What kind of body does a cockatiel have?
Healthy cockatiels have grey bodies, yellow faces, and signature bright orange cheeks that are mostly round and puffy. They also have white streaks that travel down the outer side of their wings like racing stripes. Another defining cockatiel feature is the head feathers that stick out from their head like a mohawk. This is called a crest.
When does a cockatiel lose its white feathers?
This is only evident after the first moulting, typically occurring about six to nine months after hatching: the male loses the white or yellow barring and spots on the underside of his tail feathers and wings.
When did the first pearling cockatiel come out?
Pearling was first seen in 1967. This is seen as a feather of one colour with a different coloured edge, such as grey feathers with yellow tips. This distinctive pattern is on a bird’s wings or back. The albino colour mutation is a lack of pigment. These birds are white with red eyes. Fallow cockatiels first appeared sometime in the 1970s.
How can you tell if a cockatiel is sick?
There may be something that can be done to help your bird and allow them to make a full recovery. You can also tell whether or not your Cockatiel is sick by having a look at his/her droppings. The droppings actually tell you a lot about your bird’s health.
What does a cockatiel do when it wants to be noticed?
Usually, the bird is just asking to be noticed. Look for the cresting of the head feathers. When a cockatiel is trying to attract a mate, he may let the feathers on the top of his head curl up into a crest. Basically, it creates a little curlicue on the top of his head. However, he could also be defending his territory with this gesture.
How are male and female cockatiels incubating their eggs?
Both male and female cockatiels share the incubation of the eggs and it is common to see both of them in the nestbox at the same time. Sometimes one bird will be sitting on the eggs and the other just sitting beside and sometimes each bird will incubate somet of the eggs.
When does a cockatiel get its first molt?
After approximately six to nine months, the bird will molt for the first time and grow a new coat of plumage, typically more colorful and with more variation between the sexes. A dull coat or faded colors can be a sign of poor nutrition, although sometimes it just takes a couple molts for the full, bright adult plumage to develop.
What should be the color of a cockatiel’s urine?
A bird’s urine should always be clear and colorless and urates should always be white. If a color change is noticed in the urine, your bird is sick and needs to be taken to an avian vet. Sometimes the coloring from solid matter will run into urine on cage papers, making what should be clear, look colored.
