Even those who have bred parrots for a long time and with pleasure may not know all the features of such a popular breed as the cockatiel. Today we will tell you the secret of the popularity of these birds as pets. And also current and potential cockatiel owners will be interested in learning how to develop musical inclinations in their feathered pet.
So, the cockatiel is a medium-sized Australian parrot; the length of its body, including its tail, can reach 30 centimeters. You can easily recognize him among other parrots by his beautiful crest and red cheeks. Representatives of this breed are bright, affectionate, easily tamed, and can talk. But the most important feature: the cockatiel has amazing musical abilities.
What do cockatiel chicks look like?
The appearance of an adult bird is significantly different from the appearance of a baby that has just emerged from an egg.
Development by day
By the age of one month, cockatiel chicks become independent. Their development occurs quite quickly:
Important! Parents feed the baby with goiter milk - a special curdled secretion that is formed in the goiter of both females and males. If for some reason the chick does not receive enough food, it must be hand-fed with liquid infant formula every two hours.
- In the first few hours after hatching, the baby cockatiel weighs 4–5 g. It is blind, covered with thin yellow down and absolutely helpless.
- Over the next week of life, it quadruples in weight - up to 20 g, and begins to make calling sounds when hungry. The baby develops and develops a goiter, and the leathery film on the eyeballs gradually becomes thinner. During this period, the female and male must intensively warm the chick, as it is very sensitive to lower temperatures.
- Around the tenth day of life, the baby cockatiel's eyes begin to open. The leathery veil gradually falls away, starting from the center of the eyeball, and stretches to the edges, turning into eyelids. It weighs about 40 g, holds its head confidently and squeaks or clicks loudly. At the same time, sharp spines begin to form under a thin layer of fluff, which will later turn into feathers. If you are going to band the chick, you need to do it now. By the end of the second week, the chick weighs about 80 g, and the rudiments of a crest appear on its head. The cockatiel's beak takes on the recognizable shape of a grin, and the cere thickens.
- On the seventeenth day of life, feather knuckles cover almost the entire body of the baby. They open, starting from the extreme line of the wings, and release the feathers, thereby demonstrating the future color of the adult. Parents begin to feed the chick with semi-digested food, since crop milk is no longer secreted. At the end of the third week, the chick gets rid of the remaining yellow fluff. His gaze becomes meaningful, curious, and the cockatiel begins to imitate the habits of adults. During this period of life, its weight reaches 100 g, the skin on its paws begins to become rough, and its claws darken.
- Over the next three days, almost all the plumage reveals itself. The feather crest lengthens, the chest, wings and short tail become feathered. The chick grows into a teenage parakeet that no longer gains weight. By the end of the fourth week, the cere is completely formed, and the orange coloring of the “cheeks” characteristic of cockatiels appears. The parrot begins to feed on its own, inheriting the habits of its parents, trying to bite through grains and seeds with its beak. The chicks leave the nest at one month of age - they become interested in the world around them, and they are already independent enough to do without their parents.
Did you know? Cockatiels
are incredibly loyal birds. Unlike many other birds, which pair up exclusively for the fallow period, these birds form one pair for life. They take care of each other - they sleep together, have fun together, share the food they get and raise offspring.
Similar closeness of bird pairs is also observed among storks, swans and albatrosses. Development of cockatiel chicks: video
How cockatiels sing
In general, we can conclude that cockatiels have a built-in voice recorder in their small brains, thanks to which they reproduce sounds. That's why cockatiels can talk, because this is how they learn to speak and attract the opposite sex with their beautiful singing.
Did you know that determining the sex of a young cockatiel is quite difficult. Both males and females have approximately the same coloration when young. Sex can only be determined after the molting process has completely gone through. Then the plumage on the bird changes repeatedly, and after that it becomes clear what gender it is.
By the way, thanks to this principle of the voice recorder, you can teach your cockatiel not only to talk, but also to sing in the most classical sense of this term. It is enough just to regularly let her listen to the composition that you want to perceive performed by such a singer.
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Selection rules and price
You can purchase a chick from the age of two months. This is the best time for his socialization and formation of attachment to the owner. If you take a chick under one month into your home without its parents, it will be unadapted to independent life. At a very early age, chicks imitate the behavior of their parents and learn from them the most important skills of feeding, toileting and flying.
Find out why growths appear near the beak, why a parrot sneezes, why it screams, why a parrot plucks its feathers, how to react to parrot fights, whether a female can lay an egg without a male.
How to choose a healthy parrot
When purchasing, first of all pay attention to the conditions in which the birds are kept. The cage for cockatiels should be clean and spacious. Young animals are usually found on the floor, since the motor skills of adolescent individuals are not well developed.
Inspect the feeder and drinker. They must be clean, with fresh food and water. Unsanitary living conditions will lead to pet diseases.
To distinguish a young chick from an adult parrot, inspect its plumage. The older the bird, the longer its tail and crest.
Young parrots do not know how to take care of themselves well enough, so they look a little sloppy - their feathers are broken at the ends and stained with droppings near the tail. On the head under the crest, the grown-up chicks will definitely have a small bald patch, which will heal with age.
Did you know? The first mentions of the domestication of parrots date back to Ancient Egypt.
This happened more than three thousand years ago! , the Indians and Chinese began keeping
parrots as pets Many famous historical figures kept cockatiels. Proud owners of these intelligent, charming birds include Marco Polo, George Washington, Aristotle and even Theo Roosevelt. The chick's eyes should be completely black. In adults they lighten to brown and even golden shades. Examine the bird's beak and feet. In chicks they will be smooth, pinkish, without pronounced scales and scratches characteristic of adults.
Another sign by which you can choose a healthy young parrot is its behavior. If the bird is healthy, it will be active and curious. Cockatiel chicks are clumsy and inexperienced, so they fly poorly, fall off their perches and often fight.
Slow, bored cockatiels are probably unhealthy. Even one unhealthy bird in a cage will become a source of infection for others, so it’s better to look for a pet in another store.
The male cockatiel differs from the female in its bright color. By the age of two months, the light spots on the inside of the wings disappear, and the head, crest and tail acquire more saturated shades.
Female cockatiels cannot sing. Starting from three months of life, they make piercing clicking and squeaking sounds, while the males try to sing melodiously for the first time.
Another sign by which you can determine the sex of a bird is its behavior. Females are less active and aggressive, males, on the contrary, are pugnacious and try to attract attention.
Important! You can keep one male and two females in one cage, but under no circumstances should a male be placed with an opposite-sex pair. Males will begin to compete for territory and females, even to the point of deadly fights.
Choosing cockatiels: video
How much do cockatiel chicks cost?
The average price for cockatiel chicks ranges from $20 to $60. The price depends on where exactly you buy the pet and whether it is hand-trained. The cost of home-bred tame birds can rise to hundreds of dollars. Breeders charge up to two hundred for tame talking chicks.
How to teach a cockatiel parrot to talk and sing
In order for the training to be as successful as possible, it is necessary to provide the bird with comfortable conditions. Before starting classes, it is important to establish contact; the parrot must trust its owner, ideally if the training is carried out by the person who raised the bird.
For successful training, it is important that the owner has good contact with the bird.
The training itself should take place when the pet is in a cage - this is the only way it will not be distracted by more interesting things. Classes should be held according to the following scheme:
- The first stage is to decide on the desired result and choose phrases. Here you need to approach responsibly and always use the words that were chosen at first. Otherwise, the bird will get confused and there will be no result. Cockatiels are best able to copy words that contain the sounds “yu”, “a”, “o”, “r”, “t”, so it is recommended to start with them. The learning cycle is repeated for each selected phrase. The first words should be as simple as possible (they often start with the name or the word “bird”). Great choices include words that are associated with a specific action, such as a greeting at the beginning of a contact (“Hello”) and a farewell (“Bye”).
- You need to catch the bird in a good mood - it must be active and show a desire to communicate with its owner.
- Next, you need to pronounce the chosen word or phrase as clearly, loudly and emotionally as possible - this way the cockatiel will be more interested. It is even advisable to use the same intonation every time. During the lesson it should be quiet, there should be no other people or distracting elements in the room.
- When the bird starts trying to repeat the sounds, it needs to be praised. Treats can be used as a reward. If the parrot is not in the mood for contact, you should not insist.
To consolidate the result, it is important to praise the bird by offering it a treat.
- They begin to learn a new phrase when the previous one is already successfully reproduced by the cockatiel. Too much information will be too much to absorb at once.
One lesson should take 15–20 minutes; there should be 1–3 of them per day, depending on the mood and condition of the parrot.
Training progresses best during the breeding season, especially when it comes to tunes. Usually this period falls in autumn.
My neighbor had parrots and kept one cockatiel in a nice cage in the kitchen. The owner kept trying to teach him to speak, but it was not at all systematic. No one practiced with the parrot, and all the exercises were more like bragging - the man repeated phrases for the bird only when he had guests, and every time he complained that he had paid for the pet, but he, you see, did not want to repeat it. Now I’m not at all surprised that he never got any results.
Conditions of detention
In general, cockatiels are unpretentious, but they still require certain conditions for comfort.
Did you know? Corellas distinguish all their chicks, even if they have absolutely identical colors, and moreover,
they assign names to them. Each chick receives its own unique sound combination, with which its parents call it throughout the entire period of growing up. As cockatiels grow older, they lose the ability to recognize their infant name.
Climatic
The maximum comfortable humidity for a cockatiel is 70%, temperature is within 23 degrees. Most living spaces have these parameters, so feel free to place a cage with a cockatiel in the room. Avoid drafts and direct sunlight, as under their influence the bird will become ill. The cockatiel cannot tolerate dust, so regularly carry out wet cleaning near the cage.
What should a cell be like?
The requirements for choosing a cage for cockatiels are as follows:
- The dimensions of the cage should be as spacious as possible. The more space the bird gets, the better it will feel. The minimum dimensions are 60 cm in height, 50 cm in width and 50 cm in depth;
- Give preference to vertical cages so that your pet can fly whenever he wants. Let him out for a walk around the apartment twice a day so that he doesn’t start feeling bored without moving;
- buy cages with a gap between the bars of 2–3 cm. If the gap is smaller, the bird may injure its long toes; if it is larger, the head or wing will get stuck;
- A prerequisite for a comfortable cage is wide, strong perches made of wood. Cockatiel chicks love to chew on perches, so the use of plastic accessories is unacceptable. Place them so that, while sitting on the perch, your pet can freely spread its wings.
Important! Curious cockatiels love a variety of toys, but you need to add them to the cage gradually so that the chick does not become stressed by a lot of unfamiliar things.
What should a cockatiel cage be like: video
Hygiene procedures and care
The cage should be cleaned daily. Sweep the remaining food out of it, remove droppings, wash the feeder and pour fresh food into it. Once a week, carry out general cleaning, placing the chick in a temporary cage - wipe the bottom and bars. Every month, disinfect all surfaces of the cage, wash toys and accessories in soapy water.
Did you know? In the wild, cockatiels exhibit a remarkable addiction to alcohol. They become intoxicated by gorging themselves on fermented fruits or nuts, and then fly around uncontrollably and become rowdy. In Australia, every now and then there are whole “rains” of drunken parrots, during which the birds lose their orientation and fly into residential areas of cities. At home, with an open drinking bowl freely available, these cunning creatures can prepare their own mash by throwing pieces of fruit into the water and waiting for them to ferment.
These birds' claws grow throughout their lives, and there is no way to grind them down in a cage, so trim them once a month with a cat's nail clipper. While trimming, be careful not to touch the blood vessel that supplies the nail. Chicks are sensitive to stress, remember unpleasant sensations, and repeating the haircut next time will be problematic.
There is no need to wash the cockatiel under running water and with detergents. The bird takes good care of itself and cleans its dry plumage on its own. From time to time she needs to give her a spray bottle shower. If your pet is seriously dirty, you can put a bath in its cage with a weak soap solution - the chick will wash itself in it and then dry.
Feeding the chicks
There are ready-made feed mixtures for cockatiels; they are balanced in nutrients and vitamins and can serve as the only food for birds.
If you don’t trust store-bought food, prepare your pet’s diet yourself:
- include grains, oilseeds, nuts and berries;
- Give tropical fruits dried, apples and pears raw.
Find out in more detail what you can feed parrots, what treats to give, what to do if they are poisoned.
Cockatiel chicks are prohibited from:
- avocado;
- potato;
- citrus seeds;
- drink coffee and strong tea.
The water in the drinking bowl should always be clean and fresh. A closed drinking bowl is preferable to a bathtub, since the bird actively moves in the cage and litters a lot.
Why a chick may die and how to prevent it
There are several common causes of cockatiel mortality. By paying due attention to your pets, you will avoid such troubles.
- The most common cause of death in young animals is improper care. Birds sensitive to temperature changes die from heart and breathing problems. Young animals often develop allergic reactions to household chemicals and dust. The presence of drafts in the room where the cage is located leads to the fact that cockatiels catch a cold and then do not recover. To minimize stress for the chick, buy a temporary nest box for it - a small closed box with a hole for entry. The nest box must be left until the chick is fully grown, and then be taken away. An adult bird should be accustomed to cages and open spaces. A closed house will not improve her socialization skills.
- The second leading cause of chick mortality is infectious diseases. They spread rapidly among birds, so when purchasing, inspect not only your bird, but also those that are in the same cage with it. The Popov virus, which causes bloating and dehydration, cannot be treated, so its appearance can be prevented by treating the cell with an iodoform solution. Scabies, also known as knemidocoptic mange, is a disease caused by the appearance of mites of the genus Knemidocoptes in the plumage of a parrot. Only a veterinarian can cure a bird of scabies, and it must be diagnosed at the earliest stages.
- The third reason for the death of chicks is injury. Adult birds can cause harm to the baby, and the chick itself can be injured. If you see that adult parrots or even the baby’s parents are in conflict with him, put the chick in a separate cage. Eliminate all sharp corners in the cage, remove toys made of thin plastic so that the chick does not bite them and swallow small particles.
Did you know? Possessing an amazing gift of imitation, cockatiels can imitate human speech and sing learned songs. Moreover, these birds have neither vocal cords nor a vocal apparatus as a whole. They produce complex melodic sounds and trills exclusively with the help of their beak and tongue.
A cockatiel chick needs parental care until it is one month old. Already from the second month of life, he begins to eat solid food and independently monitor his plumage. Cockatiels reach full maturity only at six months; until this time they need to be especially protected from drafts, regularly disinfect the cage and monitor the quality of food. When choosing a pet, pay attention not only to its appearance, but also to the conditions in which it is kept in order to take a healthy and well-groomed bird into your home.
What you need to know before buying a cockatiel: video
How to care for your pet so that it learns to sing?
It is also important for the cockatiel to constantly release it into the wild. If this is not done, then he will chatter incessantly, which cannot have a positive effect on his learning process. So if you want the bird in your house to sing the songs of your favorite artist, you need to pay special attention to caring for it .
Otherwise, the bird will chatter, which will only cause irritation instead of delight. The bird should feel completely comfortable. For this to happen, it is necessary not only to feed the cockatiel well and tasty, but also to provide it with everything possible for its well-being. What exactly do you need to do?
- Provide full access to light to the cage. In any living organism, photons stimulate the production of joy hormones. So, with good lighting, your bird will feel better.
- The cage needs to be cleaned constantly. This is important not only for you, but also for the bird. After all, the cockatiel is not used to living in such ugly conditions, which arise on their own when it is not cleaned for some time. She is genetically wired to live in paradise. You shouldn’t take this goodness away from her.
- Monitor the temperature inside the cage. It is clear that a cockatiel will not sing if it is cold. Yes, she won’t even be able to sing the song “Oh frost, frost.” After all, she does not understand its meaning, but only reproduces it. Desirable temperature limits for poultry are from 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. If below this threshold, then the bird will be cold. After all, she was accustomed to the warm Australian climate, and not to the harsh Russian winters.
- It is also necessary to monitor humidity. To maintain it at a certain level, you need to buy an air humidifier and regularly irrigate the cage with it. Just don't overdo it.
- Make sure there are no drafts. Birds don't like this. What about birds, even people don’t really like drafts. So be sure to keep an eye on this factor so that the cockatiel lives and sings in full voice.
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In general, you should follow the rules for caring for your bird at any time of the year and regardless of what your mood is.
The likelihood that your cockatiel will want to chat with you or even sing a song from your favorite artist in live high-quality sound mode depends on this.
In this article, we figured out how cockatiels sing and what needs to be done to ensure that their singing never stops. Actually, you can feel the state of the bird. The main thing is that you do not confuse singing with grinding. You can even draw an indirect correlation between a cockatiel's lifespan and how much it sings.
The more this is demonstrated, the better your pet's quality of life. So keep an eye on and love your pets. Believe me, they will be grateful to you.
