   #copyright

Cockatiel

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Birds

                    iCockatiel
   A wild cockatiel
   A wild cockatiel

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom:   Animalia
   Phylum:    Chordata
   Class:     Aves
   Order:     Psittaciformes
   Family:    Cacatuidae
   Subfamily: Calyptorhynchinae
   Genus:     Nymphicus
              Wagler, 1832
   Species:   N. hollandicus

                                Binomial name

   Nymphicus hollandicus
   ( Kerr, 1792)

                                  Synonyms

   Psittacus hollandicus Kerr, 1792
   Leptolophus hollandicus

   The Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) is a diminutive cockatoo endemic
   to Australia and prized as a household pet.

Description

   The cockatiel (also recognized as the Quarrion and the Weero)is a small
   parrot relating to both the Psittacidae and the Cacatuidae families.
   Like other cockatoos, as for example the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, the
   cockatiel has an erectible crest. Cockatiels and cockatoos in general
   also share other features, such as the facial feathers covering the
   sides of the beak, which are rarely - if ever - found outside the
   Cacatuidae family. In contrast to most cockatoos, the cockatiel has
   long tail feathers, roughly making up half of its total length. These
   feathered friends originate from the outback regions of inland
   Australia, and favors the Aussie wetlands, scrublands, and bush lands.
   The cockatiel's distinctive pointed yellow crest is held erect when
   startled or excited, while a crest slightly tilted indicates a relaxed
   state of mind.
   Female hand-raised cockatiel of typical coloring, age 15.
   Enlarge
   Female hand-raised cockatiel of typical coloring, age 15.

   The plumage is generally mid-grey, lighter underneath, with an almost
   perfectly round orange patch of feathers covering the ear opening
   (usually referred to as a "cheek patch") and a prominent white blaze on
   the wings. A row of yellowish spots can be found underneath the wings
   of female cockatiels, but not on the males. Some other mutations exist,
   such as the Lutino, which lacks black and grey colour, being a light
   yellow colour overall. Female Lutinos also have barred tail feathers.
   Both the cock and the hen have yellow facial feathers: the female has a
   yellow wash around the beak and eye, in the male, yellow covers most of
   the head and the fore part of the crest. Male cockatiels are very
   protective and nurturing of their offspring and are known to be very
   capable of raising their newborns if the mother is unable to.

   Cockatiel lifespans in captivity are generally given as 15-20 years ,
   though it is sometimes given as short as 12-15 years and there are
   anecdotes of cockatiels living as long as 30 years, the oldest reported
   being 36 years old when it died. .

Biology

   A captive-bred heavily pied cockatiel.
   Enlarge
   A captive-bred heavily pied cockatiel.

   This is the only species in its genus Nymphicus. Its relationships were
   long disputed; it was usually placed into a monotypic subfamily
   Nymphicinae or even allied with the broad-tailed parrots. But while
   most other cockatoos are 500 mm to 600 mm in length, cockatiels are
   normally 300 mm to 330 mm. There are several significant
   characteristics that ally cockatiels with cockatoos though, including
   an erectile crest, a gallbladder, and powder down patches.

   Mitochondrial 12S rRNA sequence data (Brown & Toft, 1999) has finally
   resolved the question of its affinities by placing it closest to the
   "dark cockatoos" of the genus Calyptorhynchus. The unusual,
   parakeet-like appearance is a consequence of the decrease in size and
   accompanying change of ecological niche. In spite of all its unique
   adaptations, features such as the dark plumage, the barred feathers of
   the female and the orange cheek patch are clear morphological
   indications of its affinities. Sequence analysis of intron 7 of the
   nuclear β- fibrinogen gene, on the other hand, indicates that it may be
   as distinct yet as to warrant recognition of the Nymphicinae rather
   than inclusion of the genus in the Calyptorhynchinae (Astuti, 2004?).

   The cockatiel's scientific name Nymphicus hollandicus reflects the
   experience of one of the earliest groups of Europeans to see cockatiels
   in their native habitat. Travellers thought they were so beautiful that
   they named them after the mythical creatures, the nymphs (Nymphicus
   means literally "little nymph"). The species name refers to New
   Holland, an old name for Australia.

   Cockatiels are native only to Australia where they are found largely in
   arid or semi-arid country, but always near water. Sometimes hundreds
   will flock around a single such body of water. To farmers dismay, they
   often eat crop. They are absent from the most fertile southwest and
   southeast corners of the country, the deepest Western Australian
   deserts, and Cape York Peninsula. They are the only cockatoo species
   that can breed in their first year.

Cockatiels as Pets

   A pet Cockatiel.
   Enlarge
   A pet Cockatiel.

   Cockatiels are popular household pets in many parts of the world. They
   are actually the most popular bird species kept today. Today all pet
   cockatiels are bred in captivity, as Australia no longer permits the
   export of native wildlife, whether endangered or not. Pet cockatiels
   have been bred to have many different colorations (called mutations).
   Mutations include lutino, pearl, cinnamon, pied, fallow, recessive and
   dominant silver, whiteface, pastelface, yellowcheek, and olive or
   'spangled.'

   Mutations can appear both individually or in a wide variety of
   combinations such as lutino pearl, whiteface pied, and whiteface lutino
   (which is often called albino, but is not a true form of albinism).
   Still fairly hard to find is the rather new 'olive' mutation. An olive
   cockatiel does not actually have green pigment to its plumage, but
   rather an overlapping pattern of yellow and grey that create the
   illusion of a greenish cast.

   Many mutations retain the black eyes, beak, nails and grey feet of the
   normal grey cockatiels, however the lutino, cinnamon and fallow
   mutations have pink to deep plum red eyes, pink toenails and feet, and
   a horn colored beak. While most mutations persist into adulthood for
   all cockatiels, certain mutations like pearl are molted out in the
   males and retained in the adult females. Sex-linked mutations such as
   lutino and cinnamon have a higher ratio of female offspring to male due
   to the mode of inheritance from parents to offspring. Some, very rare
   mutations manage to change the eye colour of the bird to ruby red,
   however this is very rare and very few professionals can boast
   accomplishing this.

   If hand-fed as chicks, cockatiels can form strong bonds with their
   owners. Otherwise quiet birds will frequently make contact calls with
   their owners, calls that sometimes can be quite loud if the person is
   out of sight. The cockatiel can, infact, grow so attached to its owner
   that it will try to 'protect' the owner from anyone that tries to come
   near it by biting and taking it very seriously. Their popularity as
   pets is in part because of their calm and timid temperament, to the
   point that they can even be bullied by smaller but more confident birds
   such as Budgerigars. Great care and supervision should be provided when
   mixing cockatiels with other birds. It is not uncommon at all for a
   larger or smaller bird to maim the cockatiel, creating life-long
   disabilities and potentially life threatening injuries. However, some
   cockatiels can "scrap."

   Although cockatiels are part of the parrot order, they are better at
   imitating whistles than speech. Some do learn to repeat phrases, and
   the males are generally better at mimicry than the females. Cockatiels
   can mimic many sounds, for example the bleep of a car alarm, a ringing
   telephone, or the calls of other bird species such as blue jays or
   chickadees. Also loud weather like thunder.
   A Cockatiel with an erect crest
   Enlarge
   A Cockatiel with an erect crest

Breeding

   Cockatiels are a popular choice for amateur parrot breeding along with
   budgerigars. This is due to both the easiness of getting the birds to
   breed and the fairly low cost of the equipment needed
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockatiel"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
