Which birds make better pets, budgerigars/parakeets or cockatiels?

I have had them all and it is a toss up. I have had memorable cockatiels that learned to talk and were very tame companions, but my favorite was a blue parakeet who was my favorite pet ever. He would sit on my cereal bowl and eat cornflakes with me, sit on my shoulder all day if I let him and would find me in any room in the house with just a little whistle.

It really comes down to the amount of time you invest with the bird will most likely be a great "pet" no matter which one you choose. Otherwise it's just a bird in a cage.

Cockatiels are the best pets, the tame really well especially when hand raised. The males make good talkers. They are sweet and cuddly, easy to train. They tend to be very hardy and easy to keep healthy.

cockatiels

From personal experience, a cockatiel.

I've had 1 cockatiel, 2 budgies, and 2 love birds.

My cockatiel actually remembered who i was and where i liked him to land. They're very smart birds, they dont squawk at anything that moves either, they look up and see if they regionize the person.

Parakeets and love birds and the smaller birds, they're really not as smart, LOL. They fly around the house and never come to you, and they squawk at EVERYTHING!


I see no reason why man domesticated the budgie and the smaller birds =/

of those choices, I would say parakeets/budgies. Otherwise, a big turkey vulture, eats the unwanted guests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture

it really depends on what you want. I've had both and enjoyed both. The parakeet, could talk, whistle the theme song to the andy griffith show and more. It would get up by my ear and say " tell me all your secrets". My cockateil was very loving. :) When you decide what you want, I would not buy from a pet store but from a person who raises them and hand feeds them and spends a lot of time with them. They make the best pets, and are tame when you get them. Yellow parakeets tend to bite more, but are smarter. (that's my observation.) I used to raise birds and had an indoor aviary. I really like the canary's because of their song.

Quoting various sources (mainly Wikipedia)=

BUDGERIGARS:
Budgerigars are intelligent and social animals and enjoy the stimulation of toys and interaction with humans as well as with other budgerigars. A common behavior is the chewing of material such as wood, especially for female budgerigars.


A budgerigar in captivity.
Tame budgerigars can be taught to speak, whistle tunes, and play with humans. Both males and females sing and can learn to mimic sounds and words and do simple tricks. Both singing and mimicry are more pronounced and much more perfected in males. As a whole, females rarely if ever learn to mimic more than a dozen words or so. Males can very easily acquire vocabularies ranging between a few dozen to a hundred words. Generally speaking, it is mostly pet budgerigars (and even more so lone pets) and thus, receiving the most attention which talk the best and the most.
In captivity, budgerigars live an average of five to eight years, but are reported to occasionally live to 15-20 if well cared for. The life span depends on each particular budgerigar's breed (show budgerigars typically do not live as long as wild-type budgerigars), lineage and overall health, which is highly influenced by exercise and diet.
Budgerigars (as do most other parrot species) and most particularly females love to chew on anything they can find in their cages and environments. This comes from the females' instinct in adapting by gnawing the all around interior of existing wild bird's nests. Mineral-blocks (ideally enriched with iodine) and cuttlebone and soft wooden pieces must be provided to help them satisfy their desire to chew and keep their beaks trimmed.
Bird lovers often comment on the differences in personality in each individual bird. Budgerigars each have their own unique ideas about how much they like to be handled, which toys are their favorites, and even what music they like or are indifferent to.
Budgerigars have been shown to cause "bird fancier's lung" in sensitive people, a type of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. This is primarily an issue with people keeping large numbers of budgerigars within a bird room.
Budgerigars are small but are very active, energetic, and lively birds. The absolute minimum size cage for one or two tame pet budgerigars who are allowed out for several hours a day is 18 inches long by 18 inches wide. However, larger cages and flights will be appreciated by these energetic little birds. An ideal cage is longer than higher (since birds fly horizontally like planes and not vertically like helicopters) and would be at least 30 inches long. The cage should not have bar spacing greater than 1/2 inch between bars. Budgerigars are not particularly destructive birds, and spacious cages, while not always easy to find, are usually not overly expensive.
Care should be taken when placing several female budgerigars together, as they can do serious harm to one another if they do not get along. It is easier and often more convenient to keep either analong with each other without any problem. They are relatively easily tamed and bred."

Cockatiel:
"Cockatiels are generally regarded as good pets having a sweet demeanor, though this is by no means a guarantee. Like most other pets, the manner in which the animal is raised, handled, and kept has a profound effect on the temperament of the animal. Some birds are quite gregarious and sociable while others can be shy, retreating to the back of the cage when an unfamiliar figure appears. If handled often and if they have a patient owner the cockatiel(s) will become tame very quickly compared to some of the other parrot species.


Cockatiel specimen combining the Opaline (cka Pearled) and ADMpied (cka recessive pied) mutations
Cockatiels may be permitted to roam freely about a domicile provided the owner takes certain precautions; such as clipping the bird's wings if the rooms have ceiling fans or other hazards that might pose a risk to the bird (stoves, chimneys, toilets, etc.). A scared cockatiel will choose flight over fight most of the time, and may injure itself accidentally. As a social bird, cockatiels prefer areas with a lot of activity during the waking hours, and return to a secluded area when it is time to sleep. Cockatiels may peacefully nap on or near their owner(s), including the owner's chest and shoulders if the owner is stationary for a long period of time.
Generally, well-socialized birds are gentle and friendly. Some cockatiels enjoy physical contact, lending themselves well to taming. Many cockatiel owners develop regular bonding rituals with their animals, engaging in preening, scratching, and even petting. A cockatiel that wishes to be petted will often lower his head or nibble at the owner's fingers to indicate that it wishes to have its head and neck scratched (two places it can't easily scratch on its own), and will emit a low squawk to show its pleasure. Cockatiels which are hand-fed and purchased from a young age are more readily suited for physical contact.
Cockatiels do have a reputation for being demanding of the attention of their owners on a regular basis. Though noisy at times, their vocalizations range from ginger cheeps to piercing cries but they lack the screeching voice of other parrots (males are the loudest in comparison to the small peeps from a female.[2] A cockatiel that has bonded with an owner may emit vocalizations if that owner leaves the room. Cockatiels permitted to roam freely will often seek out the owner by going from room to room or following the owner around the house; or, if the owner happens to be outdoors, going from window to window to keep the owner in visual range. Cockatiels may also recognize the signs of an owner preparing to go out and put themselves into their own cage.

Domesticated cockatiels require a consistent few hours of quality time per day with a person or in a person's company and a good night's sleep in an area with very little noise or distractions. Twelve hours of sleep at least is typical for a cockatiel. Less sleep can cause sickness and irritability.
If left on their own, quiet birds will frequently make contact calls with their owners, calls that sometimes can be quite loud if the person is out of sight. Cockatiels can grow so attached to their owners that they may try to 'protect' them from anyone that tries to come near them, such as a partner or family member, by biting or hissing. This happens especially if cockatiels are kept in bedrooms or other rooms that are not generally shared by everyone in the family, because cockatiels perceive those rooms as their own personal territory. By keeping cockatiels in a shared household room, they are exposed to all family members equally and will not favour one person and feel the need to defend him or her as much. Cockatiels must be acquainted with the entire family, in order to assure even temperament toward all.

Their popularity as pets is due in part because of their calm and timid temperament, to the point that they can even be bullied by smaller but more confident birds such as Budgerigars[citation needed]or lovebirds. Budgerigars and other smaller birds may choose to pick at cockatiels' feet causing amputated toes. It is not uncommon at all for a larger or smaller bird to maim the cockatiel, creating life-long disabilities and potentially life threatening injuries. However, some cockatiels will defend themselves.[citation needed]
Cockatiels don't necessarily make good pets for very young children because they startle easily with loud or unexpected sounds and may bite out of fear of sudden hand movements near and above their heads.[citation needed]. However, they can make good pets for well-behaved older children. Once bonded with their owners, they will often cuddle and play, pushing their head against hands or faces, tossing small items about for the owner to retrieve as a form of "reverse fetch", or whistling a favorite tune.[citation needed] Cockatiels, like almost all other parrots, love to chew paper and can chew objects (like cardboard, books, magazines, wicker baskets, etc) when left unattended.
Most cockatiels enjoy looking at themselves in mirrors and will engage in the activity for hours. Cockatiels that are exposed to mirrors perceive their reflections as their mates. This can induce very aggressive behaviour, and upon seeing themselves once, they are likely to experience anxiety until they find the mirror again.]"

If I had to choose... probably a Cockatiel. They seem so sweet.
again, sorry for the copying & pasting, I cite wikipedia.
just narrowing down the info (esp. temperament) for you :)
hope it was helpful.