Cockatiel

The Cockatiel is the smallest member of the cockatoo family, native to the arid interior of Australia. It is a slender, long-tailed parrot with a distinctive erectile crest that it raises and lowers to signal mood.

Wild-type plumage is soft grey overall, with a pale grey belly, white wing patches, and a yellow face and crest in males marked by a bright orange-red cheek patch. Females and juveniles are duller, with grey faces washed in yellow, more subdued cheek patches, and barred markings on the underside of the tail and flight feathers that fade as they mature.

Cockatiels have a long, tapered tail that makes up much of their overall length, giving them a streamlined silhouette in flight quite different from bulkier cockatoo relatives.

Key field marks

• Prominent pointed crest, raised when alert or excited
• Grey body with white wing patches visible in flight and at rest
• Bright orange-red cheek patch (more vivid in adult males)
• Long, pointed grey tail

Sex and age differences

• Adult males: brighter yellow face and crest, bold orange cheek patch, unmarked grey tail underside
• Females and immatures: greyer face, muted cheek patch, fine yellow barring on the underside of the tail and flight feathers

Similar species

No other Australian parrot shares the Cockatiel's combination of small size, long pointed tail, and crest. Cockatoos are larger and lack the long tail; other Australian parakeets lack a crest entirely.

Range

The Cockatiel is endemic to mainland Australia, found nearly continent-wide across the arid and semi-arid interior, generally avoiding the wetter coastal fringes and the far southwest.

Habitat

It favors open country: scrubland, grassland, savanna woodland, and timber bordering watercourses and wetlands, always staying within commuting distance of water.

Movements

Cockatiels are highly nomadic, tracking rainfall and seeding grasses across the interior. Numbers in any one area can fluctuate greatly with local conditions, and southern populations may shift northward in the cooler months.

Social behavior

Cockatiels are gregarious, often gathering in flocks of a few dozen to several hundred, especially at waterholes and rich seeding grass stands, sometimes alongside budgerigars.

Voice

The contact call is a rolling, whistled "quee-quee" or "weero," often given in flight. Cockatiels also produce softer chattering and warbling notes when perched.

Feeding

They forage mostly on the ground and in low vegetation for grass and shrub seeds, moving in loose flocks and taking flight together when disturbed.

Nesting and breeding

Cockatiels nest in tree hollows, typically near water, laying clutches of 4-7 white eggs. Both parents share incubation and chick-rearing duties, and breeding is opportunistic, timed to follow rainfall and seed abundance rather than a fixed season.