r/cockatiel • u/Infinite-Stand4013 • 6h ago
Funny they've known eachother a total of 7 mins btw 😭
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whiteface is a girl and the pied is a boy :))
r/cockatiel • u/Mental_Nail4451 • Jan 31 '26
Hello everyone! I’m announcing a new rule for the subreddit.
It comes as no surprise that many people post injured or bleeding birds as well as feces to ensure the health of their birds or questions.
While these posts are allowed, they are inappropriate to not mark as NSFW. Not everyone is comfortable seeing this sort of content.
So for the comfort of everyone in the subreddit. PLEASE, mark these posts as NSFW.
There will be new tags/flairs for posts like these as well.
From this day forward, those who do not mark these posts as NSFW will receive a warning. Any subsequent posts that are not marked or tagged appropriately may be banned temporarily, and any further posts will result in a permanent ban.
Please be respectful of others, and make sure to review the rules before posting content that may violate the rules of the subreddit.
Thank you so much for all the lovely content and being overall a beautiful community. 💖
r/cockatiel • u/Olliebirb • Dec 14 '21
We have been getting a lot more repetitive posts in our sub so I wanted to put this information together in the hopes of reducing the amount of questions that are frequently asked. In turn, hopefully this will make our community a little more light hearted :)
*I want to preface this by saying I am not a vet or anything just someone who really loves my cockatiel and learning everything I can to ensure he has the best life possible. I think the best thing you can do for your birdie is lots of research before anything happens (especially in the case of illness). They are fragile so having the right knowledge and tools at your disposal can quite literally be the difference between life and death.
Lets begin!
Common signs of a sick bird include:
If you notice any of these signs or a combination of them its crucial to get your bird to a vet (preferably an avian one) as soon as possible. No one on the internet is able to diagnose your bird or give it the treatment it needs.
Note: Some of these symptoms like change in droppings, being fluffed up, and feather loss can be normal but if it is persistent the best thing to do is ere on the side of caution and get them checked out.
Color Patterns: Baby cockatiels that have not gone through their first adult molt (usually between 6-12 months) will typically have female colorations regardless of gender. After their first molt, males tend to get more vivid colors, lose the stripes on the underside of their tail and spots on the wings, The opposite is true for females and their color changes minimally after their first molt.
Different mutations make it more difficult to tell the difference between males and females even after their adult molt.
Behaviors: Males tend to be more vocal (mimicking sounds and singing), heart wings (see example), more likely to "show off" (strutting, hopping, tapping on surfaces), and attempting to mate with objects. Females are often less vocal (although some are) and when wanting to mate will tilt her head, flatten her back, and rock back and forth while chirping softly.
All of the above are good indicators if you have a male or female HOWEVER the only true way to know is if you get a DNA test or if your cockatiel lays an egg. People have noted that their DNA sexed female has shown male behaviors or colors and vise versa. No one can tell you for sure by looking at it!
Some common cockatiel noises and what they mean:
Contact Call: Cockatiels like to keep track of their flock members so when you leave the room you may notice your cockatiel yell for you with a loud chirp or series of chirps. Even if you aren't bonded to your bird they may still do this. Put them at ease by "answering" them from where you are. I like to whistle back the same "contact call" so they know that I will be right back.
Attention Scream: Often a loud high pitched screech that is meant to get your attention. They can do this when they are scared, lonely, bored, or even to alert you of something (like a potential predator). Excessive screaming means you might need to change something in their environment. A common cause of this is hormones and boredom, both of which can be decreased by adding more enrichment to their environment with foraging, toys, and training.
Whistling//Mimicking/Chattering: Usually (but not always) done by males and often means they are happy and connecting with you as part of their flock. They may mimic you, the radio, the tv, or even just sounds that they hear outside or inside the house. A lot of the time cockatiels learn these sounds through repetition. Search cockatiel training songs if you don't want to be whistling a song all the time and with time they may pick up on the tunes.
Beak Grinding: They do this when they are happy and content. Usually it is accompanied by being fluffed up and being sleepy. The cheeks will fluff up as well and the cockatiel will look very relaxed. This is a great sign that your cockatiel is comfortable in their environment.
Hissing: Like other animals cockatiels do this when they are angry or threatened. This is often a warning to back off and can be accompanied by biting if the behavior is not stopped. If your cockatiel is hissing at you its best to leave them alone for a bit - just like us, our birds have boundaries we should respect!
Baby Noises: These sound a bit like static and usually do this if they want something (often food, water, or even just attention). This is completely normal for young cockatiels and after a few months will go away. Mine went away at 4 months but this can vary!
These are some behaviors that are normal with cockatiels that I noticed are commonly asked about here:
Mating: This is probably the most common one. Males and females display different mating behaviors.
Males will typically rub their cloaca (this is the opening underneath the base of the tail for a birds digestive, urinary, and reproductive tracts) on an object like a toy, your foot or hand, a pillow, ect or a bonded female. Male Mating Behavior
Females will droop their wings and raise their rump while swaying and chirping quietly. You may notice your female also rubbing its back on their toys to try and stimulate themselves. Female Mating Behavior
In addition to these mating behaviors, take note if your bird is territorial, screaming, plucking itself, or aggressive. These could all be signs that your bird is sexually frustrated.
This handout I received from my vet gives some behavioral modification you can make to try and reduce these.
Clearing Crop: Looks a lot like yawning but usually they will do it consistently over a short period of time. Their crop is located below their beak in the neck area. The crop stores food before it is sent to their stomach and acts as a "reserve" so they are able to eat more in one feeding. When they clear the crop they are moving that food to the next stage of digestion. Cockatiel Clearing Crop
If your bird is brand new to your home, the best thing to do for a day or two is let them soak in their new envionrment. This can be a stressful time for them so its important to let them learn that their new home is a safe space. Talking in a quiet voice and even whistling around them is the best thing to do during this transitiion period. It can be tempting but don't try and pick them up or pet them right away. They may be fearful of hands and scaring them could further your progress of taming them. Whether they are a young cockatiel or an older adult that was rescued or rehomed, taming them will take patience and time. How long can vary on a lot of different factors but it's important not to rush it. Read the links below to get more information on how to achieve this:
There is really too much to cover in one post so I will address the most common tips for new owners and provide some links that go into detail about all things cockatiel.
Vet Access: This should be the most important thing to consider. Making note of an avian vet that is close by is crucial. Be extra prepared and make note of the closest emergency vet as well that you can go to outside of your regular vets hours. If you do not have one close by or you do not have the money to pay for one, please reconsider getting a bird. It is disheartening to see very obviously sick bird where the owner has no access or money to go to a vet.
Basic Needs: Before purchasing supplies for your bird, do as much research as you can regarding cage size, toys, and food.
Health: Take note of the signs of a sick bird and when to take them to a vet. In addition, cockatiels are sensitive to strong smells, gasses, drafts, and smoke. This also requires some research as there are common household items that can poison and kill your bird (for example teflon pans and some plants you may have lying around).
Links:
Introducing New Food to Picky Birds
Taming, potty training, and more
I hope this helps some people learn more about their cockatiels! Of course this is not exhaustive and there is always more information to be learned. Please let me know if I should add anything or if I got any information wrong :)
r/cockatiel • u/Infinite-Stand4013 • 6h ago
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whiteface is a girl and the pied is a boy :))
r/cockatiel • u/Rodngl • 2h ago
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r/cockatiel • u/sillygoobertron • 1h ago
Based off his previous tastes, he seems to like Coco and other Disney songs that aren't too aggressive, any ideas ? Im trying to make a Playlist for him to jam out to and see what music he likes because so far I've just been playing him Mozart
(Also added photos of him being a cutie pie cause hes silly)
Also??? Idk what tag to use lol cause its more just taking suggestions not serious advice
r/cockatiel • u/Electronic_Log_3233 • 8h ago
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My Kakariki has been courting my cockatiel for the last few weeks saying “Hey Baby” a million times. Now I look up and see this.
r/cockatiel • u/DanicaDarkhand • 3h ago
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r/cockatiel • u/ReyisLokidoki • 6h ago
Prince - I prefer my crest down as I’m always happy and smiling
r/cockatiel • u/CaptMondo • 5h ago
Munchkin chowing down on half of my bagel-wich.
r/cockatiel • u/mayasux • 2h ago
Follow up from yesterday’s post, asking for the poop check.
Just got back from his appointment. Doctor said a lot of big words that got lost on me, but the idea is there’s something living in his gut that shouldn’t be living in his gut. Prescribed antibiotics and if he continues to lose weight we’ll be getting a stool culture done to find out exactly why.
He’s skinnier than he should be (and he’s already on the small side) so I can’t lie and say I’m not concerned, I absolutely am. I’m just hoping he puts some weight back on and we can leave this gut creature behind.
Thanks for the advice.
r/cockatiel • u/Questionableundead • 5h ago
He bit my husband lol. I am sure the lil sh1t is proud of himself and I will find out later today if he is lol.
Data Bird has a love/hate and love to atagonize relationship with his Daddy lol. He has not forgotten when my husband took me on week long trips *gasp* without Data Bird! And now his mission was to bite him and he finally did it. I told my husband he made Data's whole day lol
r/cockatiel • u/lxcky04 • 16h ago
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She keeps shouting/chirping not sure what do u call this but sometimes it's soft sometimes it's loud along with flying here and there. She is a 1yr old female, she used to do this 3months back also but she eventually stopped doing it. It lasts for about 3-4hrs in the morning and the rest of the day she's normal
r/cockatiel • u/isak99 • 14h ago
r/cockatiel • u/stacy-nicole-22 • 19h ago
I’ve been putting together a spot for Waddles to hang out so he’s close to me
r/cockatiel • u/SourTortoise718 • 5h ago
These two... Won't go anywhere near anything that's for them because they're terrified of anything new. Brand new robo-vacuum??? Let me try to get all the way in it, taste the whole thing, and oh lemme help you get this sticker off right quick 💁🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
r/cockatiel • u/mgm64 • 21h ago
AAAAND he’s a girl! LOL
r/cockatiel • u/mildlyomniscient • 7h ago
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why she be looking at me like that
r/cockatiel • u/xandora • 13h ago
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New cockatiel owners. We have had this boy(?) for almost a month, and he's been silent the whole time. A bit of background, we adopted him from a household where the owner was bedridden and mute. The only interaction he had was from the cleaners and caretakers. He only ever heard budgies and quails that lived in another room.
Overall, he's very non-verbal around us. But I would expect that as he has never had any companionable roommates.
Over the last couple of days, he has suddenly perked up and started displaying the behaviour in the video whenever my wife talks to him. He won't do it for me though or our children (☹️).
We suspect this is some kind of hormonal or mating behaviour, but would love other opinions or advice.
r/cockatiel • u/Infinite-Stand4013 • 12h ago
on the right is my Boy Peter, ive had him around a month however decided to get him a friend :))
on the left is a beautiful girl currently unnamed however shes already helping so much with peter and taming, shes extremely tame and he isnt lol, but shes bringing him out of his comfort zone :))
r/cockatiel • u/aki718 • 9h ago
Hey guys, I was wondering how much weight is normal for female cockatiels to gain from their dormant hormonal state to their peak hormonal state?
I’ve been weighing my baby, Mochi, quite consistently during this time. In an effort to reduce her hormones as she recently laid eggs for the first time in April and I was worried she will lay again considering she was still doing the mating posture I recently adjusted where she sleeps so she now actually gets a proper 12 to 14 hours of quiet, dark sleep in the basement, as opposed to the busy kitchen where the lights would stay on until 11 p.m. while my family and I would be chattering. Since making this change, she has begun to lose a lot of weight. She went from roughly 111g down to 99g in about two weeks (both of which are her weights after her morning poop and with an empty crop). Her behaviour has stayed more or less the same alongside her eating habits, the only thing thats changed is her weight and that she has stopped doing any of the hormonal trigger signs such as searching for dark spots or mating posture.
From what I can gather from Gemini (I know it's not a reliable source, hence why I’m asking here), a 10 to 15g weight gain is relatively normal. I can't really find any sources online to confirm this, though I did see a forum thread that mentioned 10g being fairly normal.
Should I be concerned, or is this normal? Before I started closely watching her weight, I remember weighing her back in mid-October and she was 97g, so I’m not super concerned, but better safe than sorry.
Any help or advice would be appreciated, thanks!
r/cockatiel • u/chrissystark • 1d ago
r/cockatiel • u/jacojart • 11h ago
every time i take them off she doesn’t waste a single second to fly on them like a vulture
r/cockatiel • u/Death_Bird_100 • 1d ago
She's been staring at the wall for a few minutes (well she did move around, but she is very interested in that corner). Like.. What are you even doing??
Edit: These comments are peak comedy 😂 Please keep them coming!
r/cockatiel • u/Ouime_ • 13h ago
Hello!! Im just asking to make sure since he acts normal and hes very active. Hes not sneezing or anything. Im probably just overly stressing since ik that birds tend to not show signs of illness.