Skittish Cockatiel

[Lundi]

Hi. I got my cockatiel, Freyja, last May from a petshop, she was ill at the time with a crop infection (at the pet shop she was on an all seed diet) so the first couple of weeks I had her I had to hold her to give her medicine twice a day. After that she started becoming extremely skittish round me (I can understand why).

Recently I have made some progress with her, she steps up on my hand when it's time to go to bed and shes very chatty, especially when I call her name. But she's still really jumpy and whenever theres a bird flying past the window or if there is a loud noise she'll start flying around the room and squawking non-stop for about five minutes. I just want to know what I can do to calm her down. I usually sit by her cage and talk to her but it doesn't seem to be making much difference. :/

Is it just part of a cockatiel's nature to be like that? Because I get worried about her being stressed.

[Marrie]

It's normal for her to spook if a bird flies past or a loud noise she doesn't expect happens. My tiel flies around like a mad thing in a circle and squawks too. They are prone to night frights as well. As long as she's not running into walls or anything, she won't hurt herself. My tiel does it every time someone sneezes too

[Birdmanca]

That is normql behavior for her. Some things tend to upset het and make her nervous. Not really a problem.

[Lundi]

Thanks. I suppose I'm just used to my parrotlet who is not afraid of anything. Lol.

[Marrie]

Parrotlets are supposed to have more big bird attitude in small bodies, whereas tiels are very DOCILE birds. Just talk soothingly to her when she spooks and keep mirrors/windows marked for her and she should be fine.