Its crest shows its mood
Straight up means excited or alarmed. Laid flat means cross. Tilted back means relaxed.
Parrots · Time every day
Cockatiel
Small cockatoo · from Australia
A slender grey bird with a yellow face, bright orange cheek patches, a tall crest and a long tail.
- Size
- 30 to 33cm long
- Lives for
- 15 to 20 years
- Suits
- Families who are at home a good deal
Flutters after you, crest up. Move your pointer and see.
Good to know
Six things about the cockatiel
A whistler
It is better at whistling tunes than talking, and will learn the ones it hears most.
The smallest cockatoo
It belongs to the cockatoo family and is the smallest of them.
Dusty feathers
It makes a fine powder to keep its feathers in order, which settles on the furniture.
Night frights
A sudden noise or light in the dark can make it thrash about in panic. A night light helps.
Fond of a mirror
Males will sing and bow to their own reflection.
The real thing
Photos of the cockatiel
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
Looking after one
It needs a large cage, daily flying time, a varied diet of pellets, seed and vegetables, and a spray or bath of water to keep the dust down.
Before you get one
Cockatiels are gentle and affectionate and less noisy than most parrots. They can live twenty years.
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