Not sure they do microchipping for small birds like a cockatiel. But I did get Cairo microchipped for a few reasons:
1. He flew off several times from his previous family (largely when they free-flew him, but still a concern). So I definitely wanted some id on him.
2. People here don't always view birds as pets, but more a commodities sometimes (depending on the person of course), so he did get caught and his closed ring id snipped off when he got lost from his family. Likely to be resold. I wanted an id that wouldn't be so easily removed, something that the police would take seriously.
3. He would come with us to the US if we decide to move out of country, and I just needed to make him as legal and as documented as possible. Since his closed leg band is gone, I didn't have anything that can establish history without being easily removed (open leg bands can be put on and removed any time).
Now, if we were in my hometown, I'd be less inclined to microchip him - it's just culturally very different than here and I wouldn't have international laws to deal with.
For us the procedure was just them cleaning the area and inserting a big needle into his chest to inject the microchip. He bled a little, but it clotted quickly. The vet recommended no flying for 2 weeks if I remember correctly - I checked with folks here and they said that was unheard of, that most of them just had to wait a day or two. So we kept him somewhat grounded for about 48 hours and then didn't practice any recall for a week, but we let him do his house flights if he wanted.
He was quite upset, of course, largely because we did it within the first month of adopting him, so he didn't know who to go to for comfort. And he didn't like the vet team (this was before we switched vets to the amazing one we have now), so he was feeling not just sore but also scared and angry.
He kept his wings away from his body for about 15 minutes after the procedure. Then he relaxed and acted like nothing happened.
We did get to see it months later on an x-ray (done for other reasons). It looked fine. And it really doesn't impact him at all. He flies normally, he preens normally, etc.
Really your personal choice
