Please can i have the good, bad and ugly

[ravvlet]

We are new to conures but our Cricket was with us for a couple years - they are a different noise factor than conures. Whereas Brocc can be terribly loud if I leave the room without him or when he just gets so excited he needs to belt out a little shriek, the noise from our ‘tiel was constant. It wasn’t as loud (although their little alarm whistle can be on the loud side), but the males LOVE to sing, and most are pretty darn good at picking up new tunes (and repeating them at every opportunity lol).

My buddy still has Cricket’s older brother, who is six or seven now! He is small for a tiel but quite loud when he’s upset about something - I gave them a ride for his nail trim and he sang the whole way there. If whistling doesn’t bother you, it’s actually rather pleasant.

 

[LaManuka]

Yeah, unfortunately the night fright thing can be bad, both of mine are prone to it. In addition to not covering the cage all the way up, I leave a night light on for them, and this has cut the instances from one or two per week WAAAAAYYYYY down to maybe half a dozen or less per year. Plus any toy installed in the cage has a (stainless steel) bell attached, and I add one if it doesn't come with one already. I'm a pretty light sleeper so if they do start to thrash around in the night I always hear those bells and come a'runnin' before they can do any damage.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Thanks. Charlie lead a good, long life despite his injury and disability.
I tell his story to emphasize how seriously a bird can be injured in a night fright.

I LOVE the way male cockatiels whistle! Expose them to a lot of fun whistled tunes and a male won't be able to help himself! They aren't always on key and they sometimes mash songs together to create new ones. They also love to beak tap on objects like they were drums and can have great rhythm. So entertaining!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Good:

-Friendly
-Not as loud as many parrots
-Can be very cuddly, or at least love skritches!
-Breeders tend to be easy to find
-My guys tend not to bite. They'll squeal and go through the motions of biting, but don't actually place a bite. The exception are non-tame birds. (Others' experiences may differ from this...)

Bad:

-Dusty
-Night Frights (This has already been discussed )
-Mine tend to be pickier food-wise than green cheeks
-while not loud as some parrots, it can be constant, especially if you play music with a lot of whistling or bird calls, like I do!

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Good:

-Friendly
-Not as loud as many parrots
-Can be very cuddly, or at least love skritches!
-Breeders tend to be easy to find
-My guys tend not to bite. They'll squeal and go through the motions of biting, but don't actually place a bite. The exception are non-tame birds. (Others' experiences may differ from this...)

Bad:

-Dusty
-Night Frights (This has already been discussed )
-Mine tend to be pickier food-wise than green cheeks
-while not loud as some parrots, it can be constant, especially if you play music with a lot of whistling or bird calls, like I do!

Hmmm how do you deal with picky eaters ? Albie loves her food and will eat anything i put in front of her .

Constant chattering and whistleing will be nice, we can hear our neighbours aviary budgies and we love it so a whistley chattery bird will be lovely although i know its not guaranteed

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

They are messier than a conure ? I mean ...Albie is pretty dang messy. I cleaned her cage out today and 5 minutes later it looks as though ive left it a week 🙃

The poop isnt much of an issue as we have mounds of wet wipes in every room.

Albie is definitely a shredder ..... her favorite is my hand written dnd notes .... card toys are definitely her favorite, she doesn't really chew wooden ones unless its the coffee table and shes gone off chewing that recently.

Maybe my conures are especially clean

Just this morning my female cockatiel did a massive poop and then she and her mate decided to walk through it and track it everywhere. It's all over their feet and then my male cockatiel tried to sit in my hair whilst it was still wet. My conures have never done something like that and the cockatiels do this about once or twice a week! The most mess my conures make is with their food and shredding newspaper but the tiels poop everywhere, spread poop everywhere, get food everywhere and their dust is everywhere. Even my budgies are messier than my conures and have somehow managed to poop several times on the ceiling

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Hmmm how do you deal with picky eaters ? Albie loves her food and will eat anything i put in front of her .

Constant chattering and whistleing will be nice, we can hear our neighbours aviary budgies and we love it so a whistley chattery bird will be lovely although i know its not guaranteed

I would recommend finding a good pellet that they like. Mine love pretty bird natural gold but they're less keen on their fresh food. I'm happy with them eating pellets as I know they're getting some good nutrition even if they're not keen on eating as many vegetables. I've found that cockatiels absolutely love peas as well, I use them frozen in their chop so I can leave it out longer and as it defrosts it softens and they go mad for it!

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Hmmm how do you deal with picky eaters ? Albie loves her food and will eat anything i put in front of her .

Constant chattering and whistleing will be nice, we can hear our neighbours aviary budgies and we love it so a whistley chattery bird will be lovely although i know its not guaranteed

Believe It or not, but my conure taught my cockatiels what's good to eat! They see a hungry conure pig out and the cockatiel tries it... Instant success, LOL!

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Believe It or not, but my conure taught my cockatiels what's good to eat! They see a hungry conure pig out and the cockatiel tries it... Instant success, LOL!

That makes total sense with them social eaters and learning whats safe to eat and what isnt so hopefully Albies good appetite will rub off on new birdie !

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I would recommend finding a good pellet that they like. Mine love pretty bird natural gold but they're less keen on their fresh food. I'm happy with them eating pellets as I know they're getting some good nutrition even if they're not keen on eating as many vegetables. I've found that cockatiels absolutely love peas as well, I use them frozen in their chop so I can leave it out longer and as it defrosts it softens and they go mad for it!

I LOVE cockatiels- my 'tiel was the greatest!
One more thing about 'tiels vs GCCs- GCCs seem to act more "parrot-like" than 'tiels, which seem to be an intermediate between budgies and larger parrots. GCCs act more like mini-Amazons. They use foot toys more and seem to climb and play with toys moe like Amazons do.
'Tiels are very strong fliers (my 'tiel was a real speed demon) and I don't know if GCCs are like that.

That makes total sense with them social eaters and learning whats safe to eat and what isnt so hopefully Albies good appetite will rub off on new birdie !

 

[Stitchthestitch]

I LOVE cockatiels- my 'tiel was the greatest!
One more thing about 'tiels vs GCCs- GCCs seem to act more "parrot-like" than 'tiels, which seem to be an intermediate between budgies and larger parrots. GCCs act more like mini-Amazons. They use foot toys more and seem to climb and play with toys moe like Amazons do.
'Tiels are very strong fliers (my 'tiel was a real speed demon) and I don't know if GCCs are like that.

Albie is an absolute speed nut , when dhe feels like it

 

[texsize]

Yes, Cockatiels are the most incredible flyers.
They can fly very fast.
They can fly quite gracefully some of the time.
They really know how to use momentum, they jump from a high point in the house with their wings tucked in.
Drop a foot or two snap their wings open and use the momentum they got in the drop to swoop up to another high point in the house.
It’s like an air show every day

 

[Greenhouseparrots]

Yes, Cockatiels are the most incredible flyers.
They can fly very fast.
They can fly quite gracefully some of the time.
They really know how to use momentum, they jump from a high point in the house with their wings tucked in.
Drop a foot or two snap their wings open and use the momentum they got in the drop to swoop up to another high point in the house.
It’s like an air show every day

I can vouch for this. Malibu does the most amazing flying, my conures could never hope to fly as well! Volkan, my other cockatiel is like a bullet. He just flies in a straight line straight into things with no grace at all

 

[ravvlet]

Broccoli is a good flier, and I am often impressed with his antics, but sometimes I feel like cockatiels are a little less “people smart” than conures because they use all of that little peanut brain for their flying maneuvers. It’s especially odd given that IIRC, cockatiels are grassland birds, whereas conures have to navigate the canopy in the forests of central/South America!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Broccoli is a good flier, and I am often impressed with his antics, but sometimes I feel like cockatiels are a little less “people smart” than conures because they use all of that little peanut brain for their flying maneuvers. It’s especially odd given that IIRC, cockatiels are grassland birds, whereas conures have to navigate the canopy in the forests of central/South America!

Cockatiels are flock flyers and need to turn on a dime to avoid air predators because the don't have the cover of dense foliage to hide in, hence their amazing flying skills.

 

[Stitchthestitch]

Thats something else to add to my list , make sure my new bird is fully fledged and flighted . Ive some very tight corners in my home (which albie maneuvers beautifully ) and ive seen a couple of adverts for clipped birds

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

I also find some of my cockatiels like to hide. Like crawl into hidey spaces and disappear when frightened. Super annoying when you're packing, LOL!