The cockatiel is a nice and easy to keep bird, that’s why it’s probably so popular in our aviaries.
Origin of the cockatiel
The cockatiel, just like the budgerigar, comes from Australia. They are found there in small groups of 10-20 birds. They live in both densely wooded and savannah-like areas. It is striking that the cockatiels in southern Australia breed later in the year than those in northern Australia.
Feeding the cockatiel
A cockatiel needs a seed mixture for large parakeets. This must be supplemented with grit and of course water. It is best that you also give a piece of hard fruit (eg apple or pear) or green food once or twice a week. This also applies to spray millet
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Breeding with the cockatiel
The cockatiel is generally not a difficult bird to get to breed. Hang a nest box with bottom 20 * 20 and 40 high around the end of March. Don’t forget to put wood shavings in the nest so that the eggs are tender and stay in place. You best increase the amount of eggfood just before the breeding so that they come into breeding. They lay an average of 4-6 white eggs on which they breed for around 20 days. The youngsters stay in the nest for 5-6 weeks and are fed after they have flown out. Normally this is 2-3 weeks but I have already seen that they were sometimes fed 1.5 months later. They would have been independent for a long time, but presumably this was a social behavior.
Tame
Cockatiels are highly sought after living room bird. It is an easy tame bird with a sweet character, a real family bird. It is best to take a hand-held bird that has been raised by hand. But preferably between other peers. This is because they have learned the social rules of their peers. If you buy a hand-reared cockatiel you have to make sure that he has stayed with his parents for at least 2 weeks so that he has been given the crop milk. One can even find tame parakeets that have not been raised by hand.
The price of a cockatiel is 10-20 euros or hand tamed 40-100 euros.
