When I was a child, mom had budgies and canaries. Later my sister and I did too. They're beautiful, fun, intelligent birds. But my favorite type of bird (apart from bantams, which we don't dare to keep, since farm animals might be killed by the authorities if there's an outbreak of some contagious disease), is the cockatiel. In my eyes, they're the most beautiful and faithful bird you can imagine.

My first cockatiel unfortunately didn't live for very long. I have no idea what happened. She was extremely affectionate and would sit on my shoulder and nibble my earring, or break the lead off my pencil when I was doing homework. I got her a husband, after we got our first cat, to compensate for her not being able to fly freely in the entire house anymore. They hated each other instantly. To begin with, I thought the male hated me too. But now, years later, I've realized that he actually quite likes me. Maybe he's grown used to me in time.

In any case, he begs food from me. When I eat bread or pasta he always wants a little piece for himself. And though he used to hate fresh fruit and vegetables, he now likes those too. I guess it's living in the kitchen that does it. We used to have their cage/aviary in another room. It takes up a lot of space, but it's worth it.

My sister got a cockatiel too, at the same time I got mine. Her bird died quite young too. They came from the same place, so maybe they hadn't been very well bred. In any case, she later got a new bird (and I got a male for that bird). Again, the male died quite soon, but my sister's female immediately bonded with my old male, and they're now a happy/partially happy couple.

Cockatiels like to fly freely in a room, and they also need a big, very big cage/aviary. When you let your bird out, it needs to be used to you so you can put it back if you need to, without alarming it. Cover the windows or pull the blinds or curtains. A bird can't see the window pane and might break its neck trying to fly outside.

Feed them a mix of seeds from the pet store. I'm no expert in feeding birds, but a mix is good. That way they can pick and choose between the different kinds of seeds. Try to encourage your bird to eat some fruit (apple, for instance is good) or a vegetable, like a carrot. Someone told me that kiwi fruits are extremely poisonous to birds, so don't feed them that. Whatever you give to your bird has to be clean and dry.

Don't use plastic perches for the birds. Get thick branches from the garden, but make sure they're not sprayed with some insecticide or other poison. You might buy thicker wooden perches from the pet store. Provide a dish or bottle with water. Birds can't drink too much at a time, so they need to be able to drink often. They also like to take a bath or shower. You can spray them with a water bottle for plants, but make sure you don't have any insectide in their either. Use a separate bottle for your plants. Also make sure your bird doesn't get cold. It can catch pneumonia if there's a draught.

That's about all I know, about bird care. Try to buy or borrow a book about cockatiel care and read before you get your bird. There are many useful facts to learn from books. You might also try a search on the internet.

I don't know much about the various types/breeds of cockatiel except for one thing - the ordinary, grey type is the heathiest. Some other, older, more established varieties might be as healthy, but beware of rare or exotic types. They might have been inbred.