Birds and sleeping

Your bird needs 10-12 hours of uninterrupted, undisturbed sleep. One easy way to do this is by establishing a sleep schedule. My birds go to bed at 9pm and I get them up at 9am.



Establishing a sleep routine can help prevent behavior and health problems for your bird.

If you have a bird room, you can just put your bird to sleep and not have to worry about it.

If your bird is in a room where people are still going to be active, it can be a bit harder. You will need to cover the cage, keep noises low, and turn off the lights so your bird can get a good night’s rest. This may not be convient or feasible for everyone, just do the best you can.

I have a friend who has a little nook off of her living room. At bedtime, she covers her bird’s cage and rolls it into the nook. It’s away from activity and noise, it works well for her. Find the quietest, darkest area you can.

You can also set up sleeping cage. This is a smaller cage setup up in another room that is used just for sleeping. It doesn’t have to be large, just big enough for your bird to perch in and sleep at night.

What are your bird’s night time habits? Have you established a night time routine? Is your bird getting at least 10 hours of sleep every night?


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About Cockatiels

These great little birds can measure 10-14 inches from beak to tail. And usually weigh around 80-120 grams. And cockatiels can live fro 15 to 20 years.



They come in a variety of colors like grey, white, yellow or a combination of them. And most have bright orange cheek patches.

Cockatiels come from Australia. But the birds you can purchase in the pet shops have been bred here in the US.

To house a cockatiel, you will need a cage that is 20"wide x 20"deep x 24"high. Larger cages are fine, but yoou need to make sure that the bar spacing is no larger than 1/2" to 5/8".

They should be fed a commercial pelleted diet. Supplemented with fresh fruits and vegetables daily.

Cockatiels have great personalities. They are smart little birds that can be taught to talk and do tricks. As with all birds, they require attention every day and will bond nicely with their owners.

In my own personal experience, cockatiels are great little birds and make good first birds for new owners. They are easier to care for than larger birds, don’t require huge cages and are very good natured.


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What should perches be made of?

There’s a wide variety of shapes, colors and materials for perches on the market. And that variety is what you want. Have a cage with all the same size perches made of all the same materials is not only boring, but can be hard on your bird’s feet.



Plain, wooden, pine perches are the standard in most cages. There’s nothng wrong with them, but there are better alternatives. If you prefer using these perches, mix it up a little bit. Try using slightly different sizes.

Rope perches are great for feet and fun too. These can be bent to drape in different directions around the cage. My birds are extremely fond of these. You just have to keep an eye on them, when they become stringy it’s time to replace them.

Mineral, concrete, cement perches. These are great to help keep nails blunt. The rough surface of these can make them harder to clean, but they’re worth it.

Manzanita and other natural perches. These are fabulous for a bird’s feet. The variation in sizes are great exercise for feet and the roughness of the wood is perfect. I use to have a 4 foot high playgym we made out of a pear tree that a friend cut down, the birds loved it.

Colorfully dyed perches can be fun and exciting for your birds. Of course, making them interesting can also lead to your bird chewing on them more often. It’s not bad, but can lead to the perches having to be replaced more often. Just something that has to be done.

What kind of perches are in your birds cage? How could you mix things up for them?


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Fruit flies and getting rid of them

Your bird’s food can attract those annoying little fruit flies that buzz around and irritate the heck out of you (and your birds). They can be hard to get rid of, but it can be done.



Wash all utensils after preparing fruits and vegetables. And clean preparation area thoroughly. Any little bit of left over juice or peels can attract fruit flies.

Keep fruit in your fridge. It helps it stay good longer and will keep away the fruit flies.

Take the fruit out of your bird’s cage after 3-4 hours. Change the papers in the cage, wipe all the fruit off the cage bars and around the cage.

Turn on a fan. Fruit flies don’t like moving air.

If you have fruit flies, use a no-toxic fly strip to capture and get rid of them. Put it somewhere your birds can’t get to it.

Feel free to add any tips you have for getting rid of fruit flies.


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Fruits and veggies you can feed your birds

Different birds will favor different items, but in general here’s a list that is safe to feed your birds.


Apples. Birds love these sweet and simple fruits. Scrub well or remove the skin before feeding them. And the seeds are thought to be toxic, so remove the core and seeds.

Sweet potatoes. My birds love these. Scrub thoroughly or peel before giving them to your birds. You can give them to your birds cooked or raw.

Citrus fruit. You can give them oranges, tangerines and grapefruit. I remove any seeds, just to be safe.

Pumpkin. My birds love fresh cooked pumpkin. They really like Halloween, lol.

Brussels sprouts. Can be served cooked or raw. Great to string up with other fruits and veggies to make a kabob for your bird.

Broccoli and cauliflower. More favorites from my house.

Corn on the cob. Bigger birds love these, cooked of course.

If your bird isn’t interested or throws to fresh food out of the dish, try hanging it kabob style or fastening it to the bars of the cage. This will sometimes peak their interest.

Try a variety of different foods. Sometimes your bird won’t like broccoli but will love oranges, it’s a bit of trial and error.

And be warned, birds can sometimes make a mess while eating their fresh foods.



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Teaching your bird the step up command

Getting you bird to step up onto your hand is the most important command they can learn.

Here are simple steps to have a successful step up training session.


Time: set aside about 15 minutes.
Tools: You and your bird.

Find a time when you won’t be interrupted and it’s quite. You don’t want any distractions.

Extend your finger and gently nudge your bird on the bottom of it’s chest. While telling it to step up. Use a little bit deeper voice than your normal voice, birds seem to respond to commands that are in a little bit deeper tone. Not loud, you don’t want to be yelling, just toe.

If is steps up, give it praise, place it back on the perch, and repeat.

If it doesn’t, nudge a bit more and tell it again to step up. Sometimes you bird just will not feel like cooperating, if it’s not happening, try again at another time.

Note: Do not pull your finger away if the bird tries to put it’s beak on your finger. Most birds will do this before stepping up, it’s their way of making sure your finger is safe and sturdy to step up on. Pulling your finger away, makes them think it’s not safe.



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Encouraging your bird to talk

One amazing thing about birds is their ability to mimic the sound they hear in their environment. Some mimic better than others, it changes from bird to bird. This is one technique I’ve found easiest to encourage their mimicking.


Just involve them and talk to them. Yes, it works.

I constantly talk to my birds when I’m home. It makes them truly feel like a part of the family and encourages them to be involved. They’re flock animals and want to be part of the flock, so they will repeat what the flock does.

And make sure you get excited when you’re bird attempts to mimic you. They love excitement. Stop whatever you’re doing and go over and give your feathered friend a huge amount of praise. Smile, giving them a visual sign they did something that’s encouraged. Then raise the tone of your voice a few octaves and lay on the “good boy/girls”, birds like high tones and take it as a good sign.

Repeat phrases often. Birds will repeat something they hear often. I taught on bird to say “what ya doin?”, I would go over to her play gym a few times a day and ask her “what ya doin?”. It did take long before she was repeating it. She also picked up “go night-night”, because it was a phrase I used every night before she was tucked in for bed.

I have a Pious that talks, but not clearly. She’ll make kissy noises. And she does say some things like what, pretty girl, good girl and a combination of them. But they are not loud and not very clear, you have to listen closely to make out what she’s saying (or be her momma, hehe). I’ve had her for over 6 years, and it’s just the way she communicates.

Don’t expect over night success. It takes time and encouragement to get a bird to repeat phrases, and some just won’t.

Training sessions with the goal to get a bird talking have limited success. I’ve found that natural interaction has better success. So make sure you watch what you say around your bird. I took in a Lorikeet whose favorite phrase was “what’s this sh**”. She’d say it often and loudly. Showing, if you say something often enough and with enough passion, your bird can/will pick it up.

As always, all comments and any questions are welcome.



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