{"id":10759,"date":"2014-11-19T04:38:08","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T04:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=10759"},"modified":"2025-10-19T14:14:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T19:14:42","slug":"cockatiel-behavior-brilliantly-baffling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/cockatiel-behavior-brilliantly-baffling\/","title":{"rendered":"Cockatiel Behavior: Brilliantly Baffling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"cockatiel
Photo by F. Hektor\/Pexels<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve shared my home and life with two cockatiel<\/a> companions \u2014\u00a0Elvis, a normal gray that I got when I was 9 years old after saving up my penny collection; and my current \u2019tiel friend, Gracie. Elvis was my first bird, and\u00a0the only thing I had to compare him to were my two dogs. My dogs were pretty standard canines; they ate just about anything, loved to jump on me to be petted, chased tennis balls, and hated taking baths. Elvis, on the other hand, was nothing like them. When I brought him home via the standard cardboard \u201ccritter carrier\u201d box, he was very shy and timid. He did not run to jump up on me; instead he hissed and nipped when I took him out of the box. It took a bit of trial and error \u2014\u00a0and massive amounts of my 9-year-old patience \u2014\u00a0for me to begin to figure Elvis out.<\/p>\n

Cockatiel Lessons From Elvis<\/h3>\n

I discovered that he liked to chew up paper after he got ahold of my letter from a Pen Pal (remember those?!). One day I set Elvis\u00a0down on the bathroom counter to brush my teeth and learned that he loved seeing his reflection. Soon thereafter, I discovered that he not only loved looking at himself, but he also loved<\/em> to whistle to his reflection. After he spent an increasing amount of time hanging out in front of the bathroom mirror, I discovered that he also liked the steam generated when I showered. Soon I began to notice that he did things I thought made him certifiably crazy. He\u2019d bang his beak hard against the mirror, the countertop and any other reflective surface, such as my mom\u2019s lacquered vase. I thought for sure he was going to break his beak and was convinced that the bits of flake on his beak were a result of his head banging and not because of natural beak growth. He\u2019d whistle, hop, bang his beak, and whistle some more.<\/p>\n

I had to show my two best friends \u2014\u00a0who only had cat and dog companions \u2014\u00a0my strange little pet. I hosted a sleepover for my birthday and after we settled into our pajamas, giggling \u2014\u00a0no doubt fueled by Sweet Tarts and licorice from an earlier movie theater outing \u2014 I went to take Elvis out of his cage. I was promptly greeted with a nip and hiss. I managed to get him out of his cage despite his protests, but Elvis was having none of it \u2014\u00a0he did not want to be the life of this little sleepover party. My friends were, not surprisingly, unimpressed, while I was a little disheartened; I wanted them to see how wonderful Elvis was, and instead they saw a very cranky cockatiel. Another lesson learned; my little \u2019tiel enjoyed his downtime, especially at bedtime. Fortunately, I had a full 21 years to thoroughly learn Elvis\u2019s likes and dislikes, and he was a very good teacher.<\/p>\n

Cockatiel Lessons From Gracie<\/h3>\n

By the time I welcomed Gracie into my\u00a0home \u2014\u00a0during Elvis\u2019s golden years \u2014\u00a0I had many years of Livin’<\/em>\u00a0La Vida Loca<\/em>\u00a0cockatiel-style but nonetheless was amazed all over again by all his little cockatiel quirks. Gracie is a \u201che\u201d and he is all male cockatiel \u2014\u00a0like Elvis, a head-banger, a whistler, a hopper and, yes, an occasional hissy-fitter if I\u00a0dared interrupt his “me time.” Gracie added a few cockatiel tricks of his own, like hanging upside-down in the cage and flapping his wings just as I’m heading over\u00a0to change out the cage liner \u2014 sending his birdie debris all about.\u00a0My friend has a female cockatiel that I\u2019ve pet sat enough to notice that she is more of a chirper than a whistle-serenader, and she is more apt to be content snuggling up on a shoulder than hopping in front of a mirror. One thing both sexes seem to have in common is their fluffed-up, relaxed cheek feathers and soft but audible beak grinding when content and, of course, that high-pitched chirp when something catches their attention \u2014\u00a0\u2019tiel talk for \u201cDid you hear that?!\u201d<\/p>\n

Common Cockatiel Behavior<\/h3>\n

“Normal” can be a relative term when talking about cockatiels but here are some of their more common behaviors:<\/p>\n

Beak bonking:<\/strong>\u00a0A male cockatiel might bang his beak hard against his perch, food cup, toy, or the ground beneath him to\u00a0get the attention of the object of his affection, which can be another bird, you, a toy, or his own reflection. And if he’s really laying on the affection he will lean in close and whistle enthusiastically.<\/p>\n

Hopping:\u00a0<\/strong>Hopping is often paired with a cockatiel’s beak bonking … he’s really upping his game.<\/p>\n

Hanging upside-down:\u00a0<\/strong>Some avian enthusiasts report their cockatiels hang upside-down and stretch out their wings as a territorial stance or to be protective of their area. They might also hang upside-down and flap their wings as a way to “stretch them out.”<\/p>\n

Hissing:\u00a0<\/strong>Most cockatiels will warn you to back off via a “hiss” and maybe a beak lunge as well. They’d much prefer you get their point than having to resort to nipping you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cockatiels can be every bit a parrot as their larger counterparts \u2014 friendly and outgoing to snugly and gentle \u2014 no wonder these little feathered companions are America\u2019s Top Bird. But ever stop to think if your cockatiel is normal? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-everyday","bird-type-cockatiel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCockatiel Behavior: Brilliantly Baffling – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cockatiels can be every bit a parrot as their larger counterparts \u2014 friendly and outgoing to snugly and gentle \u2014 no wonder these little feathered companions are America\u2019s Top Bird. 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