Cockatiels and other birds

Question
Is there another parrot type bird that can be housed with a cockatiel, other than budgeries(which I know is not a in the parrot family). We were considering getting another small parrot type and wonder if they can share a cage.  

Answer
Hi, Greg.  Thanks for posting!

Any bird with a hooked beak, including budgies/keets, are considered to be parrots.

The answer to your question is not species-specific.  In other words, it depends on the individual birds involved!  If I told you that cockatiels and lovebirds, for example, could be housed together, there'd be a tiel or lovie who would make me eat my words every time!  What you need to think about is housing birds together who have the same nutritional requirements, have the same desires in toys, are able to defend themselves equally against the other species, who have the same general temperments, etc., etc.  Most of the other things you need to consider have to do with the personalities of the individual birds you desire to house together.

Why not consider another cockatiel of the same sex (so you won't have to deal with egg laying, etc., unless this is something you want to do)?  This would be your best bet.  

If you want a different species altogether, I'd recommend caging them separately and only allowing them to be together when they are outside their cages.  If the 2 different species seem to get along together outside their cages then you can try housing them together.  Be aware, however, that you need to take into consideration beak size.  You don't want to house a tiel with another parrot that has a beak that is too much larger than the tiel's.  Also, tiels tend to have pretty docile personalities and aren't usually very aggressive.  Keep this in mind when choosing another bird type.

Chrys