# Understanding Cockatiels' Behaviors



## ChocoNoir (Jan 30, 2009)

Hi! 
I found some nice info about tiels' behaviors in my book so I'm going to talk about cockatiels' basic behaviors for everyone especially cockatiel newbies.
I can't consider myself a cockatiel expert so people, any mistakes found, feel free to ring a bell or edit the post.
In order to understand the cockatiels' language, you must be able to interprete its behaviors and moves accurately.
I am going to identify the behavior by explaining briefly:
a)What is it exactly doing
b)Why it is doing it
c)How you can respond to it 

I can't find pictures for every behavior here but I'll try my best to find them to make my explanation clearer to you all. It would be appreciated if you guys found some.

*Please note that those pictures aren't mine and borrowed from other sources in Internet(mainly Google and the photo gallery here).*

1.







(from Google)
a)The bird is preening.
b)It is trying to clean it self. Sometimes they would preen by pulling their tail to smooth it and putting its leg on its head just to scratch it.
c)Let it be. If it isn't continuosly preening only one spot, it is in a normal condition then. And make sure no feathers are being pulled out while preening.

2.http://lh3.ggpht.com/_h_qnNpfmpHU/RdYJPk1Kx3I/AAAAAAAAAAs/fwRHsXsHMiw/iggy1.jpg (from Google)
a)The bird is raising its wings.
b)It's stretching its muscles. 
c)Let it fly around for while.

3.







(from Google)
a)One bird is laying its head on the other bird's and scratching it.
b)They are expressing their affection for each other.
c)If they're two different genders, prepare a nest box. But just because two birds are preening each other or bonded, you don't _have_ to let them breed, especially if you aren't prepared to look after chicks. Abd don't let cockatiels less than a year to breed.

4.








or this







(both from Google)
a)These birds are opening their beaks and (possibly)screaming at each other.
b)They are engaged in a quarrel
c)If the quarrel turns into a serious fight and prolongs, better seperate them.

5.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2141/2087456424_39d77a9439.jpg (from Google)
a)The bird is stretching its wing to its side(especially its leg)
b)It can probably have finsihed an activity.
c)This can be a good time to spend with it: it must be feeling relaxed.

6. (Picture can't be found for this)
a)The birds ae sitting close to each other with their plumage slightly raised.
b)They are going to take nap together.
c)Let them be.

7. (Picture can't be found for this)
a)Two birds are preening all together
b)This social behavior indicates that they are a mated pair.
c)Let them be. Enjoy watching their interactions.

8. (Picture can't be found for this)
a)The bird is shaking itself with a rustle sound
b)It is getting the feathers to lie in their proper place.
c)The bird must be ready for a play.

Now, let's get to know more about their typical activities.

*Preening:*Preening is a very important activity for nearly all birds in wild. For only a plumage, it protects against inclement weather and allows quick escape from predators. Birds in captivity also preen themselves several times a day. A cockatiel can spend at regular time intervals cleaning, sorting and rearranging its feathers. Each feather is drawn through the beak of the cockatiel to get rid of dust and dirts from it. Then oil and powder are applied to make feathers waterproof. This helps cockatiels to avoid getting so soaked while flying under rain. The oil is produced in a special oil gland called uropygial right above their tail. The bird picks up the oily secretion from the gland with its beak and spread among its feathers. To clean the head with oil, the bird would just rub its head on the gland itself.

*Scratching:*It's another normal activity. It would probably scratch to remove dirts from its body or relieve itches. But if the bird is continuously scratching the same spot a lot, it might probably have parasites or skin problem. To scratch head, cockatiel would just lift its foot up and put it on its head.

*Fluffing:*It can happen for many reasons. A brief fluff, which is a raising of head feathers, can be a reaction if there happens to be an unfamiliar event or a cockatiel is simply irritated from too much noise or anything disturbing. It also happens when cockatiels sleep, before they take nap sleep or when they're cold. But fluffing doesn't always appear to be a good sign if the bird remains fluffed for the whole day and it's not cold. It is a sign of illness. When birds fluff, all the feathers of the body stand up. They no longer hug the it and create for cockatiels a kind of insulating air cushion.

Hope you enjoyed. :blush:
Stay tune! More to come.


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## birdluv (Jul 31, 2007)

Cool, thanks for this.


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## Mythara (Apr 9, 2009)

ChocoNoir said:


> 3.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just want to say, that just because two birds are preening each other or bonded, you don't _have_ to let them breed, especially if you aren't prepared to look after chicks.


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## Elle (Aug 2, 2009)

thats such a cute pic


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

The Cockatiel in the first photo looks so much like my little girl, Theo.


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## ChocoNoir (Jan 30, 2009)

Mythara said:


> I just want to say, that just because two birds are preening each other or bonded, you don't _have_ to let them breed, especially if you aren't prepared to look after chicks.


Thanks. I'll edit my post. :blush:


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## fluoro.black (Nov 5, 2009)

Awww so cute haha. My 'tiel Peachy will spend AGES preening himself, he will stop after a 5 minute session, so I'll talk to him and-OH there he goes again hahaha :lol:. He must be sqeaky clean from all of his busy work .


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