Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus)

BirdParrotAustralia

Overview

The cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) is a slim, long-tailed Australian parrot and — despite its small size and slender build — a genuine cockatoo. It is the smallest member of the cockatoo family and the only species in its genus.

Its most distinctive feature is a tall, mobile crest that the bird raises and lowers, which is characteristic of cockatoos. Wild cockatiels are grey with a white wing panel, an orange cheek patch and, in males, a yellow face; females are duller with barred underparts on the tail.

Like the budgerigar, the cockatiel is both a widespread wild Australian bird and a very common companion parrot. This profile describes the wild species and is not a pet-care guide — it gives no husbandry, feeding or veterinary advice.

Habitat & Range

Cockatiels range across the interior of Australia, in open woodland, scrub, savanna, grassland and farmland, generally near water. They avoid dense forest and the wettest coastal areas, and are most abundant in the dry inland where scattered trees provide nest hollows and open ground provides seed.

Diet

Cockatiels feed mainly on seed taken from the ground — grasses, cereal crops and the seeds of shrubs and trees — along with some fruit and plant material. They typically feed in flocks and must drink regularly, so waterholes and stock troughs are important gathering points.

Behavior

Cockatiels are gregarious and, like budgerigars, largely nomadic, moving in response to rainfall and food availability. They fly fast and directly, often in tight flocks. The crest is genuinely informative: raised sharply when the bird is alarmed or alert, held high when curious, and flattened when threatened or agitated. Nesting is in tree hollows, usually near water, and both parents incubate — males typically by day and females by night.

Human Interaction & Conservation

The cockatiel is one of the most widely kept parrots in the world, second only to the budgerigar among companion parrots. In the wild it remains common and widespread in Australia, where it is protected and export prohibited. This profile covers the wild bird only and offers no guidance on keeping, feeding, breeding, taming or the health of pet cockatiels — those belong with an avian veterinarian and specialist sources. Verify current status at the IUCN Red List.

Sourced facts

Each value below is traced to the specific reference that states it. Open a row's evidence to see the source, where to look in it, and how firmly it supports the value. Sources checked 2026-10-09.

Sourced facts about the Cockatiel, with the reference supporting each
Fact	What the source states	Evidence
Geographic range	Native to mainland Australia and widely distributed there, with denser populations in the south-west; also found in Tasmania, where it is considered accidentally introduced.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Geographic Range Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Habitat	Prefers inland, open areas near fresh water rather than coasts or dense forest; recorded from 0 to 500 m elevation (average 200-500 m).ADW names open woodland bordered by waterways and savanna bordering waterholes as optimal areas, notes dense populations where Acacia shrubs grow, and says nests are tree hollows (typically dead eucalypts) near water. Habitat tags: tropical; savanna or grassland.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Habitat Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Diet	Mainly seeds, its food of choice, foraged almost entirely on the ground; also softer foods such as fruits and berries, and has been seen eating small ground-dwelling insects.ADW calls cockatiels 'almost exclusively ground foragers' that seek sun-dried seeds of grasses, shrubs and trees, and says they prefer Acacia seeds to other foods (Habitat). Diet tags: herbivore, granivore.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Food Habits Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Body size	Total length 25 to 35 cm, about half of it the tapered tail (ca. 15 cm); wingspan up to 40 cm.Length is total length including the tail. ADW gives no sex-specific lengths.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Physical Description Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Body mass	About 80–90 g on average.ADW gives an average of 80 g in its text and 80–90 g and 90 g in its data panel; no sex-specific masses.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Physical Description Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Lifespan	Wild: 10-14 years. Captivity: up to 25 years (average 15-25), oldest on record 36, with one source giving an average of 35.sources disagreeThe wild figure is stated once in the text ('Wild cockatiels have a lifespan of 10 to 14 years') and once in the table, and is not contested. ADW attributes the longer captive lifespans to diet optimisation.	Sources disagree · Animal Diversity Web — how we know What each reading says 10-14 years — Animal Diversity Web, wild (text and data table) up to 25 years; average 15-25 years — Animal Diversity Web, captivity, ADW text and data table 36 years — Animal Diversity Web, oldest captive on record (range high) 35 years — Animal Diversity Web, captivity 'average', AnAge (cited in ADW data table) Captive figures only: the account's own captive average (15-25 years) and 'up to 25 years' cannot be reconciled with the AnAge captive 'average' of 35 years, which is close to the 36-year record. The wild figure (10-14 years) is not in conflict. Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Lifespan/Longevity Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Activity pattern	Diurnal. Movements are region-specific: nomadic in wetter northern Australia, seasonal group migration in the more predictable south.'Diurnal' comes from ADW's key-behaviour tags; the prose does not discuss daily timing. The same Behavior passage continues that 'southern cockatiels seasonally migrate in groups'; Habitat adds that southern migrations are predictable and involve groups of one hundred to one thousand.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Behavior Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Social structure	Exceptionally social; monogamous pairs stay together year-round and feed and move in groups from several birds to flocks of up to several thousand.Group size depends on activity: foraging in pairs, groups of 6 to 8 or flocks of several hundred (Food Habits); migrating in groups of one hundred to one thousand in southern Australia (Habitat); crop-raiding flocks of several thousand (Economic Importance). The pair-bond excerpt is from Reproduction.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Behavior Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Distinguishing traits	The only crested parrot with a pointed tail. Males have bright orange cheek patches bordered by white; females have drab burnt-orange cheek patches with no white border.'Their cheeks' refers to males (the preceding sentence describes male plumage as dark brown to gray with white patches on the folded wing). Wild-type plumage only; ADW notes that pet colour mutations differ. Both sexes have crests of about 5 cm.	Matches source · Animal Diversity Web — how we know Animal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Where Physical Description Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
Conservation status	Least Concern (LC), global assessment, 2018	Matches source · IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — how we know IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Checked by FaunaHub 2026-10-09 Limits Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.

References for the facts above

UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — University of Michigan Museum of ZoologySupports: Range, habitat, diet, body size and mass, lifespan, activity and social structure, as the account states them. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: A peer-edited account written largely by students under faculty review. Figures are compiled from the literature rather than from a single study, and some are regional.
ReferenceIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesSupports: The global Red List category and the year of the assessment. Retrieved 2026-10-09.Limitations: Read from the Red List export IUCN publishes to GBIF; iucnredlist.org itself does not answer automated reads. Categories are reassessed over time.

Frequently Asked Questions — Cockatiel

Is a cockatiel a cockatoo?

Yes. Despite being much smaller and slimmer than the birds most people picture as cockatoos, the cockatiel is a true member of the cockatoo family — the smallest one — and it shows the family's defining feature in its tall, mobile crest.

What does the cockatiel's crest mean?

It reflects the bird's state. A sharply raised crest generally signals alarm or alertness, a high crest curiosity or excitement, and a flattened crest agitation or a defensive mood. Because the crest is genuinely mobile it acts as a visible signal to other birds.

What do wild cockatiels eat?

Mostly seed taken from the ground — grasses, cereal crops and the seeds of shrubs and trees — plus some fruit and other plant material. They feed in flocks and need to drink regularly, so waterholes are important gathering points in dry country.

Where do wild cockatiels live?

Across the interior of Australia, in open woodland, scrub, savanna, grassland and farmland, generally within reach of water. They avoid dense forest and the wettest coastal regions, and like budgerigars they move nomadically in response to rainfall.

Sources and further reading

Authoritative wildlife references used for general educational context. Conservation status should always be verified against current IUCN Red List data. External links open in a new tab.

UniversityAnimal Diversity Web — Nymphicus hollandicus (cockatiel) — University of Michigan species account
Wildlife referenceSmithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute — Animals — Educational species pages from the Smithsonian Institution
Wildlife referenceIUCN Red List of Threatened Species — Authoritative source for current conservation status