Very skittish but tamed cockatiel

[carrotandlogan]

I've had my cockatiel for almost 3 years now (I got him when he was still about 4 months old). He likes sitting on shoulders, letting people pet him, hand-feed him, and he's quite attached to people and is tamed. However, it seems like he's afraid of ANYTHING that's not a person. I can't feed him vegetables, bathe/shower him, or even introduce him to toys and playing by himself because he gets scared and flies off. All the time that he spends outside is on my shoulder. He won't let me walk 1 foot away before flying on to me.
He clings on to people not because he's overly attached, but because he's afraid of everything - even of flying. I notice he only flies when frightened or to cling on to someone, and each time he lands, his crest is all the way up like he's uncomfortable with flying. All the videos of cockatiels I see, they're all very comfortable and calm. I don't get why mine is so skittish around the house and is afraid of everything. I try to play with a toy in front of him, and after around 15-30 minutes, he is STILL afraid of it and won't touch it. Because of this, he can't forage or play by himself or even bother to explore around the house. Help?

[Miyavi]

How have you approached your cockatiel to these new items?
A nice way would be to have your bird in your hand, put the item on a table, for example, spray some food around and let your bird move towards the object, pouring some more food closer to the item now and then.
Once it sees it's not dangerous, your cockatiel won't fly away.

[Dave & Karen]

^^^ Good idea