Nigel has a slender, muscular appearance and is very tall, taller than Blu and Jewel. He has patchy, ragged grayish-white hair, brown eyes, and pale red bags under his eyes, which are somewhat bloodshot. He also has unusually long and sharp talons for a cockatoo, and his feathers often molt. Like other Sulphur-crested cockatoos, Nigel has white and yellow crest feathers on the top of his head. During the scene where he took Jewel to the parade, Pedro told Rafi he "saw this ugly cockatoo".