I never had a cockatiel before. I was thinking about using them in my act. I was wondering if cockatiels can be used instead of doves, using dove apparatus? Are cockatiels easy to train like doves? Is it harder to take care of a cockatiel than it is a dove?

If you buy one handfed and very young and you handle it a lot they become very very tame, however don't expect to be able to use them like doves. With their beak they can go where they want and they can make a lot of noise. I use mine in a dove pan (large because of its tail) but I'd never dream of putting one in a harness

My experience is that they lack two characteristics of doves.

1. You put them in the dark and they go exploring instead of asleep.

2. A dove is the same bird everyday. Cockatiels are a different bird everyday.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

Has a dove bite(peck) you before?
It might have pecked you before but you would not have felt any pain.
Try a cockatiel peck(bite)? You will never touch it again.

Try to buy a baby chick and handfed it.This is the best way to tame a " Parrot ".
Once it is 1 years old , then you can start to teach it tricks.
Dove apparatus ? What kind of apparatus you mean?
Dove pan , Dove Bags?

Boy do I have experience with Cokatiels!

Share your experience Kyle, I'd love to know it

I worked with two cockatiels a long time ago. They are very tempermental. They are great birds IF you get them on a good day. If they get upset, you might as well just leave them alone. As for loading them, their sharp beaks will chew through anything, and if they feel uncomfortable, they will scream, literally. I stopped using them when they developed an attraction for shiny objects. I was performing, and the cockatiel that was perche on my shoulder saw a lady in the audience with nice earrings - well, needles to say, not only did he fly to her and scare her pretty badly, he proceeded to climb her arm and peck at her ear. While the lady was understanding, it could have been a lot worse. That was the last time I used them in the show. I was using males also, and they became very agressive because they matured and needed a mate, and I wasn't willing to get another cockatiel, so I gave them to a good home where the person had many exotics and could take care of the cockatiels needs the way it needed to be at that mature age. They are GREAT pets however and smart birds, but can be destructive if they don't get what they want, or are upset. Just a thing to keep in mind with these, and probably all exotics.

-Alpha

Wow Thomas that's quite a story. I have always stayed away from any tropical type birds because of the noise and their tempermental nature. Trying parakeets was enough for me, they screem and bit like crazy.

I'll just stick to doves, they are dumb as dirt but they are workers.

Steven

Hey, wait a minute. How do you know my family?

I agree, I used to own a hand tamed cockatiel. Nice pet, lousy for magic. They are very tempermental birds and as many have noted have a very powerful sharp beak which if irritated they will use. They require a lot more daily handling than do doves, and unlike doves, will try to climb.

Do the Cockatoos and Parrots have the same behavior as the Cockatiels?

Dynamike,

Check out this links for some information on cockateils.
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/

And how about doing a switch of doves to white cockateils.
http://www.qtaviary.com/images/stories/c......pair.jpg

Thanks for the info, Chan.

Cockatiels... well I've had a wild one I've never been able to train and one I got as a 3 week old chick. Using the ever famous Womach techniques, I trained the chick(metallica) to do a wide array of tricks.

Word got around and the local Tv station decided to do a story on me and my birds. Doves included. So they came over to my place and metallica was a star! It got a lot of attention and pple were calling to to say how impressed they were with Metallica.

Sadly, 2 weeks after the telecast, Metallica was stolen. Long story but basically... she cant fly and it could not have been a cat...

Thomas (miss you bro!) is right... they are temperamental and unless you knw how to work around their behaviors...ur gonan have a screamer and biter. She was not too good with bags but she sat quite quietly in her lil load chamber of a Dove from book. She'd do anythin for millet and diet is VERY important. Actually... I never really got to change her diet to a pellet diet. I used another similar training technique. PM me for details. SO yea mike... though they may not be as smart as Cockatoos... Ur still dealing with a handfull! Good luck !

I use cockatiels for many of my acts, they fit perfectly in dove pockets. The one thing you have to worry about is using a cockatiel that wont stay quiet, which is why you have to practice a lot and with different noise levels to see how she responds. I say "she" because you do not want to use a male cockatiel...trust me. Some will fidget with the pocket at first. One way to fix this is by doing "flappies," where you hold the bird and move your arm up and down, forcing the bird to flap. This gets rid of excess energy that the bird has. By putting her in the pocket right after and letting her rest, she will come to realize that the pocket is a release from pressure (exercise) and come to welcome it, especially if you do it everytime after a good workout. Cockatiels are also very aerodynamic and can be used for freeflight to give the performance that extra spark.

Generally, doves are better for most magicians. A good hand tamed Cockatiel with a great personality that performs magic tricks himself is my trademark asset. Yes he is noisy in props, but I use it to my advantage, while in a mini-origami box, he actually talks while I am putting swords thru him making the routine very funny. Visit Merlynn The Magic Cockatiel's website to see his videos, photos, and back story.
www.merlynntmc.com
www.wizardoffun.com

As far as magic goes cockatiels are more difficult to use successfully than doves.

I have had cocktatiels for 35 years... One issue you have to consider with them is they can live up to 18 years in fact one that I have now is much older than that and he is still quite active and strong.

All of the ones I have had proved to be very tame and while their beaks are VERY sharp and powerful for such a small creature, yet I have had them grip a finger but have NEVER had one bite down hard but that does not mean they will all be like that.. If one decides to bite you you will know it but generally they won't bite you unless you give them a reason to..All mine have been males so my experience is contrary to others comments regarding males and females.

They can be a cute stage prop and can help with misdirection IF you have one that likes to sit on your shoulder and just observe things AND does not get easily scared by a sudden sharp noises, bright lights etc but they are not as predictable as doves.. They can and will chew through your props, wood, cloth, fine metallic chains like necklaces and can easily remove a stone from a setting and if it is a soft stone like an Opal they will quite happily crunch it until it is powder.

They do not tend to go to sleep like doves do when you put them in a load chamber or other dark space and they will be vocal so unless your routine uses that to an advantage they will give things away or they may chew their way through it if they are in there long enough.

They require more attention than doves and like to have company. If you do not pay some attention to them they WILL make a racket..Some can be quite smart and can figure out how to open a cage if they are inclined to.

In a story similar to one mentioned earlier, I had a relative come up to me after a show, she wanted to pet the bird and he was happy to let her do so..then she wanted him to sit on her shoulder and since he was very tame he went right over to her. I warned her that he liked jewelry and she was wearing some nice shiny earrings with a stone in the setting. Faster than anyone could react he had plucked it out of the setting and crunched it into fine dust..luckily she was a relative BUT he did ruin a fairly expensive stone..

So all in if you are going to use birds in your show you are probably better off using doves

Doves are soft beak birds, if they do bite it does not hurt the much and does not take a chunk of skin.

Other hard beak birds as mentioned above will be more dangerous, and will bite and draw blood, and take a chunk. They also can tear holes in any kind of holder, so special holders have to be made for them. Where to get this information is not easy to acquire, as with Dove gimmicks.

But, a plus, I once saw a guy in NYC in Central Park with a cockatiel on his shoulder. Then, it would fly way away, up to a big tree, and stay there a long time. Than, after a while, it came back to his shoulder. I was very impressed that it came back. I didn't know about the chewing or biting until now. Doves are gentle birds but not real smart. But they don't bite.

One other thing to take into account is that exotic birds live a very long time and are more of a pet/companion than a prop. Unless you intend
to have a bird like this as a companion the way you would a dog, it would be irresponsible and inhumane to own one and not give it the time and attention that it needs
Stick to doves. They also need their own special TLC but are not as sensitive as the other birds mentioned in the thread.