Home Backyard Blitz Burke's Backyard Magazine Archives ... Search Tips Search: Advanced Search In The Garden Roadtests Home Among the Gum Trees ... Gardening Information Services Cockatiels Breed: Cockatiel Temperament: usually affectionate, individuals can vary Cost: from $20-$100 for pets, more for show quality Lifespan: 15 years Recommended for: beginners and families Maintenance: medium Appearance
Cockatiels are small to medium sized native parrots (slightly larger than a budgerigar) weighing around 90-120 grams and measuring about 300-330mm in length. Cockatiels in the wild are grey in colour. They are dimorphic (the adult hen and cock can be visually sexed according to colour and patterns). The cock has a bright yellow head and crest with an orange ear patch whilst the hen is a duller grey in colour, although she does have areas of orange on the head. As a result of captive breeding efforts Cockatiels are now available in a wide variety of colours, patterns and combinations. These include Pied, Lutino, Albino, Pearl, Cinnamon, Silver, Platinum, Fallow, Whiteface, Yellowface and Lacewing. clear pied albino whiteface Temperament Cockatiels enjoy human contact and can be petted. However, their personalities vary greatly and not all birds make good pets. Hand-reared birds are the best choice. They are intelligent birds, and unless they receive regular attention and companionship they can get frustrated and develop behavioural problems such as shrieking for attention, and feather plucking. | |
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