First of all, congrats on your new tiels!!! I can't WAIT to see pics!!!

Second, cockatiels *are* a species of parrots. The thing is, not all parrots have the same life span. For example, parakeets usually live around 10-13 years or so, though they can possibly live longer. Cockatiels very often live to be 20+ years old. Several people on a cockatiel board I used to visit actually had tiels close to their 30s, and still healthy and active. Large parrots, like cockatoos, african greys, and macaws, very often live for 60, 70, 80, even 100 years. At 15-17 years, your birds could very possibly still have a good number of years ahead of them. I believe a member on Tiel Talk had a 17 year old tiel who she thought was male until it laid its first egg at 17. Strange, but because it laid an egg at 17, I would think it possible for them to still have babies at that age. Not sure though, but maybe.

As to introducing them to the cats, I, personally, would never consider introducing my birds to cats. While I know some people do allow their cats to see their birds when they are in the cage, I know *my* birds would be terrified. I would actually worry about them getting a heart attack....that is how scared they are from cats. They go crazy when they see a cat pass through the backyard. I would keep them in a seperate room if I had cats in the house. If they're 15-17 years old and have never met cats, I would fear seeing a cat would greatly frighten them.

I'm not exactly sure how you can tell an older tiel from a younger one, as mine are just 5 years old, but I've *heard* older tiels have more dry/scaly feet.

I have no experience with baby tiels, but Logan's birds recently raised 3 little babies, so I guess she could now be our PT baby tiel guide.

It usually takes birds awhile to warm up to their new owners. My birds weren't comfortable around us for at least 2 weeks when we first got them, but they were babies, and not tame at all back then. If your tiels are tame, hopefully they will warm up quicker.

Good luck! What colors are they?