The cockatiel is the parrot most people meet first, and after the budgie the most widely kept bird in the world. They are gentle, undemanding by parrot standards, and genuinely suited to a household that has not kept a parrot before - which is not something that can be said of most of the birds on this site.
What they are like
Cockatiels are usually described as affectionate without being clingy. A hand-raised one will sit with you, whistle at you, and ask to have its crest and cheeks scratched, but it will also entertain itself in a way a conure or a caique will not. They are flock birds and do better with company of some kind, whether that is a person who is home or another bird.
Night frights
This is the one thing worth knowing in advance. Cockatiels are well known among keepers for thrashing violently in the dark if something startles them - a car light across the window, a noise, a shadow - and can injure themselves against the cage bars doing it. The usual advice is a dim night light in the room and a cage position away from windows. It is commonly reported, easily prevented, and alarming the first time it happens at two in the morning.
The dust
Cockatiels, like cockatoos and African Greys, produce a fine powder down that coats everything nearby and hangs in the air. Most people never think about it. For somebody with asthma, and in a household where a bird would live in a bedroom, it is a real consideration and worth raising with a doctor before buying rather than after. Air filtration and regular bathing of the bird are what keepers generally recommend.
Whistling and talking
Cocks are the whistlers, and good ones - many learn tunes and will work on them. Speech is possible but usually limited and indistinct, and hens are generally quieter and less inclined to either. If you want a bird that whistles back at you, a cock cockatiel is about the most reliable there is.
The noise
One of the quieter parrots. They whistle, chirp, and have a sharp contact call they use when they want you, but nothing like the carrying shriek of a conure. Reasonable for a flat.
Colour and sexing
Cockatiels come in many mutations - normal grey, lutino, pied, pearl, cinnamon, whiteface and combinations. In normal greys the cock has a bright yellow face and the hen barred markings under the tail, but in several mutations the visual differences disappear, so ask whether a bird has been DNA sexed if it matters to you.
Living with one
Expect fifteen to twenty-five years, and sometimes longer. A wide cage rather than a tall one, daily time out, a pelleted base with fresh vegetables - cockatiels are notorious among keepers for refusing anything that is not seed, so getting a young bird onto a proper diet early is much easier than converting an older one.
Why a good one is hard to find
Breeders here will tell you cockatiels are barely worth raising at what they sell for. Hand-rearing a clutch is the same work as for a bird worth five times as much, and the price has never risen to match, so a lot of serious breeders have quietly stopped. That is why this site has thousands of cockatiel listings in its history and very few at any given moment.
It is worth knowing as a buyer, because it inverts the usual advice. With most species the cheap bird is the one to be careful of. With cockatiels, a hand-raised bird from somebody who will talk to you about how it was reared is scarce because of what it costs to produce, not because of demand - so if you find one here, it deserves more attention than the price suggests.
Why they are the bird most people start with
Because they deserve to be. A cockatiel asks less of a household than any other parrot here, gives a great deal back, and will sit on your shoulder whistling the tune it learned from your phone for twenty years. For a first parrot, or for anyone who wants the company without the commitment a macaw or a grey demands, it is hard to improve on.
Buying one
Ask what the bird is eating now, and whether it takes anything besides seed. Ask at what age it was weaned and how much it is handled. Hand-raised and parent-raised cockatiels differ considerably in how readily they come to people, so ask which this is.
The breeders listed on this page raise cockatiels and can be contacted directly through the site. Their prices, and what the species has sold for over the years, are shown above.