COCKATIELS
Second in popularity only to budgies, cockatiels have charmed many people. Some say it’s their small size or affordable price that makes cockatiels so appealing, while others cite their appearance or personalities. Others are captivated by the cockatiel’s whistling abilities, cleanliness and long potential life span. Finally, many bird owners are attracted to the cockatiel’s curiosity and adaptability. In any case, cockatiels can be wonderful pets that reward their owners with years of entertainment and companionship. In return for this love, a cockatiel requires care and attention from his owner. Although one of the most soberly colored members of the parrot family, the cockatiel has long been popular among aviculturists by reason of its hardiness, prolificacy and gentle disposition wrote the noted aviculturist, the Duke of Bedford, in his book Parrots and Parrot-like Birds in the early 1950s. The cockatiel is still popular some forty years later. According to statistics from the American Pet Product Manufacturer Association, about 16 million pet birds are kept in American homes, and 34 percent of them are cockatiels. The cockatiel originated in Australia, which is home to some fifty parrot species. In its homeland, the cockatiel is sometimes called the quarrion, the weero, the cockatoo parrot or the crested parrot. Small flock of two to twelve birds gather together to live in Australia’s interior, feeding on seedling grasses and other plants. Their habitats can range from open eucalyptus savannas to arid grasslands. Cockatiel flocks depend on rainfall for water and, once a steady supply of food and water are available, to establish the start of the breeding season. In the wild, cockatiels are active during the early morning and the late afternoon. These are the times they usually head toward water source to drink, being sure to drink and leave quickly rather than become a meal for a passing bird of prey. They spend a good bit of their day on the ground, searching for food, but they are likely to spend midday blending into their surroundings by sitting lengthwise along dead tree branches that are free of foliage. The cockatiel was first described by naturalists who visited Australia with Captain James Cook in 1770, and the first specimen may have come to the Royal College of Surgeons Museum in England as a result of this trip. The Australian government imposed a ban on exporting all native birds in 1894, so the cockatiels kept in North America and Europe have resulted from domestic breeding efforts in those countries for more than 100 years.
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