Cockatiels-The perfect pet parrot

One of the most common pet birds, Cockatiels are often overlooked by people looking for a pet parrot. Because of their small size and affordability they are often found in the homes of people who may not even consider themselves "bird people". But don't let their low price tag and commonness fool you into passing up on this marvelous pet! Dollar for Dollar you may just get a better companion pet from a cockatiel than just about any other kind of animal!

Cockatiels are big birds in a little bird's body! They have fun upbeat personalities. They can learn to mimic quiet well, the males are generally better at this than the females. Most cockatiels can learn to whistle a complete song after just a week or so of hearing it repeated. But both males and females can make equally sweet little pet birds.

Cockatiels are native to Australia. They come in a variety of colors. The normal grey (this is the color of wild 'tiels), lutino, pied, pearl, cinnamon, and whiteface. Many cockatiels are a combination of the above varieties. Such as a pearl whiteface. Or a cinnamon pied. The varieties are nearly endless! But most are some variation of grey, white, yellow, and orange.

A handfed cockatiel will usually make the very best pet as they have never developed any fear of people. Most handfed cockatiels thrive on spending time outside of their cages and being held and petted by their owners. 'Tiels love to have their heads scratched and will learn to walk up to your hand and bow, this is their way of asking for a good scratch behind the crest. They love to cuddle on shoulders, chew up the newspaper you are reading and sample your popcorn while you watch a movie. They are just generally so happy to be with their people that they will gladly follow you throughout the house. Unlike many larger birds, cockatiels will often remain friendly with everyone in the family throughout life, as opposed to becoming a one person bird. They also tend to be very steady, personality wise, even after the hormones of sexual maturity have set in.

Cockatiels in captivity enjoy a varied diet, consisting of seed mix, pellets, fruits and veggies, whole grain bread, pasta, and nuts. They also need to have access to a cuttle bone and a mineral block in order to get both the necessary calcium for healthy bones and to keep the growth of their beak in check. It helps keep their beaks in tip top shape! (Most birds beaks grow throughout their lives, just like our fingernails, hard things to chew help keep their beaks filed down just right!

These birds have long tails and need a nice roomy cage in order to keep their feathers beautiful. Besides the fact that since they do spend a large part of their day in their cages they should be big enough for the bird to get some much needed exercise! At a bare minimum cockatiels should be able to stretch out their wings in any direction and not touch the cage bars. A cage 24" x 24" x 24" is just about right. But as with any bird, always try to get the biggest cage you can afford and can fit in your space! They will love having all of that room to climb around in and play with all of their toys!

Speaking of toys... 'tiels love to have lots of toys to play with. They are very curious birds, and love to check out and manipulate new things! Make sure when you are shopping for toys that you buy several that are made of paper, straw, or light-weight wood that can be torn apart and destroyed by your bird! Trust me, they will thank you for it! (Well, they would thank you for it if they knew how!) They also enjoy swings and bells and little toys that they can pick up in their feet and chew on! Just make sure that you buy toys that don't have any sharp edges, or crevices that toes or beaks can get caught in, or with lead weights inside.

Another thing many cockatiel owners decide to invest in is a play gym. These come in many sizes from small table-top models that you can carry with you around the house to larger free standing floor models. This can provide a safe place for your bird to spend time outside of his cage, were he can play without getting into trouble.

Cockatiels make great companions, they are fairly long lived. With an average life span of 15-20 years, with a few reaching 30! They are usually much quieter than large parrots, making them good pets even for people living in apartments. And most people even if they are allergic to other animals never have a problem being around cockatiels. I hope that if you are considering adding a bird to your life you will give the cockatiel some thought. They are

beautiful, friendly, and cheerful.

Training your Bird

If the only animal training you have done in the past has been with a dog then you need to stop right now and rethink everything you know about animal training! Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. Most birds have never been "domesticated" Dogs are always looking to the leader of the pack, following his or her lead and trying to please them. Parrots on the other hand see themselves as your equal. Their greatest pleasure is not to do exactly what you say when you say it in hopes of pleasing their "pack leader". They are constantly trying to figure out ways to control YOU, through their behaviours and actions. Unlike dogs they don't work to please you, they work to please themselves. SO in order to teach your bird a few desirable behaviours you need to work at being smarted than he is and convincing him that it was his idea in the first place!

Bird trainers use food as a reward, which is one of the things birds care about most. Because of this you should probably schedule training sessions before feeding your feathered friend. That way he will be extra motivated to receive the treat or reward that you give him. I will include a list of training rewards in the next blog post.

Assuming you are starting out with a handfed bird that is already reasonably tame, how can you teach your bird a few tricks? Positive reinforcement is the trick. So long as you are careful never to teach the bird something that could jeopardize his health, tricks can only increase your enjoyment of your bird and the amount of time you spend together.

The first step in teaching any kind of trick is to notice a natural behaviour that can be modified easily into a trick. You may notice that your bird loves to push his food around in his dish before he eats it. If so then your bird has already started doing a fun little trick, it is just up to you to teach him to modify it a bit, and make it more elaborate. You can buy a little wooden parrot wagon (often available at larger pet stores that carry a good selection of bird toys) or you can use a little die-cast hot wheels type car, and teach him to transfer the pushing habit onto the toy by loading it down with a little bit of food. You can offer him a reward or treat (see list of treats as training aids in next article), when he gets the behaviour you want right. And don't forget to name the trick . For example say "Push the wagon (car)" every time he does it. Soon he will learn to do this on command. Remember that treats such as sunflower seeds work great as training rewards but can be very fattening so they should not constitute the basis of your birds diet! After a time your bird will begin to push without the benefit of the wagon or car having any food on it.

In the beginning it might take a while for you and your bird to really learn to communicate. But once your bird learns that acting a certain way both makes brings a reward and gives him extra attention from you, his flock mate, he will get much faster at learning new tricks. Learning to preform tricks can also help chronic pluckers. Sometimes birds that pluck are just plain bored! They often become the best performers, and the plucking is alleviated as a by-product of having something new to do.

Teaching "Stick 'em up" is also quite easy. When you first take your bird out of its cage they will often stretch their wings straight up over their heads. When he does this point your finger at him (like a gun) and say "Stick 'em up" or "Put 'em up". After a week or two of doing this every time you see the bird stretch he will start to do it on command. If you find it helps you can offer a reward, but for a trick this easy to learn it is often not necessary.

Some other tricks that are easy modifications of normal parrot behaviour include:

• Offering a foot to shake hands
  
• Hopping (dancing or pretending to be wind-up toy)


• Bobbing its head(Answering yes)
  
• Raising its crest


• Flapping its wings (soaring like eagle, escaping the police, etc.)


• Swinging head side to side (saying no)


• Stomping feet (dancing)


• Hanging from feet or beak from its perch or your hands. (acrobatics, or swinging upside down)


• Lying on its back (play dead, or roll over)
  

This is not a comprehensive list of tricks that your pet parrot could learn, the sky (and your patience) is the limit. Playing with his natural tendencies and coordinating them with your verbal commands, you can find a virtually limitless repertoire within your bird's natural behaviour. We have all seen macaws dunking basketballs, and cockatoos roller-skating. Be sure to be on the look out, the next time you go shopping for parrot toys, for things to use as props in making your parrot's performance "Star Quality" And don't forget to make it fun! Keep your lessons short 10 to 30 minutes. You can have more than one training session per day, if you would like to reinforce the day's lesson and progress faster. Most importantly always end each session on a positive note. End with a behaviour that your parrot can do well and will earn your praise and a reward.

Now What? My bird just laid an egg!

This is a question I hear via email and through the forums all the time! Most owners are surprised to learn that their sweet little "Sunshine" (often believed to be a male!) can lay an egg often without the benefit of a mate in the same cage! But single parrots, large and small, can indeed lay an egg or two (or 6!)

This is more common in some species of birds than others. For example, cockatiels and lovebirds seem particularly prone to chronic egg laying. Smaller birds tend to do this more often than the larger parrot species, maybe because they have grown more accustomed to breeding in captivity.

As the owner of a single bird that just laid an egg you have every reason to be a bit worried. For one thing, continual egg laying can sometimes lead to calcium deficiency and/or egg binding (that is when the hen can't lay the egg because the shell is malformed or too soft from lack of calcium.) . Either one can be really dangerous for the her and can even lead to her death in some cases. That is why bird breeders always supplement their birds with calcium during the breeding season.

The other thing that happens during egg laying is that hens will often become aggressive when the hormones that trigger breeding kick in, and they become overly protective of their eggs. ( Think feathered piranha!) Fortunately, Your sweet "Sunshine" usually reappears once her egg laying cycle is over.

In order to try and stop your bird from laying eggs, it helps to understand what can trigger it! There are certain things that help bring a bird into "breeding condition" so that she begins producing eggs. In the wild these things include the lengthening of days, the rainy season, and the availability of certain foods with which to feed their young. Breeders often work very hard to get these conditions just right to help their birds begin producing eggs. When a bird goes into breeding condition, hormones are released that start the cycle of producing and laying eggs.

So when breeders want their birds to start laying, they gradually increase the number of hours that the birds have light, increase the availability of fresh foods and increase the amount of rainfall (or baths). I've found that if a pet owner does just the opposite, it usually stops the egg laying cycle or prevents it from starting altogether.

For owners who want to be try and stop it before it starts, or at least decrease the chances of their single bird ever laying eggs, I recommend no more than 10-12 hours of light each day. In all but the most stubborn birds, this will be sufficient to prevent the onset of egg laying.

To try and stop egg production that has already begun, I would suggest immediately making her days shorter by turning out the lights after a 8 to 10 hour day. Also, I would stop giving daily baths (try to use a drinking fountain instead of a water bowl as most small parrots will happily bath in their water bowls) and cut back on fresh foods. I would also immediately begin adding a calcium supplement to the bird's diet. Once the egg laying has stopped, regular bathing and fresh foods can resume, and you can slowly increase the amount of light to 10-12 hours a day. But keep a close eye on things and switch back to shorter days and fewer baths if needed.

Special note about lovebirds: Lovebirds actually line their nests with bark and leaves in the wild. In captivity they happily make do with their paper cage liners. Try switching to some sort of particulate bedding on the cage bottom to prevent her wanting to tear strips of paper and tuck them under her wings to carry back to her nest. Aspen shavings, or corn cob bedding work nicely. What ever you do don't let her near the phone book!!!

Also try to totally change up the layout of your bird's home. Redecorate by moving the perches around, or even better replace them with new different styles of perches. It helps to have a couple of different sets of perches in a case like this. Then you can switch things out every week or so, to keep her guessing! Try the calcium perches, rope perches, manzanita perches, regular dowel perches of different diameters, check out your local bird store or even places online that carry a good supply of bird products (like drsfosterandsmith.com) Try to have a variety to switch in between. Also keep her toys on a constant rotation, and always in a different place within the cage. The idea is to keep her so busy exploring all of the new fun stuff that she doesn't have time to concentrate on wanting to breed!
Every once in a while, a hen will continue to lay egg after egg even when the above steps are taken. If this happens with your bird, you should discuss the situation with a good avian vet. It's possible that the vet will suggest a hormone shot to get the egg laying stopped.

Finally I am always asked "but what about the eggs?". Everybody has their own ideas about this, but I would probably throw the eggs away, and try the things I suggested above. However if you choose to leave them and allow your hen to incubate, after a few weeks to a months she'll usually loose interest in them and go one with her life as normal. But be sure to change things up some or she'll just assume that batch was full of "duds" and start laying all over again! One more thing to consider, if you do remove her eggs and leave everything else the same, often instinct kicks in to replace her lost egg, which can only make the problem worse. Some people recommend taking the eggs as soon as they are laid and then following the advice given above to try to stop the egg laying cycle. Some feel that removing the eggs upsets the bird, but I have never noticed that to be the case when I've removed eggs in the past. However, you should listen to both sides and do what you feel makes the most sense for your parrot, just like anything else the choice is yours to make.

I hope that helps some of you! I'd love to hear your comments with your experiences in this matter.

Cockatiel Body Language

Have you ever wondered what you cockatiel was trying to tell you with her body language? Here is a list of the most common things she may be "saying"

• Has crest all the way up = Usually means scared or surprised. It can also mean she is excited
• Has crest is flattened against the head = Usually means she is angry, if she tries to bite or hiss at the same time, definitely angry. Sometimes sucks feathers in and looks skinny.
• Suddenly stands really tall and "skinny" with crest raised= surprised/startled.
• Bobs her head = in a recently weaned bird, it usually means she's hungry. In older birds, it might mean that they want attention or are trying to feed you as a sign of affection.
• Holding wings away from chest slightly raised.= They usually do this when they're showing off and bragging. Usually accompanied by whistling and singing. Generally a male behavior
• Panting while holding wings away from body= Bird is overheated. Provide a cooler environment immediately. A bath or shower helps too!
• Bows head and keeps it down= She is asking to have her head scratched
• Leans forward with wings held slightly out = Usually it means she wants to fly somewhere (often towards you) but isn't confident enough to take off. An un-clipped bird would usually fly without hesitation, you see this more often in pets with their wings clipped
• Holds her wings outstretched all the way when standing on top of the cage/gym or your shoulder = Claiming territory, stating "this is all mine!"
• Bird pecks or bangs beak on perch, table or you= similar to the point above. Mostly seen in male cockatiels. Don't challenge him by tapping finger in front of him unless you want a full scale confrontation!
• Steps back and forth (dances) very quickly often chirping = bird is very eager. Often done inside the cage when the bird wants to come out.
• She puts her beak on your finger before stepping on = this might look like she is going in for a bite, but she's actually just testing the your finger to make sure it's sturdy, or she's using it for balance while climbing on.
• Grinding beak = content and relaxed. Often heard while bird is sleeping or resting
• Sticks her chest or beak into your face = she wants to cuddle.
• Turns her head sideways and tilts it up or down = looking at something above or below them
• "Wags her tail" when you pet her back = this is more common with mature female birds. She is ready to breed, it might be a good idea to get her a mate, or she might start laying eggs on her own (unfertilized)
• Closes eyes often with head turned back over shoulder = sleeping, often stands on one foot
• Stays puffed up for long periods of time (often in cage or in corner) = Probably feeling sick, needs to see a vet
• Yawns several times in a row = often done after preening, possibly readjusting her crop or "clearing her throat". Either way, it's normal.
• Shakes head rapidly = if done while eating, it could mean that the food has a surprising taste, temperature, or moisture level. If done when listening to the sound, it could mean that it's a tad too loud or sharp or high-pitched, or just that it's an interesting sound.
• Wipes or rubs head on back = it's a normal part of preening. Feel that part of their back, and your fingers will get very powdery. They're distributing that stuff to their head.
• Stoops down low and often gets a bit puffy = this is a sign that your bird is about to go to the bathroom.
• During a bath, gets very puffy and holds his wings out, shakes head etc. = she is enjoying her bath!
• During a shower, she looks like she's falling asleep = again, she's enjoying herself!
• Sticks her toe in nose, then sneezes = She is just scratching face, this is normal
• Has slightly puffy face/ears when listening to something = bird likes what she's hearing! Will often learn to repeat these things
• Raises both wings above back = Just stretching/exercising
• Holds out one wing and one foot behind him = stretching