Cockatiel Care Guide

The cockatiel is a small crested parrot from the grasslands of Australia, and the most widely kept parrot after the budgie. It whistles more than it talks, flies well, and is calmer and quieter than most parrots, which makes it a common first parrot for families. The thing to plan for is reproductive: single female cockatiels are among the birds most prone to laying eggs nonstop.

Care requirements

Need	What to provide
Enclosure	At least 2 × 2 × 3 ft (60 × 60 × 90 cm) per bird, plus at least 6 hours a day flying free indoors (VCA; RSPCA)
Temperature	Within about 54–79°F (12–26°C), away from radiators, stoves and draughts (RSPCA)
Humidity	Normal indoor air. Aviary birds need a draught-proof indoor shelter (RSPCA)
Lighting	Flicker-free bird UVA/UVB lamp. Shorten total light for a hen that keeps laying (RSPCA; VCA)
Diet	About 75–80% pellets, no more than 20–25% vegetables, greens and fruit, and seed as an occasional extra (VCA)
Lifespan	10–14 years on average, up to 24 (VCA)
Social needs	A colony species that can live in pairs or groups. A single bird is fine with daily human company (RSPCA; VCA)
Legal notes	No common restrictions; check local rules.

Telling male and female cockatiels apart

Wild-type cockatiels are grey with a yellow face and orange cheek patches. Pet colours include lutino, pied, pearl and cinnamon. In the wild-type colour, VCA gives these differences:

	Mature male	Mature female
Face	Bright yellow, bright orange cheeks	Paler yellow, duller orange cheeks
Underside of tail	Solid grey	Fine yellow horizontal barring
Underside of flight feathers	Solid grey, no spots	Yellow spots
Talking	Usually the better talker	Usually talks less
Main health watch	General parrot problems	Chronic egg laying and egg binding

Young birds of both sexes look like females until their first moult, at about 9–12 months. These cues are for the wild-type grey; in other colour mutations, ask an avian vet to sex the bird.

Chronic egg laying: prevention

A hen doesn’t need a male to lay. VCA explains that cockatiels are indeterminate layers. A budgie stops after a set number of eggs, but a cockatiel hen keeps laying if her eggs are taken away, because she never gets the brood-patch signal that her clutch is complete. VCA names single female cockatiels as one of the birds most likely to become chronic layers. Hand-raised hens that treat their owner as a mate are especially prone.

Each egg drains calcium. On a seed diet that leads to low blood calcium, brittle bones, egg binding, soft-shelled eggs and eventually oviduct disease. VCA’s prevention steps:

• Cut light to 8 hours a day. Cover the cage or move it to a dark room for the rest.
• Move the cage to a new spot so the hen feels less settled.
• Stroke only the head. Stroking the back or body reads as courtship.
• Block access to nesting spots in the cage and around the house.
• Leave laid eggs in the cage for a full incubation period (21–28 days, depending on species). Then remove them one every 1–2 days.
• Feed pellets, so calcium is replaced as it is used.

If she keeps laying anyway, a vet can stop it with hormone injections that last 3–4 weeks or an implant that lasts 3–6 months or more. Removing the oviduct is the last resort.

Infections cockatiels pick up

VCA lists several conditions that are especially common in cockatiels:

• Psittacosis (Chlamydia psittaci). Birds can carry it with no signs and shed it in droppings and breath. Others develop breathing problems, diarrhoea and an enlarged liver. It can also infect people, so screen new birds and keep the cage clean.
• Giardia. This gut parasite causes loose droppings or intense itching. Affected birds may attack themselves, especially under the wings, and it can lead to feather-destructive behaviour.
• Candida yeast. This causes regurgitation, weight loss, diarrhoea and poor appetite.
• Reproductive tumours in females.

Five things new cockatiel owners get wrong

• Removing every egg a single hen lays. Taking the eggs prompts her to lay more, which drains her calcium (VCA).
• Leaving lights on late in the evening. Long days are a main trigger for laying (VCA).
• Feeding mostly sunflower seed and millet. Cockatiels are prone to vitamin A deficiency and low calcium on seed diets (VCA).
• Trimming flight time. VCA describes cockatiels as strong flyers that need daily time out of the cage, and the RSPCA sets this at six hours.
• Adding birds to a small cage. For birds of 50–100 g, the RSPCA says to add 10% to the cage size for each bird beyond two.

Avoid

• Avocado and onion (VCA).
• Apple seeds. Core apples before feeding (VCA).
• Honey sticks, “conditioning” seed mixes and iceberg lettuce. They add sugar, fat or water but little nutrition (VCA).
• Grit and gravel (VCA).
• Non-stick (PTFE) cookware, smoke and aerosols near the cage. Bird lungs are highly sensitive to airborne toxins. Overheated PTFE gives off fumes that can kill a bird quickly (VCA).
• Ceiling fans running and windows uncovered during flying time (RSPCA).
• Nest boxes and other nesting spots for a single hen. Access to them encourages laying (VCA).