My boyfriend's rude friend decided to give my 5 year old a bird for her b-day without asking permission. So, needless to say I need to learn about cockatiels. For instance, do their cages need to be covered for them to sleep well? Any help would be appreciated, I now worry about the bird 24-7. :)

Some birds like/need to have their cages covered, some don't. My cockatiel doesn't care either way. Tame bird or not, be sure that she doesn't live in a high traffic area. Some birds get scared if there is a constant ruckus around them. Your daughter is too young to appreciate the bird yet, so, it's your birdy for now. Birds need 10-12 hours of sleep each night, light and noise can keep them awake. The TV can make a bird really grumpy if it's on during birdy sleep time.

Cockatiels like to play. So you can have fun shopping for toys with your little girl. I would recommend shopping at a store that just sells parrots (a Cockatiel is a parrot) and toys for them. The shopkeeper can answer many of your questions. If the bird is not tame, consider getting another one as a playmate, and get one that has been hand-fed. With supervision, your daughter can hold a tame bird on her finger.

PM me if I can be of further help.

Non of my birds are ever covered,
However if there is a high volume of people in and out of your house and the bird is in a room where you all congregate regularly it is best to cover him or her, this will allow him sleep time ,

The bad thing about covering a bird up is that if you drop something or a loud noise goes off, it can give them what is called night fright (this is the reason I don't cover any of my birds)
Basically it will spook the bird and the bird will not be able to see what is going on, this will cause the bird to panic and flap about which may result in injury to the bird, or even in many cases fatalitys, if the bird is able to see out of the cage and what is going on then the chances of this sort of fright and hurting/killing itself are very minimal...

As simon says tiels love to play and the best toy for a cockatiel is wooden toys and brain toys, i.e. puzzles where it has to figure out how to get the treat,
I do not beleave in using mirrors in any of my cages, not only does this cause the bird to become anti social with us humans but can also drive the bird mad or even see it as an intruder in the birds own territory, however some like them so well and fancy their own reflection that they soon stop bothering with you and concentrate on impressing the mirror, causing birds to bite...
If you want a tame bird that concentrates on you, don't use a mirror!!
You can find willow twigs and twigs from fruit trees to add which the bird will also enjoy chewing.. keys dangling from the cage by a chain...

The only thing I don't agree with simon on is "Your daughter is too young to appreciate the bird yet"
In my opinion this is not so,
All of my children know how to handle , deal, play, respect , and also help with clean outs feeding, and a couple of my children aged 5 and 6 also hand rear chicks...
With the right guidance from yourself you and your daughter can appreciate the gifts that the bird will give you, yes sometimes they are messy but the curiosity and playful nature of them will I am sure outweigh any cons of keeping a cockatiel,
You can involve your little girl in everything to do with the bird from cleaning out, to bathing, to playing with guidance... and your little girl will almost certainly taking part in such a "grown up matter" this in itself will help her to learn about responsibility, love and needs of others :)

I wish you good luck

Oh and as a help to your cockatiel you can boil an egg.. then cut it into very small pieces and crush the shell, mix it all togather and the bird will love it.. also any green food and fruit , that is with the exption of avacado,

WARNINGS FOR THE BIRDS PROTECTION
I would not ever recommend anybody feed grit to any parrot or parrot like bird, this is very dangerous and can cause crop impaction as the grit can not be digested, alternative to grit is eggshells , acts as the same thing but can be easily digested as it is made of calcium not stones...

Avacado kills birds

DO NOT EVER use a plug in air freshner in the same room as your bird or any other forms of aerasol sprays , including hair spray, deoderant... etc

Please do not be put off by what I have put about warnings, I just hope that people will listen to this, airfreshners are the number 1 killer of pet birds
Closely followed by people burning teflon pans (teflon is also poison to them! )

Best of luck and best wishes to you and your little girl

Regards
Katie