A 16-year-old male cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus) was diagnosed with liver disease on the basis of clinical signs, results of biochemical analyses, and radiographic evidence of hepatomegaly. The bird died shortly after a plasma transfusion while it was anesthetized for a liver biopsy. Postmortem examination revealed ascites, which was localized to the right and left ventral hepatic peritoneal cavities, forming discrete fluid-filled sacs around each lobe of the liver. This fluid had mimicked hepatomegaly radiographically; the liver was actually discolored, firm, and shrunken. Light microscopic findings were consistent with hepatic cirrhosis. The etiology of the hepatic cirrhosis was not determined.