This Week's Featured Animal! 5/3 - 5/9

I thought that this time I would feature an animal that is a little closer to home. This week's featured animal is the cockatiel!

These tiny birds are about twice the size of the budgie, or the parakeet that you buy from stores. These guys come from Australia, by the way. 

They are the smallest in the cockatoo family too. One of the biggest bits of proof of that are their mobile crests. They generally live 12-20 years, and are considered to be fairly good pets overall for adults. 

They aren't really considered to be very noisy, only really making noise when excited. The males have bright orange spots on their cheeks, while females and juveniles will have duller orange spots. Females and juveniles also have barring on their tail feathers.

Males are generally better at imitation than females, and also tend to be louder. Females tend to be a bit more aggressive than males, and lose interest in mirrors faster. If you have only one cockatiel, it will bond better with you. But if you are often away from home, it is better to have a pair. Whether or not it is one of each gender or same sex pair is up to you, both versions will get along just fine.

They are considered to be of least concern on the ICUN red list.

Sources:

• http://www.cockatiel.com/
• http://beautyofbirds.com/cockatielinfo.htm