Cockatiels are small parrots, related to the cockatoos. They originate from Australia. They have many qualities that make them popular pet birds, and they have been bred by humans for many generations. (All the cockatiels sold in Finland have been born in Finland.) Their life expectancy is around 15-20 years, but one famous cockatiel lived to be 38.
The natural colour of a cockatiel is grey with a yellow face and crest and with orange cheek patches. Among pet cockatiels there are lots of other colour varieties, the most popular of which are the lutino (white), pied (patches of dark and light feathers), cinnamon, and pearl.
Cockatiels are intelligent and amusing pets, which need lots of attention
and can learn to perform tricks, whistle tunes, and talk. If a pet
cockatiel does not have other bird buddies, he should be given the chance
to regularly interact with his human friends.
Klonkku is our pet cockatiel, born in 1990. He is fairly tame, likes to sit on a shoulder, watch TV and type on the keyboard (in fact parts of this may have been written by him...). He loves taking showers and hates nail-clipping. He can not 'speak', but he is a talented singer and whistler. He knows several tricks, like getting on/off a finger/shoulder on command, going into his cage (where he spends his time when nobody else is at home) etc. The trick that our friends find most hilarious though is the 'shitting on command'. This, however, is particularly useful -- it's not easy to housebreak a bird, but it is possible!
Klonkku thinks that he is the boss in our family, and his favourite hobby
is to tease Apollo, our Belgian Sheepdog.
Klonkku's favourite treats are carrots, dry red peppers (!!) and anis
seeds.
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