Meet Nia and Peaches, our cockatiel sisters. These girls definitely have a sense of humor. I know most people tend to favor male cockatiels because they’re more active when it comes to learning tricks, whistling tunes, and repeating words in a repetitive manner. But these sisters caught my eye, and the entire family is happy we adopted them both.
It took me approximately two weeks to train them using consistent, daily techniques. After about a month and a half, they were fully trained.
Peaches comes to me when I make a hand gesture or if I call her by her name or both—she lands on my finger. If I don't call her, and she simply just wants to come to me, she lands on my shoulders.
Nia is a different story. She truly has a different personality than Peaches. When I call Nia, she looks at me (Sometimes she comes to me), then starts looking around, almost as if ignoring my calls—until I step out of view. Then she begins whistling and searching for me. After that, she’ll either fly to me or wait for the royal pickup, where I have to go and get her.
The one unique thing about Nia is that when she does fly to me, she lands on my head. For some reason, this bird loves landing on heads, whereas Peaches prefers fingers and shoulders.
Meet Nia and Peaches 🕊️ 🐦
Nia the Female Cockatiel
Peaches the Female Cocktail
Allopreening is common in parrots, including cockatiels, and is a sign of affection and trust. Both of my girls preen me, though it’s sometimes painful because they pull hair out 😆. Nia is somehow gentle, but ripping hair out is Peaches’ specialty.
They consider us all part of their flock—especially me, since they spend the most time with me when I’m home. These cockatiels don’t like fingers near their head or neck, but you can preen them with your nose. For some reason, they hate fingers but I can pet them under the belly and back with no issues.
As I said, all birds have distinct personalities.
Peaches Preening Nia
I made the birds three custom wall play stations, where they have different areas in the house they can safely fly to. These cockatiels are proficient flyers.
They usually won’t fly down into the basement unless my wife or I am down there.
They also love flying to the back door, taking naps, and watching wild birds outside through the screen door.
If they are really tired, they love napping in their large cages. They are free Birds in our home. The only time they are in the cage is when it's bed time and if we aren't home.
Bird Fly-Station at the Back Door
Bird Fly-Station in the Living Room
Basement Bird Fly-Station
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this quick introduction to the remarkable cockatiel sisters. Being somewhat shy, they asked me not to post pictures of them 😆.