Is A Cockatiel Right For You

Is A Cockatiel Right For You?

A cockatiel, like all creatures, develops its own particular personality. In your daily dealings with the bird you will soon find out what it likes and dislikes and become familiar with its different patterns of behavior.

The Nature of Cockatiels

Cockatiels are not excitable, high-spirited birds; rather, they are quite deliberate in their ways. Their somewhat shrill voices may strike some people as unpleasant, but a contented bird resorts to its voice only occasionally to emit a warning or an alarm and is more likely to use it for whistling, imitating noises, or mimicking some words it hears a lot.

Young cockatiels can become very tame and trusting. They grow into lovable companions that quickly overcome their initial, often panicky tearfulness and form deep attachments to the people they know well. Although cockatiels like to be active, their play is not as amusing as, say, that of a parakeet. A cockatiel is quite content if it has something to work on with its beak, branches to gnaw on, or a piece of cardboard or other object to reduce to shreds.

Naturally, a cage for a cockatiel takes up more room than one for a parakeet. A cockatiel also needs considerably more space for flying than its smaller, much more agile relative. In addition, a cockatiel creates more dust than most other pet birds because it keeps growing new down feathers, the tips of which disintegrate into a fine dust that impregnates the rest of the plumage.

To decide whether a cockatiel would be happy with you and whether you would feel constrained by the bird's presence, here are ten questions you should ponder.

Ten Questions to Help You Decide

1. A properly kept cockatiel lives about 15 years. Are you prepared to care for it that long?
2. Do you have a good and permanent spot for a rather large cage?
3. Will you be able to let the bird fly free every day?
4. Do you have enough time to devote to the bird?
5. Is someone available to play with it, talk to it, and whistle to it?
6. What will happen to the bird when you want to go away on vacation?
7. Are there other pets in your household that might not get along with the bird? You can teach a dog that the bird is a member of the family, but a cat will not understand.
8. Are you thinking of giving the bird to a child? If so, the ultimate responsibility for the cockatiel's well-being will still be yours because children can lose interest in a bird quickly.
9. Are you sure that no one in the family is allergic to bird feathers and feather dust?
10. Are you keeping in mind that the bird's food and health requirements will cost money on an ongoing basis?

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