Can I please have some help with my Cockatiel

On Christmas Eve me and my family went to visit my Tias house, at like 8 PM we heard a screeching coming from her porch, we went to investigate, and to our surprise there was a cockatiel hanging in her porch light. We got it inside and checked facebook, craigslist, and other bird forums for a missing cockatiel matching its description. We came up with nothing, seeing that me and my dad love animals, we weren't going to toss it outside again. We got a cheap cage and some bird seeds and waited to see if it would even live through the night. It did do we bought it a huge cage, tons of toys, and everything that it said to get online. For a few days I followed some advice for bonding with your cockatiel,resting your hand next to it so it knows your not a threat and what not. The are a we got it from was not the best, so I figured that the previous owners didn't teach it anything. I taught him how to "step up" but he is very stubborn about it. I am homeschooled so he either chills on my shoulder or on a perch o my desk during the day. I have notice that he is picking at his feathers, not grooming himself, but pulling them out, I read that this might be a nervous tick, is there anything I can do make him not hurt himself. Also, he is scared of fingers, a palm he does not mind, but if your finger is close to him he gets nervous. I have little experience in birds, but I am willing to learn to give Tiko his best life, so if anyone could please help me out with some tips on his care that would be amazing, thank y'all!

Here are some pictures of Tiko (also I am aware that Tiko, might actually be a Tika, but thats okay)

Thanks for taking this little one in. First thing you do is have him checked over by a Certified Avian Vet, not a dog and cat vet ( big difference). It could be dry skin ( all parrots nee to bathe frequently) or mites, if he's been in the wild for awhile. Or other things the vet can diagnose . Some parrots develop a nervous habit of plucking their feathers which is a psychological issue , not a medical one.

Take your time in becoming his friend, especially if he seems nervous around you. Go to the cockatiel sub-form and there is a ton of info there.

Easiest way to tell Tiko from Tika in a cockatiel is to have a look at the underside of the main tail feathers. Male birds will have solid colour whereas females will show a stippled effect on the underside. Unfortunately I’m not able to see the pictures you posted but even in a white female cockatiel that stippling in the colour will show, even if you can only see it when the feathers are held up to the light.

In the short term the best thing you can do for Tiko is have him checked out by an avian vet to get a baseline on his health and some help with the feather picking. From my (limited) experience it’s not quite as common in cockatiels as it can be with conures or quakers and he is likely in some discomfort from it. If he is happy to sit on your shoulder and chill with you that’s wonderful! My boy Fang is quite flighty and is VERY selective about when he will step up or not and he’s been with us his whole life! Cockatiels are also prone to the “night terrors” where they’ll have a fright in the middle of the night, fall off their perch and thrash about in their cage and scream like someone is trying to murder them. If this happens to Tiko the easiest fix is leave about a quarter to a third of the cage uncovered at night and leave a nightlight on. Fang used to get the frights but has rarely had an episode in years now.

Other than that welcome aboard the forum to you! Cockatiels are charming and funny little souls and no doubt Tiko will have you wrapped around his little claw in no time flat

Tiko (or Tika, LOL) is probably just stressed. Have you offered him a bath? Get a brand-new spray bottle and put room-temperature water in it and mist over his head so it falls on him like rain.