The male cockatiel is perhaps the best pet bird to get used to. It's relatively hardy, fairly quiet, very loving if you get it young. It learns to wolf whistle and talk, usually what you say to it all the time. Birds learn, we think, from repetition and some sound sthey like to hear. It lives about 15 years when healthy and well taken care of. Female birds do not talk or whistle. Of course, males can't lay eggs. If you buy two birds they will talk to each other. If you want a pet, buy only one, and get it young.
Where To Get A Bird: If it is to be a pet, insist on a hand-fed young bird. There are many breeders of cockatiels. Normals (greys) are usually cheaper than the color mutations (Lutinos, Pieds, Whiteface, etc.). Look for a bird with a traceable aluminum closed band that has the year of breeding on it to identify a young bird. Young Normal males have white spots on the outer half of the underside of their wings (these disappear after the first molt at about six months). Females have these spots all the way to the body decreasing in size along the way. They also retain them for life.
Cage: Square, rectangular is better, straight sides with no bevel to the bottom (birds can make them messy), 18x18x24H is suggested. Get an apple tree branch or Crape Myrtle branch after it has shed it's bark (It's hard wood). It's variable size will help the bird to find a comfortable size for it's feet. Editors note: if you use a tree branch use only those from trees you are absolutly sure haven't been sprayed with any pesticides. And then only those freshly cut from the tree (alive).
What To Put In The Cage: Cockatiels do not need rock or sand grit. Cuttle bone or crushed shells are consumed by acid in the birds stomach. Pigeons and doves need sand or grit to grind food, not cockatiels which hull their seeds. They need fresh or better distilled water. Clean out the dish well with soap and hot water, rinse thoroughly before refilling. Using a bottle (glass or vinyl) is better than a dish it's cleaner. Don't be impatient, the bottle will eventually be preferred.
Toys: Bells and hangingjangles are not as good as a swing, and might even be dangerous with open wire connections. Cockatiels would rather nibble on paper and soft wood strips, eat rungs out of ladders, etc
Quarantine: If you have other birds, keep your your new bird in a separate air space for at least 30 days to observe its health to prevent the spread of disease if present.
Where To Put The Bird: Kitchens ain't so good, drafty places niether, or in the direct line of an air conditioning vent. Put in a well traveled place so that you can talk to it evry time you pass by. Teflon fumes can kill a bird anywhere in the same air space. Don't let Teflon coated pans burn on the stove or allow self cleaning of Teflon coated cooktops or ovens. Remove the bird to another space when painting, or spraying insecticides.
Food: A good cockatiel seed mix is OK. Sunflower seed is fattening. A complete vitamin pellet is best mixed in gradually with seed to convert them, or placed in the favorite eating spot. Apple slices, greens such as kale, collards, broccoli, cut strips of beans and millet sprays clipped between the wires are good. Lettuce produces loose stools and spinach prevents the assimilation of calcium and D3.
Droppings: Regular old newspapers (not slick pages) on the bottom of the cage will help you observe the droppings (feces is surrounded by urine and is usually dark green). Lots of fruits result in lots of liquid. Sometimes droppings will take on the color of whats eaten. If the bird eats brown pellets, droppings will be brown. Change the bottom paper twice a week or more for the heath of your bird. Don't buy ground corn cob, litter, or pine shavings in which bacteria may grow.
Clip The Wings and Nails: Some bird person can do it for you while you cover it's head in a towel (so it can't see you). Cut the primary feathers (bottom row) 10 feathers out. Do this on both sides. Watch out for dark shafts they are blood feathers don't cut these. Clipping nails is easy if you clip only the sharp tip with plain old nail clippers, not scissors or the fancy large area cutters.
Taming: Take the cage to a small room ( the bathroom, cover the mirror and the toilet). Open the cage door, let the bird come out on its own. building trust is what you are trying to do. Talk to it in soothing tones. Use a perch at first for it to step up onto. Eventually you can get it on your finger. Present the back of your hand for it to step on to.
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