Different Breeds of Cockatiels

Cockatiels are popular pets. They are easy to keep, inexpensive, and gentle. Wild cockatiels are Australian natives, but pet birds are descended from those bred in captivity for many generations. Cockatiels are easy to breed and breeders have developed many color varieties different from the wild bird's coloring of gray body, yellow cheeks with an orange spot and white wing patches.

  1. Sex-Determined Coloring

    • In normal, or wild type coloring, you can tell the difference between a male and female bird by the amount of yellow coloring on its cheeks. Male birds have a larger yellow patch. The birds do not develop this until around 6 to 8 months of age, however. A bird with less yellow on its cheeks could either be a female bird or a juvenile.

    Color Varieties

    • Breeders classify cockatiels according to color and patterning. There are some birds which lack all dark pigments, such as the lutino and albino, and others which only lack dark pigments in some areas of their feathers. These are called pieds. Ideally, pieds should have symmetrical patterning and roughly 25 per cent dark feathers. Pearls' feathers have a scalloped effect. Only the females retain this patterning into adulthood.

    Body Color

    • Breeders classify some varieties according to their body color. These types include cinammon, fallow, recessive silver, emerald, and pewter. The pewter is the most recent color variety. Emerald birds are not actually green. This is not possible in cockatiels. The effect is caused by the way gray feathers overlay yellow ones. Some birds have red eyes, such as the fallow and recessive silver. Cinammons have plum eyes at birth that darken as they age.

    Face Color

    • The color and patterning on the face determines some types. Dominant yellow cheek, whiteface, pastelface, creamface, and goldcheek fall into this category. Dominant yellow cheek has a yellow rather than an orange spot. The other varieties lack some of the yellow pigment that color the cheeks of the normal type, giving a paler face. These birds have darker than average feathers on their bodies, contrasting with their faces and white wing patches.