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Cockatiel

Birds

Beastly Facts · Updated Oct 6, 2026

The crested whistler that will learn your ringtone and improve on it!

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Did you know? Cockatiels are masters of mimicry. Males especially love to learn whistled tunes and will serenade you (and any reflective surface) for hours. Many can even learn short phrases!

The first week

The numbers a new owner needs in the first week, each from the article it links to. Rows with no link come from the encyclopedia.

Day one: At least 30 days, and up to 45, quarantined in a separate room with its own airspace, away from any bird you already own. A multi-bird household or aviary is safer nearer 90 days.Quarantine guide →
Enclosure: Reference tables put the minimum near 20 by 20 by 30 inches for one bird, and many keepers go to 24 by 24 by 30 for easier movement. Width matters more than height, since cockatiels are horizontal flyers.Setup guide →
Bar spacing: Half an inch or smaller. Wider spacing creates a genuine and avoidable risk of head entrapment.Setup guide →
Sleep: 10 to 12 hours of quiet, dark sleep every night. Cockatiels are prone to night frights, sudden panicked flapping in the dark, so a cage cover or a small night light can help prevent injuries during these episodes.Setup guide →
Diet: Pellets should make up roughly 75 to 80% of daily intake, with fresh vegetables and fruit filling no more than another 20 to 25% and seeds kept to a small minority. All-seed diets are a well-documented cause of malnutrition in pet cockatiels.Feeding guide →
Feeding style: Free-choice, not scheduled: refresh the base pellet bowl in the morning when they're hungriest and top it up if it empties before evening, it should never sit empty for long.Feeding guide →
Handling: Give a new bird 7 to 14 days with no handling attempts. Build trust with treats through the bars, then a hand inside the cage, before offering a flat palm (not a single finger) for step-up training, in sessions of 10 to 15 minutes.Handling guide →
Budget: $75 to $250 for the bird, $370 to $765 for a complete starter setup with the bird included, every item priced from the cage to the first bag of pellets, and $180 to $360 a year after that. Avian exams come on top, at least yearly, and reproductive emergencies like egg binding can strike with no warning.Cost guide →
Adult size: 12 to 13 inches (30 to 33 cm) including tail; 80 to 125 g (about 3 to 4.5 oz).
Lifespan: Typically 12 to 15 years, and up to about 25 has been reported, so budget for the long end.Cost guide →
Zoonotic risk: Psittacosis, caused by Chlamydia psittaci, is zoonotic, meaning it can pass to people in the household.Health guide →
Power outage: Keep feeding and watering through an outage rather than pulling food the way you would for a reptile; a small bird carries almost no fat reserve. The real danger is combustion, not cold: no candles, gas heat, or a generator run anywhere near the bird's room.Emergency plan →

Emergency card

Call the vet now if you see any of these.

Discharge from the eyes, nose, or mouth
Bleeding
Changes in droppings
Sitting on the cage floor instead of perching
Persistently fluffed feathers
Tail-bobbing or labored breathing
Any sudden change in appetite or behavior

An avian vet, found before you need one. Cockatiels hide illness so effectively that these signs usually mean the problem is already advanced, so none of them should wait.

From Common Cockatiel Health Issues (And Why the Kitchen Can Be Dangerous) →

Where to go next

How Much Does a Cockatiel Really Cost?

$75 to $250 for the bird, $370 to $765 for a full starter setup with it, and the avian vet cost that catches people off guard.

Cockatiel Cage Setup: Width, Safety, and the Diet Debate

The 20x20x30 minimum, why width beats height, bar spacing, and the kitchen danger worth repeating.

How to Handle and Tame a Cockatiel

Building trust before you touch, the flat-palm step-up, and reading a stressed versus comfortable crest.

Common Cockatiel Health Issues (And Why the Kitchen Can Be Dangerous)

Nutritional disease, reproductive disease, the kitchen danger, and the signs that mean an avian vet now.

Cockatiel Feeding: Schedule, Diet, and Why They Stop Eating

Pellets as 75 to 80% of the bowl, how much fresh food belongs beside them, the foods to avoid, and the reasons a cockatiel goes off food.

Cockatiel Enrichment: Two Studies, Five Years Apart

What two real studies found, why foraging comes first, and a priority order for everything else.

What to buy

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Underlined items are paid Amazon links, at no extra cost to you.

Flight cage at least 20x20x30 inches, bars half an inch or less apart

Perches of varied diameter and texture, about 5/8 to 1.5 inches across

Food and water dishes

Foraging toys and puzzle feeders

Shreddable and chew toys

Cuttlebone

Nightlight (prevents night frights)

Gram scale

Travel carrier

Nail clippers sized for a small bird

Styptic powder made for birds

Cockatiel pellets

Cockatiel seed, a small minority of the diet

Millet, for training rewards

Prices and the reasoning behind each item are in How Much Does a Cockatiel Really Cost?.

Full Cockatiel gear list

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a cockatiel cost upfront?

The bird itself runs $75 to $250 depending on color mutation, with normal gray typically the cheapest. A complete starter setup, bird included, comes to $370 to $765, with every item priced: the cage, perches, dishes, a foraging toy, shreddable toys, a cuttlebone, a night light, a gram scale, a travel carrier, nail clippers and styptic powder, and the first pellets, seed and millet.

What size cage does a cockatiel need?

Reference tables put the minimum near 20 by 20 by 30 inches for one bird, and many keepers go to 24 by 24 by 30 for easier movement. Width matters more than height, since cockatiels are horizontal flyers.

What symptoms mean I should call an avian vet right away?

Discharge from the eyes, nose, or mouth, bleeding, a change in droppings, sitting on the cage floor instead of perching, feathers fluffed for long stretches, tail-bobbing or labored breathing, or any sudden shift in appetite or behavior. Cockatiels hide illness so effectively that these signs usually mean the problem is already advanced, so none of them should wait.

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Cockatiel

Nymphicus hollandicus

Animal facts & overview