Why night frights need a written plan, not a warning
Cockatiels are famous for night frights: a shadow, a noise, a headlight sweeping the wall, and the bird erupts around the cage in a panic that can break feathers and draw blood. A sitter who has only been told it might happen will freeze or do the instinctive wrong thing — plunging a hand into a thrashing cage in the dark. What actually protects your bird while you are away for a week is a routine the sitter has read in advance, rehearsed with you once, and can follow half-asleep. Write it as a short card kept beside the cage, not buried in a long care document they will never re-read at 3 a.m.
The setup that prevents most frights
Brief the sitter on the environment first, because most nights the fright never happens if the setup is right. Show them the dim night light that stays on all night — cockatiels settle better with enough light to see the cage bars than in pitch darkness — and how her cover is arranged, usually over the top and back with the front partly open so she is neither exposed nor sealed in blackness. The cage stays exactly where it always is, with its perches and toys unmoved; a sitter's tidy rearrangement is a classic fright trigger. Cover the household rules that feed into calm nights: curtains drawn against passing headlights, no cats in the bird room overnight, doors closed gently, and no late-night cage visits beyond a quiet check. If your bird has a known trigger — the bins outside on a particular morning, a neighbour's dog — write it on the card with the night it applies to.
The 3 a.m. card, word for word
The response routine itself should be numbered and plain. One: lights on, but bring them up gradually or switch on a lamp in the hallway first, because a sudden bright light mid-panic makes it worse. Two: talk to her in a low, steady voice from outside the cage, using her name, and let her thrash to a stop on her own — hands stay out until she is still, since grabbing a panicking cockatiel injures birds and fingers alike. Three: once she is perched and breathing normally, look her over through the bars for the injuries that matter — a broken blood feather still bleeding, blood on a wing, a leg held oddly. A blood feather that will not stop bleeding is the one true emergency on the card: it needs a vet, and your vet's number and the out-of-hours number sit right there in print. Four: stay with her, lights low, until she is fully settled before easing the room back to night. Five: text you in the morning with what happened, even if she was fine.
Rehearse it before the week begins
Have the sitter come over once before you travel, walk them to the cage, and talk through the card where it will actually be used, including where the torch, the spare cover, and the first-aid basics live. Tell them honestly how often frights happen with your bird — most weeks, perhaps never, or reliably when it storms — so they can judge a bad night in context. Handing the sitter a KinsLe Care Pass for the week puts that whole routine, the night-light setup, and your vet's details in their hands in one place, so the plan is with them and not just pinned to your fridge.