I created this website to provide updated information on Cockatiels As Pets and
enlighten people about what they need to know about keeping Cockatiels. I have owned cockatiels all my life and find them to be wonderful pets who give my family and I much joy.
I’ve cut through all the hype and revealed the facts that will help you
decide whether Cockatiels ar the right pet for you.
Cockatiels are one of the most underrated pets, perhaps because they are such small birds. Cockatiels can if trained properly make the most wonderful and docile pets.
I have grown up with cockatiels, and have never in my life had two cockatiels that have been the same. They each have their own individual characters and natures, and I have grown to love each one of them dearly.
Cockatiels are also extremely easy pets to care for, as well as being hardy and if looked after properly, can live well into their twenties.
The cockatiel is a medium-sized Australian parrot with an erectile crest on the top of its head. Over the years the cockatiel has readily taken to captivity, but it is only in recent times that the cockatiel has come to exist in various distinctive color varieties, which gives them a different appearance from the normal grey. Multiple generations of captive breeding has been said to cause these color mutations, and turned the cockatiel into a fully domesticated bird.
Cockatiels’ belong to the strange parrot family. Why I say strange is because the parrot family all have distinctive hooked beaks, short necks and odd feet with two toes pointing forward and the other two backwards. The parrot family has sometimes been said to look rather clumsy. Other members of the parrot family include birds such as macaws, Amazon parrots, parakeets, lovebirds and lories.
The Relationship of Cockatiels to the Parrot Family and Cockatoos
The cockatiel belongs to the cockatoo family, and is the smallest member of this group of parrots. The entire cockatoo family shares the same feature of the movable crest on top of their heads. There are many sub-divisions within the parrot family.
As the parrot family is so different looking to other bird species, studies were done to see which bird species they were most closely related to. At first, most studies came to the conclusion that the parrot family is more closely related to owls than any other bird group. There is another group of taxonomists that say the parrot family is more closely related to the pigeon family. It is now strongly believed that the pigeon is the parrots most closely related relative.
There is a stunning difference in the external appearance of the long-tailed cockatiel and the larger stockier, short-tailed cockatoos. Cockatoos also have massive and powerful beaks which they use to break open bark to feed on wood-boring grubs, or even snap open nuts. The cockatiel on the other hand with its smaller beak had a more nomadic existence searching for seeds and water in the arid central regions of Australia.
Another bird that shares the same habits of the cockatiel is the bugerigar or as it is better known, parakeet. The bugerigar (budgie) also makes a great pet, but the cockatiel does have more advantages as a pet, with it’s unique personality and greater lifespan.
To find out more about how to train your cockatiel, click here.
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My cockatiel had an accident about a week ago.She has had her wings clipped and does not fly to well.
She flew into the kitchen and fell in a pot off water which i had cooked silver side in. It was not hot but it made her smelly.I have been bathing her but i cannot seem to get rid off the smell.Will that go when she moults. Or is there anything else i can do.Hope you can help me.
Regards Hermina.
The smell should go in time, and I wouldn’t worry too much, as if you try chemicals, you could harm your bird. Rather just leave it and keep spraying with water daily.