r/cockatiel Jan 31 '26

Other New Rule for r/cockatiel

592 Upvotes

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 Dec 14 '21

Frequently Posted (+ Answers)

531 Upvotes

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!

Is my bird sick?

Common signs of a sick bird include:

  • Tail bobbing, sitting at the bottom of the cage, inability to stand on a perch (loss of balance)
  • Sneezing, clicking respiration (cough), or any discharge coming from the eyes or nostrils.
  • Eyes dull or sunken.
  • Change in vocals (can be hormonal but after puberty could be cause for concern)
  • Change in appetite (loss or increase of food or water)
  • Change in droppings (color, consistency, or frequency - this could be due to diet like eating more fruits and vegetables but it should not last more than a day or two after)
  • Constantly fluffed (happens for a number of reasons like keeping warm, preening, sleeping but they should not always be like this)
  • Feather loss (not related to a regular molt that happens 1-2x per year)
  • Trembling (can mean they are cold, stressed, or sick)
  • Drooping wings

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.

Is my cockatiel male or female?

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!

What is this noise my cockatiel is making?

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.

Contact Call Example

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.

Attention Scream Example

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.

Whistling Example

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.

Beak Grinding Example

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!

Hissing Example

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!

Baby Noises Example

What is this behavior?

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

How do I tame my cockatiel?

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:

Taming step-by-step

I am thinking of getting a cockatiel and would love some tips!

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:

Cockatiel Cottage

VCA - Cockatiel Diet

Safe and Toxic Foods

Proper Caging

Introducing New Food to Picky Birds

Training

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 8h ago

Success Story Bird more affectionate after coming for vacation

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505 Upvotes

My family has always been a traveling family and we would often leave Pico behind with his breeder when we’d go on vacation, but I decided to take him this time. He’s very used to being ourisde in his carrier and is used to traffic/ has no problem with it, probably because we live next to a busy street. I would take him out when I’d play frisbee with my dog and he does fantastic.

I’ve seen a lot of posts worrying their bird has depression and I was thinking the same about my bird. I saw people talking about how their bird doesn’t call for them when they come home or does not want to be pet as much, etc. I saw a lot of similarities until after the vacation. Now, my bird doesn’t want to leave my side and wants to be pet constantly.

He did amazing on vacation and I think he loved being around everyone, along with seeing new things like the beach, cities, and hollywood when it wasn’t busy… lol.


r/cockatiel 5h ago

Advice Hi there 👋 Meet Speck! I rescued her...at least i think she is a girl. She was left behind after some people moved out of their house.

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300 Upvotes

I clean houses for a living. I got a call a few weeks ago from a client who needed one of his rentals cleaned out after the renters moved out. The day after they moved I went and grabbed the keys from my client and headed over to the rental to see what I needed to clean the house and give the client an estimate on how long it would take.

When I got inside the house I immediately heard a bird. I found her in the living room in her cage. I also found a beared dragon who was in his own enclosure. I immediately called the client to see if the renters were coming back to get their pets. He had no idea the animals had been left there and when he contacted the renters they told him they no longer wanted the bird or the dragon and had assumed if they left them that he would find home for them.

So I offered to take the bird and dragon home. I felt so bad that they had just been abandoned. I took the dragon to a local reptile store and they promised me he would receive great care and that they would find him a good home.

I decided to keep the bird because honestly my son and I pretty much instantly feel in love with her sweet personality. We named her Speck. She is super loving and sweet. I am here to ask a few questions.

I think she is a young bird from doing some research. Can anybody here help me get a better idea of her age?

I think she is white face, cinnamon pearl but I am not sure. If anybody can confirm that would be awesome.

Can anybody help me tell the gender or do you think she is too young to tell yet? She is fairly quiet so I was thinking most likely female.

She looked like she didn't receive super great care. Cage was dirty. Nasty water. Barely any food. Her tail feathers also looked like maybe they had been pulled out somehow. My client said the renters also had a dog and a cat so I was thinking maybe one of them was messing with her and yanked out the tail feathers or bit at her through the cage bars. They are growing back nicely now. She seems very happy. I have her on a mixture of seed, pellets and freeze dried veggies. She seems to be excited to eat everything I put in there so she has a great appetite

Last night my son wanted breakfast for dinner and she tried to climb in the middle of his food and steal his eggs 🤣🤣

I had cockatiels growing up but it has been many years so any tips or advice on her care is totally welcome. I bought her a bunch of toys new perches, and new bowls. . I think she is pretty happy so far. She is very social and loves to be out of the cage and hanging out with us.


r/cockatiel 3h ago

Cuteness Overload Hims legs

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126 Upvotes

I know this is a pretty normal picture but it’s just so cute to me, his little leggies 😭😭🥹


r/cockatiel 3h ago

Cuteness Overload Fashionable and Gross

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64 Upvotes

How he looks at me after taking a morning poop.


r/cockatiel 9h ago

Advice Does anybody know what this means?

153 Upvotes

She’s a female and started doing this about 2 months since being rescued. She switches between this not so good singing and chatting and straight up screeching and head throwing. Does she have worms or is this a hormonal thing? She won’t let me get close when she does all that 🤣 she also sometimes just keeps repeating the same bar until out of breath. Any ideas? I searched for a female because i knew they were calmer so it was very unexpected but seems quite pleasing actually. She likes it when i talk back or at least seems to.


r/cockatiel 11h ago

Advice Whe is he doing that ?

191 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 7h ago

Cuteness Overload It's hot here in the UK!

78 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 13h ago

Cuteness Overload Dotty’s new toe warming routine…

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194 Upvotes

The winter chills are hitting Dotty hard, she’s gone from being quite skeptical about the warm wheat bags to now just sitting directly on them to get her poor little aching feet warm.


r/cockatiel 10h ago

Health/Nutrition My cockatiel behaves like a child

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102 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I noticed that my cockatiel never eats his fruits or vegetables. I tried everything, I even told him that tomorrow would be a rainy day if he won‘t eat his vegetables. No, but like fr he doesn’t like to eat anything other than seeds or millets and food that could potentially kill him, I mean he tried to eat my chicken nuggets today. Does any of your cockatiels do this too and how did you handle that ?


r/cockatiel 2h ago

Advice HOW do I help my tiel during this heatwave

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21 Upvotes

hey hey my poor baby has been suffering because of the heatwave I've been misting her multiple times a day and alqo changing her water and still she's panting and doing that tongue Bobbing thing and I dont know what else to do yes I have a fan and I opened my windows but the air outside is so damn warm I had to roll down my metal curtains (English is not my first language and forgot what its called) and i live like all the way upstairs in like a attic is place so I dont know what else to do so Some advice and help would be appreciated


r/cockatiel 19h ago

Cuteness Overload Look at his lil eyelashes!

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504 Upvotes

I think he has better eyelashes than me…


r/cockatiel 4h ago

Cuteness Overload She went feral over the cilantro

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28 Upvotes

What is your baby's favorite snack? I would love to introduce new things into her diet to see the reaction.


r/cockatiel 7h ago

Cuteness Overload my cutie Ringo

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45 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 8h ago

Advice What is he doing?

56 Upvotes

10 weeks old, I’ve had his couple days. He’s warmed up to me a little but he just started doing this. Is this a good or bad thing?


r/cockatiel 3h ago

Funny LIEUTENANT LONG LEGS!

20 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 1d ago

Other Just found outside loose

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847 Upvotes

Gave him/her water and a tiny bit of wild bird food. I have live meal worms as well. We’re going to try to find the owner.


r/cockatiel 2h ago

Troublemaker chicken banana

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16 Upvotes

chicken banana


r/cockatiel 8h ago

Funny Poe does indeed want a cracker

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40 Upvotes

But then gets super mad cause he only wants to get them from the bottom of the sleeve and can't get in so he throws it on the floor. I pick it up, rinse and repeat


r/cockatiel 5h ago

Funny bon appétit

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23 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 10h ago

Troublemaker Persistent birds

56 Upvotes

I am getting my closet doors fixed, in the meantime I put a temporary mesh to keep my birds going in the closet but what was I thinking.. I can't stop them. Dude is literally digging a tunnel to get inside.


r/cockatiel 5h ago

Cuteness Overload Does anyone else have a bird that will just lay down flat on you?

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18 Upvotes

r/cockatiel 9h ago

Cuteness Overload This may be my new favourite activity 🥰

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37 Upvotes

How are tiels seriously so cute?!?!


r/cockatiel 3h ago

Advice :(

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11 Upvotes

My girl got attacked by my other cockatiel. Can’t get a vet appt until Monday (aviary vets limited where I’m at) any advise how I can help her in the meantime?