Both old and young cockatiels, or nymphs, as these parrots are called in Russia, are of the same size. Therefore, to determine the age of these birds, ornithologists advise to pay attention not to growth, but to behavior, color of feathers and eyes, as well as to the entire appearance of the parrot as a whole.
Instructions
Step 1
Try to get a Corella 10-14 weeks old. Experts believe that such young individuals get used to a new host and habitat better. At a tender age, nymphs look unpresentable. Their plumage is less bright than that of adult birds. The tail is usually slightly tousled, short and not very clean - young cockatiels still do not know how to clean themselves well and often fiddle at the bottom of the cage, getting dirty in the droppings. Before the first molt, the chicks retain a small bald spot on the crown near the crest.
Step 2
In gray cockatiels, natural color, the approximate age can be determined by the color of the beak and paws. If in young parrots they are gray-pink, then in older individuals these parts of the body are darker. Also, young cockatiels have tenacious, like small kittens, delicate, light claws.
Step 3
Pay attention to the color of the nymph's eyes. Unlike the beak, claws and scales on the paws, they brighten with age. In young parrots, the iris is almost black. In older ones, it turns light brown.
Step 4
Young cockatiels have almost no feathers on the crest. There are few of them and they are straighter than those of old birds, the crest of which is bent forward. Between the feathers of the tuft of a young bird, you can see the tubes from the new growing feathers.
Step 5
To determine the approximate age of a bird, observe its behavior. Young cockatiels are somewhat awkward.
Step 6
The age of cockatiels of mutational, not gray, color can be determined by the wax - an area of thickened and featherless skin above the beak, as well as by the paws. Young parrots have smooth fingers, with age, the scales on them increase in size and become coarser, wrinkles appear. The wax in young individuals is clean, not wrinkled. Young birds are also distinguished by a smooth beak without any detachment. Usually the nostrils of chicks are larger relative to the beak than in adult relatives.
