prices jump quite significantly with Macaws, Blue and Golds going for R20 000- R35 000 ($1352,02- $2366,03). That's like, 70x more expensive than Berry was, lol!!

So yeah, interesting comparison. All in all, birds are pretty popular here! I have an outdoor aviary that was used by the previous owners of the house with their own birds! My flock of 20 budgies now live there. Even my neighbours have an aviary with cockatiels haha, our suburb certainly gets to hear lots of beautiful tweeting!