Cockatiel looks:

Cockatiels are native to the semi-arid regions of Australia. Medium sized, readily breed able birds in the wild, and they are also easy to breed in captivity too. It is a widely acceptable pet bird in the world. By nature, it is an herbivorous bird of 10 to 15 inches in length from shoulder to tail.

Cockatiels are from their genus (Nymphicus hollandicus) and are related to cockatoos.  A cockatiel needs a spacious cage with multiple perches, toys, food bowls. Cockatiels are social birds and like to have interactions with you. A well-cared and well-fed cockatiel can live for more than 20 years.

Cockatiel is a bird of small to medium size with slender body and little lengthy tail. They do mimic a lot of noises that they hear regularly. So, it can be easy to train your bird talkative. Tools like clickers and stands are much needed. They can easily learn the tricks too. In the period of brooding and feeding of young ones, the male tends to be more loving and vigilant than female. The cockatiels mostly like to stay in the light and gets away from the shadows.

The position of a cockatiel’s crest feathers can tell its mood:

• Straight-up crest feathers says that bird is highly curious.
• Flattened crest feathers says that bird is angry and defensive.
• Slightly held back crest feathers says that bird is a relaxed one

Cockatiels like to speak. They can learn words very easily. Especially, male birds tends to more likely to talk than females.

A main health concern for female cockatiels is chronic egg-laying. As the bird needs lot of energy while egg laying process, the bird loses much of calcium and other elements through the eggs laying phenomenon.

To cover this deficiency for the female birds, her diet must be with extra elements of calcium and other micro nutrients. A healthy and low-fat diet with the right balance of vitamin, minerals and amino acids is always recommendable for the healthy bird life.

Breeds: Cockatiel breeds and mutations

have many mutations and are clearly visible in their feather colour. As per colour, birds can be segregated as

Grey cockatiel breed: Grey cockatiels are normal breed of cockatiels as they do not display any colour mutations.

Lutino cockatiel breed (yellow in colour): This type of bird is with no melanin pigment and because of that, no other colours on body except yellow and white mix. Bird shows orange cheeks

Yellow faced and grey bodied cockatiel breed: This type of birds are with yellow coloured patches on their cheeks and yellow feathering on head. Body is as usual with grey and white colours

White faced, grey body, white feathered cockatiel breed: as the name says, these are with white face and grey bodied

Pearl cockatiel breed: These mutated birds display a series of grey or white spots all over on their bodies which gives as pearl appearance on bird

Albino Cockatiels (white in colour) breed: such a lovely mutation as the bird is completely in white colour with red coloured eyes sometimes

Identification of Gender in your Cockatiel:

Female cockatiel develop yellow specks on the head when fully grown, while the male cockatiel tend to develop completely yellow heads

The male Cockatiels are identified by the bright colour face, forehead and crest. Males are much noisier than females. Cockatiels usually gone through moulting stage at the age of 6 to 9 months. At this level, it is easy to predict the gender of a bird.

In General	Males	Females
	Male cockatiel is Generally more vocal and prone to mimic	Female cockatiels are less likely to sing or mimic
	Whistling and singing a lot	Less active when compare to male
	Much Noisy	Female is quieter and more reserved
	Show off behaviour by hopping, tapping and lifting their wings into a heart shape while they whistle and sing	A female will tilt her head, flatten her back, and rock back and forth chirping softly to get ready for mate
	Wings of plain in colour	Wings with dots on downside
	May attempt to mate with a toy or other object when hormonal phase	Quiet in hormonal phase
	Pelvic bones are little closure to each other without any space	Pelvic bones are separated with space between
Grey type	Solid yellow faces and dark orange cheek patches	Mostly in grey colour
	Plain tails without markings	Tails are with bar like coloured markings
	Cheek spots are in dark  orange	Cheek spots are in dull orange
Pied type	Dark Grey patch on their face	More yellow on their faces
	Plain tails without markings	Barred tail marking
Lutino type	Completely in white colour	Bar markings on their tail
Yellow face type	Yellow heads	Mostly grey faces
	Plain tails without markings	Barred tail marking
Pearl type	Male cockatiels will lose their pearled markings with their first couple of moults	Female cockatiels usually retain their pearled markings
DNA Testing by using blood sample	Blood sample to be tested to identify the gender	Blood sample to be tested to identify the gender

Adult hood of cockatiel:

Never allow your bird breed or mate till it is at least 2 years old. It is always recommended to only allow your bird to produce two clutches a year to save your bird’s health. Early breeding might not results in chicks. Even if chicks are hatched, the parents won’t feed or might even kill the chicks because they really don’t know the parenting. Hen could die from egg binding if she tries to lay eggs too young.

It is not a good practice to breed the related birds of same blood line. It might increase the chance of genetic defects like babies with missing or deformed toes or feet, twisted backs, bald spots.

You should never allow an overweight or underweight birds to breed. Obesity in female birds might increase the chance of egg binding or other health problems. If you feel a lot of flesh on each side of the breast bone with your touch, it seems as your bird is obese. Underweight birds could not tolerate the stress levels. Check your bird’s weight with weighing tools now and then.

Cockatiel Breeding behaviour and characteristics:

Actually, cockatiels comes into the breeding mood in the spring or late summer (breeding season). Both male and female will repeatedly inspect the nest, checking the nest surroundings, collect the nesting material, and spend enough time sitting in the nest box.

The male tries to gain attention and trust of female by performing many activities such as mating dance, raising the shoulders, bobbing of head, hopping, coming closer to female, sing loudly. Once, the male gained the female bird’s attention, then the phase of grooming starts. The pair groom each other which makes the birds bonding themselves. In this stage, the female is ready to accept the male bird and make him in a mating stand and allowing him to mount her.

A steady and strong perch is most important in this stage. It is a mandatory requirement to do placing of the perch in cage before placing the birds. You can also build your cage. The male mount and mate the female many times in a period of a week. Every mate takes approximately a minute.

Make sure to provide bathing for the female bird since the mating time without fail as bathing makes your bird to absorb enough moisture which improves the egg-building process in hen.

Hen starts egg-laying two weeks after the first mating. Hen’s vent (bottom) swells a quiet larger before 12 to 24 hours of the egg-laying process. Female lays a total of 4 to 7 eggs on alternate days. If your hen is laying eggs for the first time, then you can see some blood streams on egg while laying. Don’t worry about this as it is quiet common.

Place shredded newspaper, clean straw / dried grass, saw dust, coconut hull etc. in the nest box to a height of 1 to 2 inches to make your birds comfortable in.

It is highly recommendable to feed your female bird a well-nourished food which includes sprouts, crashed egg shells to provide additional calcium and protein. Regular diet can be as wheat bread, fruits and vegetables. The best time to feed is first thing in the morning and in the late afternoon or evening. Both parents eat much faster and much quantity to feed the young ones. Obviously, because of more eating, more droppings will be there in the nest box and must be cleaned now and then without disturbing the birds. As a pet owner, please make some noise such as tapping the box to alert the birds about your visit to the nest box.

Incubation Process in Cockatiel:

Both the male and female share the process of incubation of the eggs. Use the incubator if parents are not sitting on eggs. Check the incubator for temperature and humidity on regular basis. Eggs will hatch usually between 18 – 21 days. It is a known fact that, not all incubated eggs will hatch. The dead and infertile eggs need to be removed from the next box.

The presence of embryos can be confirmed easily after 8 days to 12 days of incubation. The embryo is located in the large end of the egg. Embryo will be appeared as dark mass while incubation.

Candling of eggs in Cockatiel:

Candling is a process to observe the contents of eggs and embryo development. Take the eggs carefully from the nest box and put some kind of focussed light such as torch light or mobile torch. Rotate the egg slowly to check the fertility, viability and foetus growth.

Candling process to be started at 7^th or 8^th day incubation not before that. Because, the bird don’t start sitting on eggs until it lays 2 or 3 eggs. The fertilized eggs stay safe at room temperature for 8 to 10 days even though the bird is not sitting on eggs. Finish the process of checking as soon as possible. Eggs are not supposed to be with light of more temperature like 104 degrees of foreign-heat. This may kill the embryo.

Tips of checking: 

• Egg which transmits the light brightly and that egg seems to be yellow when light passes into is considered as an infertile or un-incubated egg.
• Eggs showing a ring of blood in the egg or a dark dried spot of the shell or faded blood system says that embryo is dead.
• Dark spot at the large end of egg which is surrounded by outline of blood vessels says that embryo is live and good.
• Egg showing the bill in air sack says that about to hatch in 24-48 hours.

Parenting behaviour in Cockatiel:

After the hatching, the chick’s main requirement is warmth provided by their parents. The parents will not feed the chick for first 8 to 10 hours of hatching as the baby receives nourishment from absorbing its yolk sac. Parenting from adult birds is good enough for babies.

If parent bird is not feeding the young one, then pet owner need to assist the feeding process or else start the hand feeding formula by having sophisticated and smooth syringes with suitable delivery tubes. Sometimes, parents may push a chick aside from the other chicks. This might be because of many reasons. Pet owner must have an eye on nest box to check what is happening inside. Those chicks must be taken care with hand feeding.

Hand feeding at night times is little difficult. But, the chicks need to be fed 1 to 2 times at night also between 12 AM to 6 AM. The basic and fundamental rule is that, the chick’s stomach never to be empty. Hand feeding can be done even if the parent is taking care of chick. This practise makes your bird adopt to socialization with humans. Leave the chick most of time to the parent. Baby care might be useful.

Check and observe that, your parent bird is feeding all chicks equally or not. If not, those chicks should be with hand feeding. The newly hatched chicks are with closed eyes for a week. Pins of feathers will start appear from 10 to 12 days of hatching.

Weight should be monitored once in two days. Daily if possible. The nest boxes need to be cleaned every other day. Un-Hygienic nest box may cause bacterial or fungal infections in the chicks.  Use the sprays such as cleaners or seed catchers in cage

Growth and development phases in Cockatiel:

• Day 1: Baby cockatiel comes out by pricking the egg shell with small beak. Don’t require food until 8 to 10 hrs as they rely on their yolk sac of abdomen. With tiny down feathers, closed eyes and gets opened in a week. They cannot sit or stand.
• Day 2: Cockatiel on second day tries to holding their head up to reach their parents for the food.
• Day 3-6: Opening of eyes, learning to stand, noising for food.
• Day 7-10: Emerging of Pin feathers on head and wings, Ear flaps are gets open.
• Day 11-17: Pin feathers grow on face, chest, body, and back.
• Day 18-28:  The pin feathers are with colour mutation accurately during this period.
• Day 28-32: Baby bird leading their life by consumption of different kinds of food.
• Day 32-38: Bird grow with long flight feathers and tries to learn the fly.
• Day 120: Bird can be considered as fully grown bird
• 6 to 12 months: Cockatiels start to breed at this age. They can breed up to 10 years of their life cycle. But, never breed cockatiel until it reaches the age of 2 years to get better results.

Cockatiel behaviour: Birds can’t tell us anything. The only way to understand the bird is through its behaviour

• Preening: Preening is how birds keep their feathers looking clean by cleaning the debris with their beak. Bird’s skin has preen gland which releases oil through the feathers which helps with waterproofing and acts as a precursor to vitamin-D production. A bird that is not preening might be ill.
• Eye pupil dilation: In most of parrots, you might notice the pupil dilating in and out. This means that the bird is in excited state. Dot try to touch your bird in this condition as it may bite you strongly.
• Contact Calling: In the wild, birds usually call the other birds of their species to know where those are. In captivity, the birds calls in the same way to find their companions and owners.
• Beak Clicking, head bobbing and body shivering: The clicking of the beak, head bobbing and body shivering says that, bird is in an excited and anxious state.
• Chattering: This is a normal bird behaviour to show the surroundings that they are alert always.
• Regurgitating: Regurgitating is a procedure when an adult bird brings up partially digested food to feed young ones.
• Cat Napping: Birds show catnaps many times in a day. It is a normal behaviour of bird.
• Screaming: Parrots usually scream which is a normal behaviour for parrot. Mostly the African species. Train to stop this.
• Flapping Wings: This might be sign of happiness or exercise or about to fly.
• Infertile egg laying: Female birds can lay eggs with or without a mate. This is normal behaviour until and unless the bird tries to hatch them. Prevent the process of bird sitting on eggs to hatch.
• Aggression: Sometimes, the birds like cockatiels, cockatoos and African grey parrots are known to show behaviour of hissing and growling. This means they feel fear off and trying to protect themselves. Don’t try to touch the bird in this stage. It may attack you harshly. Try to relax your bird by playing some lovely music or have some calming drops. Train your bird to make it your family friendly
• Biting: Biting might be because of many reasons in captivity. Usually birds don’t bite in nature. Train your bird to make family friendly

Biting reasons such as:

• Fear Biting: never give fearful situations for your bird. Try to avoid those as much as possible. Try to interact with bird in a very smoother way to bring it back to normal state.
• Hormonal Biting: Normally birds bite during breeding season because of hormonal changes. This can be treated by adjusting the amount of day light to less than 10 hrs.
• Bite to protect themselves: If the owner has done something which the bird does not like it. The bird might bite to prevent that activity. Try to avoid the attention of bird from that activity or else stop doing it.
• Biting with Jealous: This is such a kind of cute behaviour from birds of parrot species. If they feel that their owner’s love is shared with any others in a bigger way than the bird, the bird feels jealous and shows that behaviour in terms of biting. Show much love towards your bird.

Screaming: Birds scream much if it is alone. Get another bird to pair it or else put good attention towards your bird. Generally birds love company. The best way is to get it paired. But, this scenario works out if your bird likes the new bird. Or else, it creates many unnecessary problems to both birds. Birds scream much when they realize that,

• Owner will definitely come to them if they scream
• Housemates gets irritated if they scream
• If it is a noisy environment
• Mate is available for them

It is always recommended that, avoid this kind of attention towards birds. Train your bird to avoid this unnecessary screaming.

Plucking: A bird might pluck its feathers because of many reasons. Some are mentioned below

• Because of skin problem
• Because of infections
• Because of hot climate
• Because of hormonal changes
• Because of fearful about surrounding circumstances
• Because of poor nutrition, poor sleep
• Because of poor attention and poor love from owner
• Because of new bird into their cage sometimes
• Because the bird is bored by staying alone

Medical intervention is required to find out the exact cause to deal with. Better to have a proper medicine after consultation.

One-person behaviour: Birds closely bond to one person who shows much affection and attention towards them. Apart from that person, the bird does not deal with others most of time. It might be aggressive towards others. This is a normal behaviour in birds. This can be prevented by handling the bird with many people with equal affection when the bird is young to make it friendly. But don’t try this in adult stage of bird.

Bird’s behaviour in hormonal phase: Adult birds usually be with hormonal impact once a year in the spring. Birds are sensitive to light and its cycles. The light might change the egg laying process too. In this hormonal phase, birds behave somewhat aggressively. The only way by you can control your bird behaviour is by reducing the day light exposure time to less than 12 hrs. This subsided the hormonal levels of your bird.

Never cause fearful situations to your bird. It may leads to many disasters in bird behaviour further leads to violent actions from bird. Especially, the bird owner need to provide a focussed and undisturbed night environment for bird.

It is always recommended that, provide your bird a nice play area outside of the cage for some time in a day without fail. Change the play area as per your bird’s comfortability. Birds are not meant to maintain in cage. It should have some freedom without bars. In simple words, the better play time and the better bird’s life.

Don’t allow or encourage your bird to bite. Even if you’ve been bitten by your bird, please don’t show that you are afraid of biting. This will spoil the relation of bird towards you.

Birds always welcomes you if you touch and rub the cheeks and feathers in a gentle manner. Birds love this kind of pampering from their companions. Your bird will be happy spending time with you even if you are not holding him all the time. If your time not permits you for your bird, then at least provide some back ground music or some visuals or some melodious noise or something which is attractive to bird. This makes the bird’s mood better.

Health line in Cockatiel:

Birds can’t tell us anything. The only way to find out the sickness of bird is potential signs and symptoms. Birds can carry infectious organisms such as Chlamydia psittaci which causes and spreads a condition called as parrot fever and Salmonella bacteria causing salmonellosis. Salmonella is a bacterium commonly spreads through an infected animal’s faecal matter. The infected bird passes out this bacterium in their stools.

Signs of a sick cockatiel:

Signs such as red or swollen eyes, persistently closed eyes or sleeping during the day, not eating, runny, bloody or discoloured stools or no stool production are always need to be considered as red flags and need of Vet consultation.

• Change in activeness: A bird is always active and playful until and unless it is ill.
• Sleeping: A change in your bird’s sleeping style such as sleeping much time, sleeping on two feet.
• Down to cage: If the bird is settling down at the bottom of cage. It says that the bird is not doing well.
• Nasal or beak discharge: If it is any kind of bubble or liquid discharge from nostrils or beak, then it says that bird is having some respiratory infection.
• Clicking sound from the beak: A clicking sound that happens as your bird breathes indicates air sac mites, which finches and canaries are especially prone to.
• Tail Bobbing: A bird that bobs his tail feathers (going back and forth), opened mouth, laboured breathing noticeably says that the bird have difficulty in breathing.
• Vomiting: Vomiting is different from regurgitating. Regurgitation is to feed young ones. Vomit usually sticks to the feathers around the bird’s face and chest. Vomit says that the bird is not well.

Being picked on by cage mates Birds will pick on other birds that are ill and may even kill the weakened one. If you notice any of these signs, take your bird to your avian vet right away. It is always recommended that pet birds need to have Qualified vet visit at least once in a year for complete check-up. Be aware of, not all vets are qualified to work on birds, so you may have to look around to find one.

As a pet owner, you need to find the Avian Vet with the details as

• How long has the Vet been working on birds? Ideally the Vet should have extensive experience working directly with birds.
• Does the vet clinic has admission area for ill birds?
• Do they serve for emergency situations?
• Does the doctor already dealt with your species of bird? The answer should be yes, unless you have a very rare type of bird.
• Vet has to do Physical exams such as body weight, temperature, feathers, abdomen etc.

First Aid for sick bird before taking to Vet:

• Ventilate the room enough to avoid the circumstances of toxic fumes and other air toxins.
• If your bird got accidentally into a household oil, dust the bird thoroughly with baking flour and then gently wipe the oil off. Then sink the bird in like warm water. Use some gentle soap which can remove the oil dirt from the bird. Wipe and allow your bird to dry.
• Don’t let your bird in hot areas. If your bird shows signs as beak open, holding the wings slightly away from the body, it seems like the bird is under heat stroke.  Take the bird to cool area immediately and use a mist of cool water. Feed some cool water.

Maintenance of your bird:

Bird’s care:

Birds are sensitive creatures that are prone to injury or illness from common household items. Things we don’t often see as dangerous can be deadly for birds. Bird must be taken care from circumstances such as

• Ceiling Fans: Switch off your ceiling fans when your bird is out of cage.
• Scents and Perfumes: Air Fresheners and anything that scents the air using chemicals can be very dangerous for your bird.
• Threats: Cats, rats, rabbits have Pasteurella bacteria on their teeth and claws which is deadly to birds. Even a small scratch from a cat can leads to the death of bird.
• Electrical appliances: Must be very careful towards these and never allow your bird closer to these.
• Perches: Perches for the birds in the cage must be at least 5 inches in length and half inch in diameter. So that, your bird feels little relaxed in sitting on perches. To avoid contaminating food dishes with droppings, do not place food or water containers directly under perches.
• Toys: Birds are considered as beauties of sky. Give enough toys such as climbing threads with knots, small toy ladders, perches etc. keep changing the toys to make your bird always active.
• Cleaning: Please make a habit of cleaning of the cage daily. Thoroughly wash and dry the food, water bowls daily. Never leave any droppings behind in the cage. Unhygienic conditions may spread the diseases. Use little concentration (less than 3%) of bleach powder to clean the cage floor once in every two months. Never use any aerosol cleaning agents as the bird’s respiratory tracts are very sensitive. Use hygienic tools.
• Bathing: Provide the water dishes which are large enough for birds to bathe in. Birds who don’t bathe regularly can be misted a few times a week with warm water or bath spray or aloe vera bath spray
• Toxic fumes from kitchen: Let your home well ventilated and with exhaust fans to get away all the toxic fumes which will be delivered in your kitchen. Your bird may become woozy, have a seizure or even lose consciousness.
• Vinegar: Heated vinegar emits toxic fumes similar to carbon dioxide. Using of vinegar rich products to clean the bowls and utensils need to be strictly prohibited. This might leads to death of your bird.
• Kitchen utensils: Be cautious about Hot Pots, Pans, knives, scissors and sharp items. It is always better to stay your bird away from kitchen.
• Doors and windows: Never allow your bird to fly towards corners of doors and windows.
• Broken mirrors and glass ware: These sharp items may kill your bird. Be cautious.
• New Carpets in your home: New carpet emits fumes that can be deadly to birds. Keep your carpet out of the bad emits to save your bird.
• Wing Feather Clipping: Trimming of wing-feathers should never hurt the bird. Only the lower half of the bird’s seven to 10 flight feathers on the wing should be clipped as these don’t have a blood supply or nerve endings.
• Holding of your bird: Never hold your bird at chest region. It may trouble the bird with respect to breathing.
• Trimming of nails: Nails has a blood supply. Nail will bleed with deeper cuts. Using of nail clipper is the most comfortable way to trim the nails. Trim very tip of the nail. One week span is good enough to trim nails smoothly to give a picture as if nothing done to bird.
• A bird’s beak can get flaky and overgrown. This can be sometimes, the result of a poor diet. Beak trimming must be done by Qualified Vet.
• Moulting Care: Moulting is the process by which a bird replaces old feathers with new. Feathers are replaced on all parts of the bird’s body simultaneously. This happens once or twice a year. It is noticeable that a quite lot of feathers on a bottom of the cage.
• Moulting usually determined by exposure of bird to daily light. Poor nourishment impacts the production of new feathers. Need of extra protein diet while the bird is moulting. Bird takes rest for more time in this stage. Feather droppings can be prevented by good CBD

The best food for your pet bird:

In the wild, birds eat a vast variety of foods from the seeds, nuts, grasses, flowers, fruits, insects etc. Bird is captivity need to be provided with a balanced diet which includes all elements of their growth and metabolism. Especially small birds have a very fast metabolism and most of those choose to eat all day long. Provide food as per their size and activity.

Please make sure that the food have Omega fatty acids and enriches its diets with vitamins and minerals. Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids in the diet are good for body functions. Common sources for omega 6 fatty acids are eggs, poultry food, cereals, vegetable oils and baked goods. Foods that are high in the omega 3 fatty acids are flax seed, walnuts. Foods high in the omega 6 fatty acids are sunflower seeds. The balance between these two fatty acid families is important, because higher levels of omega 6 than 3 appear to promote inflammation, while higher omega 3 than 6 are anti- inflammatory.

Fruits of choice for birds such as apple, banana, berries, melon, orange, pineapple and veggies such as cooked beans, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, leafy greens, peas, soybeans, sprouts, etc. Parrots can eat herbs like coriander (Cilantro), basil, oregano, peppermint, rosemary, ginger.

It is always good for a bird to have a vitamin and mineral supplement along with regular food. Fruits in orange colour and dark green veggies make great daily food for all birds. Vegetables and fruits which are kept and not eaten within a few hours should be discarded Use food catchers at bottom of cage. Never share food from your plate or your mouth. People have microorganisms in their mouths that can cause illness in birds.

• Sunflower seeds: Seeds are with mild, nutty flavour and a firm but tender texture. So rich in healthy fats, beneficial plant compounds and several vitamins and minerals. Seeds are composed of Saturated, polyunsaturated and Monounsaturated fats, Protein, Carbohydrates, fibre, Vitamin B6 and E, Niacin, Folate, Pantothenic acid and micro elements like Iron, Magnesium, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Selenium etc. Flavonoids helps in reduction of inflammation. The magnesium helps to reduce blood pressure. Linoleic acid relaxes the blood vessels. It is better to give sprouted and roasted sunflower seeds because sprouting will boost the capability of absorption and activity. Roasting will eliminate the bacterial contamination.
• Bajra (Pearl Millet): Bajra on Regular diet may help in preventing chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. Bajra consists of components Protein, Fat, Carbohydrates, Fibre, Sodium, Folates and micro elements like Iron, Magnesium, Thiamine, Niacin, Phosphorus, Zinc, Riboflavin, and Vitamin B6. In general, cooked millet is good enough as nutrient source. Bajra is high in plant components like antioxidants, polyphenols, and phytochemicals which are contributing to good health.
• Jowar (sorghum): Jowar is a high energy bird food with nutrients and easily digestible food source. Suitable to feed all birds throughout the year.
• Coriander leaves : It is also known as cilantro. It is leaf with anti-microbial property. If your bird is with infection, then this leaf is good meal to treat. It’s packed of vitamins such as A, C, E, K and minerals. Powder also can be used instead of leaf.
• Basil: Basil is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. This is ideal food for sick birds or birds with weak immune system.
• Rosemary: This herb is rich in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.
• Oregano: This herb contains high amounts of antioxidants which prevent oxidative stress and shows good antibacterial properties.
• Thyme: Thyme is herb of anti-bacterial properties which can treat respiratory issues due to the essential oil thymol present in the plant. It is composed of Vitamin A, C, B6 and micro elements like Zinc, Calcium, Iron, and Manganese.
• Peppermint: This herb contains much of vitamin C.
• Sweet corn: Corn is as nutritious for many birds. Corn is rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin. Because of it’s an antioxidant property, it helps cells from damage.
• Spinach: Leaf with abundant Vitamin A, C and K. Also with micro nutrients like iron, folate, and potassium. Powder supplements can be used.
• Mint leaves: Parrots can eat almost every type of mint. It does not contains any harmful compounds or chemicals. Dried leaves can be.
• Boiled egg: It is a known fact that egg is good food. It sounds a little weird to feed eggs to birds. Feeding of your bird a boiled and crushed egg is always recommended. Egg is such a kind of food with protein abundance. Egg yolks contain choline which is a great food for brain functioning. It also enhances liver functioning.

Foods That Are Toxic For your pet bird:

These foods are not as immediately dangerous to parrots. However, they’re still toxic in the technical sense. They may lead to health issues if fed often, prepared incorrectly, or given in large amounts. Please don’t feed cold or hot items to your bird. Never please.

• Eggplant: Eggplants are a member of the nightshade family. So, it contains solanine, which is a type of poison. In parrots, solanine can cause gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Never feed your bird an eggplant.
• Raw Meat: Meat can be fed to birds depends on their size. Avoid meat feeding for small bird species. Can be fed to Parrots as these are considered as omnivorous birds. Meat which is properly cooked is good enough to feed parrots. But, never feed raw meat. Raw meat is host of dangerous bacteria, such as Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli which leads your bird to severe disasters like Vomiting, Nausea, Diarrhoea, Stomach cramps, Dehydration and finally death if not treated on time.
• Peanuts: As Peanuts grow in the ground, they are likely to contain aflatoxin which has been known to harm the liver.
• Tomatoes: Tomatoes are not poisonous to birds. But they are acidic. Too much can cause ulcers.
• Whole Celery Stalks: Celery stalks can lead to dehydration and hypoglycaemia. When left untreated, crop impaction can lead to death.
• Cassava starch: Cassava is a starch product which is toxic to birds. Products of this component is dangerous to birds.
• Carbonated Beverages, Alcohol: Carbonated beverages contains sugar, caffeine, artificial colouring and flavouring agents, preservatives. Alcohol also comes under this category. These components are not good for humans itself. How come good for pets. Not at all good. Never try to feed your pet.
• Fried Food: You should never feed your parrot food that is been fried. It does not matter what extent the item is fried. Neither little nor much fried. Fried food impacts the metabolism of bird. Always avoid fried items whatever the item is.
• Chocolate and coffee: Theobromine and caffeine comes under category of methyl xanthine’s. For humans, these components can stimulate the brain activity. But, for birds, it can cause hyperactivity, heart rate irregularity, tremors, seizures, and further leads to death. Caffeine is present in carbonated drinks, energy drinks, black tea etc. avoid all products of caffeine and theobromine.
• Avocado: Every part of the avocado plant contain a fungicidal toxin called Persin. This has been reported as a cardiac toxin to birds. Within hours of time since the feeding of avocado, your bird get worsen with clinical signs like respiratory distress and death.
• Seeds of cyanide: The apple seeds contain cyanide and should always be removed prior to feeding apple to your bird. The larger the seed or pit, the more cyanide it contains. Seeds from cherries, plums, apricots, and peaches also contain cyanide, so never allow your bird to chew on them.
• Table Foods: Always avoid table foods such as fat, salt, and sugar. Boiled pasta without addition of salt, cheese, sauce, butter is good enough to feed. Salt intake leads to excessive thirst, dehydration, kidney dysfunction, and even death. Avoid salty foods such as chips and crackers etc.
• Candy: Candies contains xylitol which is toxic and has been associated with severe hypoglycaemia and liver damage in dogs. Never feed candies to your pet bird or pet dog.
• Milk products: Birds cannot digest lactose. This component is found in milk and other dairy products. Feeding of dairy products causes diarrhoea. Not all dairy products contains lactulose. For a common man, it is not possible to find which dairy products contains lactulose. So, it is always recommended to avoid all of these.
• Dried beans: Raw, dry bean are toxic food for birds and considered as poisonous foods for parrots. Uncooked beans contain a poison called hemagglutinin.
• Mushrooms: Mushrooms are fungus. Some of mushrooms are good protein food for humans but not for birds. Morel mushroom (Gyromitra) is one poisonous mushroom. It is not possible to decide which mushroom species is not toxic to birds. So, it is always recommended to avoid all kinds of mushrooms to birds. Feeding of mushrooms may results in digestive upset for birds and may even induce liver failure.
• Onion: Feeding of onions on long standing will impact the bird’s digestive system by causing problems such as vomiting and diarrhoea. Sometimes may leads to blood condition called as haemolytic anaemia, respiratory problems and ultimately death of your bird. Some reports in the internet already confirmed the toxicity from these foods.
• Garlic: Garlic is another ingredient that can’t be given to parrots because it contains Alliin and Alliinase. When the Garlic is sliced, the cell walls are broken and the two compounds are mixed. When combined, they create allicin. This component eliminates pungent odour. Just like onion, garlic also been toxic on long standing. Allicin on long use causes haemolytic anaemia.
• Stems and vines of Plants: The plants comes under night shade family such as tomato, potato, egg plants, pepper etc. are toxic to birds. The stems and vines of those plants contains tropane alkaloids. It is not possible for a common man to find which plants contains these toxic alkaloids. So, it is always better to avoid the feeding of stems and vines of plants.

Breeding problems in your pet bird:

Infertile eggs:

Some hens (female birds) will lay eggs with or without a mate present, and some will even lay them without a nest present. Cockatiels and lovebirds are notorious for this behaviour.  Don’t worry about these because most of these are infertile eggs. Don’t try to make your bird to sit on these eggs. It is totally useless. Please be aware that the egg-laying hens need a lot more nutrition. Provide much nutrition at this time to avoid sickness of your bird.

Some females can become chronic egg-layers and this trend needs to be discouraged as much as possible just by following the tips as

• Cockatiels are photosensitive. Light exposure tremendously impacts the reproduction cycle of female bird and motivate to lay eggs without a mate. Try giving your cockatiel up to 14 hours of complete darkness every night to break this pattern of infertile egg laying.
• Decrease amounts of wet, soft food if you are feeding any.
• Discourage the poking behaviour of your bird by removing nest-like beds and toys from the cage.
• Distract your bird by placing the cage to a new area of the house and introduce new toys.

Egg binding:

Sometimes, the egg is stuck inside the bird. This condition is deadly factor requires immediate veterinary care. As a first aid, place the bird in a warm place of 98 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit and put few drops of olive oil in her mouth and several drops in egg laying part. Gently rub the stomach and apply little push to help the bird to pass the egg.

This can be noticeable with signs such as

• Distended abdomen
• Bird stays at the bottom of cage
• Distressed bird
• Large and watery droppings

This egg binding might be due to factors such as

• Week and thin bird
• Egg malformation
• Soft eggs

Isolation:

This is considered as a period of 40 days in which a new bird or young bird should be separated from other birds in order to stop the spreading of diseases from other birds via water and food.

Sleep:

Birds need a good and undisturbed sleep every night at least for 12 to 13 hours. Birds respond to light to regulate.

————————————————————————————–END OF ARTICLE————————————————————————–