Cockatiels originate from Australia and originally in Grey
color. These birds do look like undersized cockatoos but has no close
relationship with other types of parrots. The grey cockatiel has yellow face and
crest and an orange spot on the cheeks. So far many new varieties have been
introduced and still new are being developed in captivity. They can be tamed
easily and are proved to be very good pet birds.
Many color varieties of cockatiels are easily available in
Pakistan and all over the world. As the cockatiels don't have very bright colors
like budgies or African love birds, the color varieties are confines to shades
of white, grey and cinnamon.
There are three kinds of mutations available in cockatiels.
pink feet and nails. They show grey feathers on a white body. The lesser the
grey color, the more heavy pied it is.
basically in grey color with their heads and face of white color. They lack the
orange cheek spot.
Recessive Dilute Silver
are silvery grey but have red eyes. It is basically a European variety.
bird has a
cocoa-brown coloration replacing all the grey areas. They have red eyes, while
bill and feet are a little paler.
Grey-Green (Olive) New
Yellow Cheeked have the
orange cheek spot reduced or almost eliminated but that retain the original
yellow color. This variety is available in US but the color dominance is yet to
Lutino have total absence
of grey color in them and have red eyes. It is basically a white bird with
yellow patches on it.
have white or
yellow markings on the edges of the feathers on the back specifically.
Cinnamon have soft grayish
brown color instead of grey color.
Lacewings have yellow
spots in center of grey feathers beautiful lacewing effect.
Albino is combination of
whiteface and Lutino. they are completely white with red eyes.
are dimorphic, i.e. they are easily identifiable as male and female when they
In the grey cockatiels, the male has a bright yellow
forehead, crest and throat. The cheek patches are bright orange. The tail is
dark grey. the beak and the legs and nails are also grey. The iris is black.
The female grey cockatiel is a little dull in color as the
forehead and throat area have a slight discoloration of yellow or pale yellow
and orange patch is also not as bright as of male. There is a pale wash of
yellow on central tail feathers.
The baby cockatiels have almost same e color as the females
and the males get brightened when they are young.
Cockatiels have proved to be very good breeders in captivity
and as they are not aggressive towards each other, they can easily be bred in
colony. But as for me, I feel that I get better results in pairs breeding of
cockatiels then in colony breeding.
The female cockatiels don't ever get tired of laying eggs
(just like budgies) so its good
Female may lay 6 to 7 eggs and incubate for 19 - 21 days. In
the day time usually male incubates the eggs while at night, its the duty of
female to incubate them. In the day time, the male and female both may incubate
eggs. Usually if the pair doesn't have any problem with them, the eggs get 100
You must take care as not to disturb the pair during the
breeding season, as if the female gets disturbed during incubation period, she many
leave the eggs to cool down and never caring for them.
Cockatiels are excellent parents. They never let their babies
die and can handle up to 8 babies at a time and never get tired. The male and
female both have their duties of feeding the babies.
The babies should be banded within two weeks of age. They
should be checked frequently as to avoid problem with them.
The cockatiel babies get a very good health if the parents are
fed with extra soft food.
Like all my parrots, I usually treat cockatiels with seed
mix. Sunflower seed is favorites seed for cockatiels. Cockatiels don't eat much
but they love the soaked chick peas that are provided to them during the
breeding season. The chick peas play a very important role in rearing of healthy
Cockatiels like vegetables and fruits very much and if the
babies are handfed, they become tame very easily.
Calcium should be provided to cockatiels all the time to
avoid feather plucking and a course of vitamins is always good for your birds.
For more on
Cockatiels, if fed properly, don't get any disease easily.
Cleanliness is an essential thing not only for cockatiels but for any kind of
bird. Treating them for worms, and using vitamins and calcium will always keep
your bird healthy.