Sorry I'm late at replying.. I just saw this thread.

You've been giving tons of GREAT information already, but I just thought I'd add my two cents in.

I think probably the biggest thing IMO is that Cocktiels can not, not, not be kept in a cage all day. Piper's *usually* out all day unless we're not here, he's sleeping/taking naps, or if the dogs are in the same room. I know he'd go INSANE if he wasn't taken out often.

Also, they're VERY smart birds! Piper's pretty vocal, but it's not so much as an annoying sound, like PCB said, but soothing. I love his little songs he sings throughout the day. Piper can bark like a dog, imitate a dog squeaky toy, laugh, "wolf whistle", and say "Uh Oh", which also sounds like "Hello".

You can have one or two even though you have dogs around. But, that doesn't mean I would trust Molly or Daisy with Piper in a second; Molly most of all. Piper's wings are not clipped, only for the fact that in case something *does* happen with him and the dogs, he'll be able to get away.

They do need baths, but Piper prefers showers. Once a week while I clean his cage, I'll take him outside [while he's still in the top portion of his cage] and gently spray him with the hose. We have a hose nozzel that lets you put it on different settings, so you're not just spraying with *hard* water. He loves it.

They can be messy birds. I know Piper is, but certainly not compared to some of the larger parrots. It's not that big of a deal to sweep/vaccum under their cage when they do decide to make one.

You can only tell for sure if a bird is male or female by getting them DNA tested at the vet. We haven't, because quite frankly, it doesn't matter to us. PCB is pretty good with guessing *what* gender they are, though. I've also heard that you can guess what sex they are by how much noise they make; being that males are the noiser of the two. Not sure how true that is, though.

Good Luck! I hope you can get a tiel. They're great!