A Conversation for Cockatiels.....aren't they cute!
Cockatiel behaviour
manxkez Started conversation Jul 20, 2004
I've a male cockatiel now (Bertie), and had a female cockatiel (Daffy) before.
The female cockatiel used to "flat back" - this is where she would make her body parallel with the floor, and walk around making a cracking sort of sound. She was inviting sex.
The male bird hangs upside down, and spreads out his wings and tail feathers. He drums his beak against the cage from time to time, and has a ritualistic song to go with it. This is a sexual display. However, from time to time he forgets what he's doing, gets distracted, and falls off. An advantage of wings is that you don't hit the ground when you fall from a great hight.
He also had another song to which he accompanies with bowing (is that spelt right?) - he puts his head down to the right, sings another bit, then puts his head back up, sings a bit more, then puts his head down to the left.
You can tell males from females by their plumage, the males have much more colourful faces.
Cockatiels are a great subject, I think they are sooo cute too. 
Key: Complain about this post
Cockatiel behaviour
More Conversations for Cockatiels.....aren't they cute!
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."