We have this little game wherein I give him a bamboo skewer or a Q-tip and he investigates it with his mouth for a few moments, and then with great and terrible delight he chucks it off my shoulder onto the ground below. He follows this with checking out and gloating over the terrible destruction he has just wreaked. And then we do it all over again. I laugh every. single. time. He is a little badass!
He’s trained you well. 
We have a Parrot named Zahzoo, who really terrorized his last owner. He would swell up, growl, and chase his owner, his roommates and dogs all over the house. They were all honestly psychologically traumatized by him, I don’t think he ever even got close enough to bite them. Zahz is a lumpy grey bird the size and shape of a gym sock, I do not know how he achieved it.
You think yours are bad? My parrots tried to burn the house down twice and one of them closely resembles Osama and comes from the same part of the world he does. I’m probably harboring a terror cell without knowing it.
I for one Hail our potential 'teel overlords:)
Put him on the no-fly list.
Cockatiels…
SPOILED attention whores! 
Seconded!
I’ve already been assimilated, I hear and obey mine’s every screech. 
Drop-fetch is a favorite parrot game. The human does the fetching. ~:>
any person keeping a bird in a cage should be put in a cage.
It’s awesome that Cricket doesn’t live in a cage. If someone else had rescued him, he may have had a different living arrangement. He’s a lucky, happy bird. I also know birds who do live in cages who appear to be incredibly satisfied with, and protective of, their houses. I think EBMMV (each bird’s…).
Yeah it really sounds like this bird is living a horrible life. :rolleyes:
Why yes all pet birds should be turned loose, so they can starve or be eaten by a predator.
Most pet birds that are raised and treated right only spend the time their “pet” is at work, in their cage, unless they want to be in it. And if other 'tiels are like mine, they usually like chilling in there once they’ve burned off their daytime energy.
Speaking just for myself, our birds are out-of-cage unless they’re sleeping; we have a dedicated bird room. While it’s true they are kept as pets, these particular birds are re-homed from someone who could no longer take care of them, not purchased from a store.