Ask Lafeber

My cockatiel flies away

I got one cockatiel about less than 2 weeks ago. She is randomply screaming, I checked if she was fine and I also checked her food, water, cage, etc.. Everything was fine. I thought that maybe she wanted attention, but everytime I went near her, she gets agitated and flies away from me, in her cage. I tried spending time with her, I tried giving treats but she flew away everytime my hand got near. Once, I brought my hand near her from outside the cage and she tried to bite me. I dont know what to do, please help.

Hi Nessi,

It sounds like she is very stressed out and may not be tame at all. If she wasn’t hand fed, she will be very difficult to tame. Female cockatiels can especially be hard or impossible to tame unless they are hand fed to begin with. You need to stop trying to handle her right now and let her get settled in. You can sit near her and talk softly to her to let her know she can trust you. But don’t reach for her or offer her anything from your hands until she has calmed down. It can take weeks, months or longer to work with a wild cockatiel. I’ll give you some links to read to help you with the process.

Teaching Your Bird

Caring For Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda