Why Cockatiels are great beginner birds!

I have two beautiful female cockatiels named Nala and Winnie. Nala is gray with yellow cheeks and some white on her wings, while Winnie is pied and has all kinds of colors ranging from orange, yellow, gray and white!

I have had cockatiels since my freshman year of high school and I find them to be so rewarding and such a great bird for beginner bird owners.  I had got my birds from a breeder who has them certified by vets before adopting them out, but I was able to visit mine as they grew from hatching until they were fully weened off of hand feeding. 

For my first bird, Nala, it took around 1-2 months to gain her full trust. (NOTE: Every bird is different and I had more time to work with her while she was young.) As she grew she became more comfortable with strangers and developed a sense of whats going on whenever I go to let her out, feed her, or even to just give her her meds at night. She is fully comfortable with me touching or holding her however needed, accept for other people. She is very bright and the only health problems I had with her was crop digestion problems. 

For my second bird, Winnie, I had gotten her around a year or two after having Nala. She was comfortable with just about anything while young but as she grew she developed a sense of sass. She isn't as comfortable with people as Nala is but enjoys them from a distance such as whistling or talking. She never showed any signs of health problems YET (fingers crossed) but they are both still young and have a long life a head of them so I bet my wallets are going to hurt either way.

All around I recommend cockatiels as a beginner friendly bird, but I would start with one. Males are more likely to learn words or songs while females are more chirpy and like to whistle. Mine don't I repeat anything accept for the cat call whistle. If you do get a female, I highly suggest you have them plenty of calcium sources such as cuttlebones, as they will be laying eggs. Egg laying is the number one thing that deprives female cockatiels of calcium and mine lay a lot of eggs, so I always have cuttlebone or calcium supplement in their cage at all times.