# Just got my first cockatiel! (impressions)



## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

Hi all! 

I got before 4 days a hand-fed 6 month male (i think) cockatiel!I named him Stan because it's easy to learn and i love south park...! 

Things i/we do:

1)Letting him be in my shoulder most of time
2)Talking to him in a soft voice
3)Hand feeding him with seeds from time to time
4)Whistling
5)Letting him be many hours outside cage
6)Playing with shiny and colourful things

Strange behaviours:

1)When he's on shoulder he doesnt want to get down and bites (not hard) with some chirp
2)Also to #1 he always wants to be there no matter what!Climbing or even flying(!) on it!When he's there he seems to be the happiest bird in the word...Cleaning feathers,playing with my ear or hair and even sleeping...!
3)When i am away for a cigarette in balcony he gets mad and tweets in a loud voice
4)sometimes i see he's scared (for no reason) and flies around room then lands on my head! 

Although i am spending more than 2 hours a day trying to train him stuff (whistling,talking,behaviour stuff,games) he doesn't seem to react or improve...! Btw, his favorite toy is straws... 

Here's Stan!


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## SuzieQueue (Mar 12, 2012)

aww he is cute! ... altho i think (and dont quote me im new here too ) standing on ur head is a sign of dominance and prob not a good thing for him to do.

other than that patience and persistence


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## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

SuzieQueue said:


> aww he is cute! ... altho i think (and dont quote me im new here too ) standing on ur head is a sign of dominance and prob not a good thing for him to do.
> 
> other than that patience and persistence


Thank youuu! ^_^ I ve also read that this may be a sign of dominance!Well this is completely natural because its his nature and also we re both males and this concludes "battle" for the strongest! I know birds can easily understand who's female or male...!  When my gf first met him, the first thing he did was to fly on her head! It was hilarious because she freaked out...! hahaha But the second time they met they were totally ok!


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

Most people would say that with cockatiels it is not an issue of dominance to be on your head. I just don't let mine on my head because I don't want poop in my hair!

It sounds like Stan in happy on your shoulder and doesn't want to move which is why he may do the gentle bite/chirp thing. 

The loud tweeting is a flock call. He misses you when you are away and is calling to make sure you are okay. You can try whistling back or talking to him to assure him you are okay.

It sounds like you are doing great and Stan is already bonding well to you. Just give him some time to adjust and get used to things and he may start learning new things 

Oh, and Stan is gorgeous, I love pieds!


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## nassrah (Feb 27, 2012)

I would like to pass on the info I read here about cigarrettes and cockatiels.Please be aware that nicotine is on you,and it can be very bad for Stan s respiratory system.Although you smoke in the balcony,there s still nicotine in your fingers and clothes when you come back inside,so e careful.I would like the super moderators to also advise on this matter,please
Stan is lovely


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## smays810 (Dec 27, 2011)

Stan is very Handsome. Its wonderful when they bond so quickly to us.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Stan is a male because the red eye reflection indicates that he is split to cinnamon, which is only possible in males. He is gorgeous by the way..and his mutation is a pearl pied split to cinnamon.

And yes cigarette smoke (or smoke of any kind) is not good for any living being to breathe... In addition to this, a bird's respiratory system is much different than ours and is far more sensitive. The best thing you can do is wash up and change clothes after smoking. In all reality, depending on how often you smoke, this is unreasonable. At the very least, please smoke outdoors in a very well ventilated area and wash up before handling Stan.

EDIT: It is also a good idea to purchase an air purifier and run it on medium in the room he stays in. This will be good for both his and your health.


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## Oni (Feb 20, 2012)

Lovely looking bird 

Sounds like he's fond of you too 

As for the head perching - I follow a blog from someone who deals with parrots in a very behaviorist kind of method and he is amendment that perching high with parrots is NOT a sign of dominance, it is merely that they feel safer high up because in the wild they wouldn't settle too long on the ground or any other low level. He points out this is why most species use the top of the cage more than the rest and why it's harder to call a parrot to fly down to you from a high perch than it is to call them to fly up to you from a lower perch. I don't want to advocate another forum/blog so wont quote the name but if you want to have a look at his training methods I can PM you the blog link, just send me a message  He's stricter than a lot of folks on here though so depends how 'serious' you want to be


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## Heather (Jul 28, 2011)

Congratulations! Stan is beautiful! 

I agree with Oni and JaimeS, cockatiels don't perch on your head to be dominant, they like to be high up because they feel safer. Also, being on your shoulder means that he can be close to you and feel secure. 

As JaimeS said, try whistling back to him when you're out on the balcony, he's just checking on where you are. I'm going out of the room where Georgie and Pearl live in a moment, we'll spend a good 10 minutes whistling to each other as I move around the house before they settle down and get on with their preening / eating etc. 

Have fun with him! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures together.


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## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

Wow so many answers!  Thank you all for your kind words and your valuable advice!  I'll start answering from first to last...
@JaimeS Usually whistling works but he tweets again because he didn't learn whistling yet...
@Nassrah I know that smoking can be bad for birds too...! Anyway i stopped smoking inside house more than 6 months because i hated the smell in clothes, couches etc and now i smoke only in balcony! But when i am gonna handle Stan always wash my hands!! 
@bjknight93 Interesting information about Stan's mutation!  As i answered to Nassrah i don't smoke inside and i always wash hands before handling him!  I ll change clothes too! I didn't know they could be problem...! :S 
@Oni Thank you oni for giving me info for his behaviour and mutation!It's really hard for an amateur with cockatiels to distinguish the mutation...I ll try my ways and if i see they don't work i ll send you pm... 
@Heather Third oppinion for cockatiels perching in heads and i m therefore sure now...!  Whistling is something i am working on...! I don't know if Stan gets confused though because i am trying to teach him his name in parallel...! (I read somewhere that it's harder to teach cockatiels talk when they have firstly taught to whistle!Is it true?)


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## Harvey (Apr 6, 2012)

Awww Stan is just so cute!

I have learnt a lot by reading this thread. My Harvey does the loud chirps when he is out and I leave the room. I had a feeling it was him calling for me! How cute


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## hanna (Apr 14, 2012)

Hi, 
I just joined and browse the forum, come upon this thread. Learned a lot already about those sweet birdies.

STAN is a beauty, a little ham, he is. CONGRATULATIONS.

And yes with training be patient and persistant, please don't train too many things at once, one or two at the time and when training is successful you can add some more. This is sth I learned already in my short "cockatiel carreer" 

Have fun with Stan. Btw, could you give him a kiss between his wings? If you can you will sense their divine smell, just beautiful.


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## nassrah (Feb 27, 2012)

Yes they do smell nice.I love to be close to our cockatiels,William and baby Syd in order to feel their lovely baby cockatiel smell.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

byronc, I have also heard the thing about teaching them to talk first because if they learn to whistle first they won't talk. I don't know how true this is. Quinn started whistling first and even learned two songs but he now says "whatcha doin'" and "pretty bird" but I don't know if learning to whistle first makes it harder for them to learn words.

Also, they do get scared over the littlest things. This is no fun when you have nine birds because if one gets scared they all freak out and start flying 


hanna and nassrah, I thought I was the only weird one that liked to sniff my birds lol! I love their smell and sniff them for as long as they'll let me  It is the best smell in the world!


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

JaimeS said:


> Also, they do get scared over the littlest things. This is no fun when you have nine birds because if one gets scared they all freak out and start flying


Jaime, now I'm picturing you and your 'tiel flock like pigeons in the park where they all take off and buzz you...I know it's not funny that they get scared, but the image is sort of cute in theory. 

I don't know about talking before singing either. My male only says one thing, but he also only whistles one thing. I sort of think birds that are predisposed to talk/sing really well will do it no matter what.


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## JaimeS (Nov 28, 2011)

enigma731 said:


> Jaime, now I'm picturing you and your 'tiel flock like pigeons in the park where they all take off and buzz you...I know it's not funny that they get scared, but the image is sort of cute in theory.
> .


It is just like that lol! And I have learned to not watch people's court because the part where they type out the names or whatever always sends them into panic mode! I don't know what it is about that noise but it happens every time!


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## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

Thanks all again for your kind words  ! Yes the smell IS DIVINE!!! It's like the best fragrant in the world!  

@JaimeS i simply CAN'T imagine 9 birds going round the house!!! DDD


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## Harvey (Apr 6, 2012)

I think I need to go sniff Harvey!! He doesn't let me close for long but I will try lol


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## WendyBeoBuddy (Dec 12, 2011)

What a beautiful boy! i love pearls, and he is split to cinnamon to!

My Wendy smells like chicken nuggets. i don't know why! she smells so very good though!

He is so pretty, congrats!


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## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

Thanks wendy!  Chicken nuggets??maybe cockatiel nuggets! hihihi Just kidding...


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## WendyBeoBuddy (Dec 12, 2011)

Cockatiel nuggets? LOL!


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## RedQueen (Feb 21, 2012)

> I thought I was the only weird one that liked to sniff my birds lol!


lol that's exactly what I thought! Would have never thought other people feel the same way. They have a nice powdery clean smell 



> Stan is a male because the red eye reflection indicates that he is split to cinnamon, which is only possible in males.


Does the red eye reflection mean specifically split to cinnamon, or can it mean it's a female with the cinnamon mutation? My Galileo is pearl cinnamon, but I'm not certain about the cinnamon, and I don't know if "he's" male or female.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

A bird carrying the cinnamon gene (either a male or female cinnamon OR a male split to cinnamon) will have the red eye reflection of the pupil. So, RedQueen, your bird's red eye reflection can't define its gender. However, if you visit the wing spot sexing thread you can use your bird's tail feathers to determine its gender since it is pearl.


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## RedQueen (Feb 21, 2012)

bjknight93 said:


> A bird carrying the cinnamon gene (either a male or female cinnamon OR a male split to cinnamon) will have the red eye reflection of the pupil. So, RedQueen, your bird's red eye reflection can't define its gender. However, if you visit the wing spot sexing thread you can use your bird's tail feathers to determine its gender since it is pearl.


I went at looked at those threads, here's what I found:



> Pearls are the only mutation where the spots look the same for both sexes.





> 1/13/12 Update I just looked back thru several years of young birds that I knew the sexes of as they got older. I noticed that the 2 center feathers of the tail when young and feathering out are also an indicator of sex.


The tail feather pictures are pretty good, but looking at our 'tiel's tail feathers hasn't helped since they look like something in-between the pictures that srtiels posted. I guess it doesn't work with all birds.

I also looked at the Mutations Guide thread, and that was pretty helpful. I'm pretty sure Galileo isn't cinnamon, although I initially thought he was. Can't tell the sex yet though since he hasn't molted. I guess I'll have to wait and see


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

Please start your own thread if you would like to ask more questions/discuss the sex of your bird. Thanks.


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

*1)When he's on shoulder he doesnt want to get down and bites (not hard) with some chirp*
Suggestion: Teach Stan to 'step up'. When he's somewhere other than your shoulder, offer him your finger to climb on while saying 'step up'. Keep training him at 5 or 10 minute intervals, praising him when he does it. Don't push him into it, though. Just be gentle and let him get the idea. 

Then, when he's on your shoulder, tell him to 'step up' to your finger. Offer him millet or a toy or something nice to enjoy while he's on your finger. He'll get the idea that it's really nice to be on your finger. You can give him scritchies and kissies when he's on your finger. He'll love it.

*2)Also to #1 he always wants to be there no matter what!Climbing or even flying(!) on it!When he's there he seems to be the happiest bird in the word...Cleaning feathers,playing with my ear or hair and even sleeping...!*
Be careful of him playing with your ear. Some day he might start nibbling harder. It's nice that he loves to be with you, but you don't want him to hurt you. 

*3)When i am away for a cigarette in balcony he gets mad and tweets in a loud voice*
See if you can give him some millet or something he can get interested in before you walk out. Come up with a phrase like 'stay here for a minute' or 'I be right back!!' and then go outside. Use the phrase every single time. He'll get the idea eventually. And when you come back in, you can say something like 'I'm BACK!!' all excitedly. He'll get the notion that it's fun to see you go away and come back.

*4)sometimes i see he's scared (for no reason) and flies around room then lands on my head! *
There's always a reason for birds to be scared. Check out what's going on when this happens. If you can't find anything wrong, he might just be having fun being silly. Mine does that, except Misty never lands on my head.
It's not a good idea to allow Stan to be on your head. Take him right off every time he lands on your head. You can tell him 'that's MY head' while you're taking him off, then give him kissies while he's on your finger. 

You don't want Stan to claim your head as his territory.


*Although i am spending more than 2 hours a day trying to train him stuff (whistling,talking,behaviour stuff,games) he doesn't seem to react or improve...! Btw, his favorite toy is straws...*
You might try working on just one thing to teach him. He may seem not to react or improve because you're working on too many things. All of my birds talk, even my sparrows. I repeat and repeat the same phrase over and over. I only teach them one until they get it. 

Decide what you would most like him to do and work on that alone until he gets it. Then you can work on teaching him something else.

Hope these suggestions help.


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## byronc (Apr 14, 2012)

DesertDweller thank you for your precious advice!  Many of them work but some need some work...! Depends on Stan's personality..


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## DesertDweller (Oct 8, 2011)

byronc said:


> DesertDweller thank you for your precious advice!  Many of them work but some need some work...! Depends on Stan's personality..


You are very welcome


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