I need help with my cockatiel?

Question

1. I don't know if its a boy or girl. -She has an orangeish cheek. She also chirps (kinda like a Togepi from Pokemon) a lot, and her crest is about 3 inches long. (She is only 5 months old). She hasn't molted yet. How will I know if she's a boy or girl?

2. Also whenever i'm here she chirps (like Togepi) again, but if i leave, she gives out this very loud chirp and I think I have figured out it means she wants attention. Is there any way to fix this?

3.Last but not least, about 1/4 the time I see her she is like putting her head in her feathers and it looks like she bites them but then i also see her grooming her other feathers. Is this normal?

PLEASE PEOPLE I NEED HELP. I HAVEN'T FOUND A GOOD WEBSITE. ANSWERS PLEASE

Answer 1

I used to have one for a number of years I called him Earl Grey then I found out he was a she so I changed her name to Lady Grey, then as they are both kinds of tea I called her teabag then my friends little boy came to see her and said can I please play with fleabag and that stuck.
Fleabag had red cheeks. If you find yours pulling its feathers out it could be lonely and stressed.
I used to leave the radio on a timer so it kept coming on and off during the day. She was also happy to snuggle up with the dog on the carpet

Answer 2

1:If this is a normal gray tiel, it wil have a bright yellow head with orange cheeks if it is a male, not too much yellow on the head if it is a female.
2.The chirp is talking to you. The LOUD panicked chirp when you leave is called a contact call. She wants to know where you went and wants you to come back. Usually you can just holler back or whistle back and they are fine. If you hear her/him really flipping out, go back in and calm her/him down.
3: That is preening. The oil gland is at the base of the tail and they will snatch up some oil, then move to other feathers. If your tiel is 5 months old, then in the next month you will be finding a LOT of feathers all over the place and even may see her removing some of them herself. Just be warned: Tiels do get a little bit PMS'd when they are molting, so, she may be a little crabbier than what you consider normal. Molting is also a good time to bond with your bird since her neck can only turn so far. If she wants you to scratch her head of neck, what she is really asking for is that you break the keratin off of the new feathers on the back of the head and neck because she can't reach them herself. Just use one finger and a gentle swirling motion to do this. If she screeches and pulls away, you either hit one that wasn't ready or you did it too hard.

Answer 3

Starting at the end, You could see if the magazine "Cage and Aviary Birds" still exists and has a website. If so, you could contact them for accurate info.Otherwise, I can only suggest a book on parrots borrowed from the library.

However, I can confirm that grooming (or preening) is very important to these birds to keep their feathers in good condition. I believe that there is an oil gland at the base of the feather and preening not only gets rid of dirt, but spreads the oil down the feather to condition it.Also, the bird may be sleeping with its head in its feathers or under its wing: perfectly normal.

It sounds to me as if the bird would like to communicate and some of this breed do talk, but you must chatter to it a lot of the time. If you really do want it to talk, and you need to put its cage somewhere quiet and sit and talk to it for five minutes at a time, but repeating the same word all the time until it has been repeated by the bird over a few days, then tell it another word. Takes a lot of patience and is still not guaranteed, but worth a try perhaps.

As far as the sex of the bird is concerned, I believe that bright orange cheek patches indicate a boy, but best to check with an expert.

I hope that you will be able to train it so that it can be let out for a hop and a fly now and then. These birds are very affectionate and love top sit on shoulders and tweak your ears - gently!

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Male cockatiels sing at 5-6 months and their face starts moulting in slowly. If you have a male, you'll notice their face slowly coming in with small patches of yellow. Your bird, if it's a male, will have a completely yellow face by the time they're 9 months old.

Since your tiel is so young, I'd listen for the mating call. it's a loud warble that can go on for half an hour or more. it's quite impressive :-) . Sometimes the males will bag their beaks on their perches and strut back and fourth doing their mating call.

The loud chirp you hear when you leave is indeed the cockatiel 'COME HERE!' call. They'll give you this cute stare when you come back, with their head all poofed out and their crest raised. You don't always have to run in when they do that. All you have to do is use something called a 'contact call'. When you leave and your bird chirps, just say 'I'm here!'. Some bird owners will say "I'm in the kitchen!' Or 'I'm doing laundry!' when their bird calls.

When birds sleep, they tuck their beaks into their back feathers and nap on one foot. Sometimes they'll wiggle their heads while they're getting comfortable. It's perfectly normal. You'll know when your bird is comfortable around you as they'll close one eye in your direction as they're getting ready for bed :-)

Everything you've stated sounds like you have a happy, healthy bird. :-) Cool!

Answer 5

It's hard to tell. If you have a clear picture of the same mutation, you can tell by the cheek patches, (sometimes), which are brighter on males than females. Males tend to be louder and they sing and talk, female birds in all spieces cannot talk. Males also tend to hold their crest up high and very proud. You can DNA test (expensive)or wait to see if your bird ever lays an egg, then you'll know for sure. That grooming thing, it's normal, called preening. They line up all the little barbs on their feathers in the same direrction when they are using their beak like that, and they also press the little oil gland at the base of their rump to spread it on their feathers to help keep them weatherproofed for showering, or if it were the wild, the rain.

Answer 6

I have two cockatiels that are abot five years old. To answer your first Q, a female cockatiel, after her first molt, will still have the light spots on the underside of her wings. After a male's first molt, you will begin to see more yellow about his face.
For the second Q, my guess is that your friend would like to know where you are going. My advice is to let the bird ride on your shoulder around the house so that she feels more secure in that she knows the other rooms are safe for you. The bonding this causes can't hurt either.
And for your third Q,If you are talking about her biting on the base of her tail, let me enlighten you. Birds clean their feathers by rubbing them with an oil from a gland on their rump. What you are seeing is your bird gathering this oil prior to cleaning the rest of her feathers. This is completely normal. She is not in any pain when she does this. However, if she ever stops this behavior, or you notice dull and/or unkempt feathers, your bird may be very ill.
Best of luck and kudos to you on your new bird. May your friendship be a long and healthy one!

Answer 7

1. its too young to tell if its a girl or a boy

2. Cockatiels love attention. Exspecailly if she or he was handfeed. When you leave make sure she has access to food and water and has an hour or more of interaction time with you. Also you could get her like a perch playground. So she can be out of her cage yet be in a secure place while your around the house.

3.Cockatiels groom themselves alot. Its very normal. Its only not normal if she is plucking out her feathers or chewing on them.

Answer 8

At five months old the bird should be preparing for its first moult, when you see her biting as you say she is preening the feathers and opening closed quill feathers it is very normal.
cockateils are notorious difficult to sex however after the first moult you can open the wing and there is a line of bars on the underside, if the bars stop half way across the wing chances are it is a female

Answer 9

The only way to find out for sure the gender of your bird is DNA testing. This cost around $35 at the vet. Male birds are way more vocal than females, so that could be a clue.
You should provide your bird with plenty of toys, and change them out often. They get bored with the same ones if left in their house too long.
You may want to try misting him/her with a spray bottle every few days. Mine love it, and they don't pick at themselves as much. Mine also sleep with their heads in their feathers, so don't worry

Answer 10

well, I dont know how to tell the males from females
but you could leave a radio or the tv on for her, when you go out, sound abit like she bored, has she got a mirror, bath, bell ladder and cuttle fish ??
and millet.
you could also try going to the bird section here, lots of others have birds as pets, you'll be bound to pick up some useful information
good luck