My mom owns a cockatiel and it doesn't really talk. Does anyone know when or how long before they will say their first word or words? She really doesn't anything about these kinds of words. All he does is make some noise, but he doesn't talk - I appreciate anykind of help anyone has.
2007-02-09 12:56:28 · 18 answers · asked by Roxas of Organization 13 7 in Pets ➔ Birds
you have to be very repetative constantly saying a word over and over day after day
2007-02-09 13:00:34 · answer #1 · answered by nendlin 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
the fact of the matter is that the cockatiel may never talk. There is no guarantee. If you have a female the odds are strongly against you. Males are usually the talkers. However, there have been some recorded cases of females talking. but, it is not usual. The best way to teach the cockatiel to talk is to tape her voice (womans voices are better than males because of the higher pitch) saying the same phrase over and over. Every morning and every evening cover his cage on the top and on the sides and play the tape. Try to stay out of room while the tape plays so that the cockatiel has as little distraction as possible. The tape should play for 15 minutes each time. Be consistant and play it daily. Also, try to keep the phrase within 5 syllables. example:
pretty bird--Hi Baby---let me out---here kitty kitty--whatcha doin huh---
Besides playing the tape when she is holding her tiel she can hold it about 8 inches from her faces and say the phrase that they are currently working on.
If your tiel is going to talk this should work. If you're tiel is not going to talk then nothing is going to work lol. good luck! :)
2007-02-09 23:31:22 · answer #2 · answered by stop_staring_please 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Usually only the male will talk and whistle..Females just chirp..Many males will never say words either, many of them only whistle, but they can learn many tunes if exposed to them repeatedly. You can tell if you have a male or female by the underside of the tail. All females have barred tails, which appears as horizontal stipes on the tail feathers and males do not have the barring or stripes. We have 2 pairs of cockateils and neither of the males talk words, but they both have learned to whistle several different tunes, and tend to get very loud when we put a movie in the vcr and at bedtime. The older pair just hatched out 3 babies and the dad was whistling as loud as he could to let us know when each one was hatched. He paces rapidly on the perch, singing loudly, whenever his woman lays an egg, just like an expectant father. They are so cute and each one had its' own personality.
2007-02-10 02:59:46 · answer #3 · answered by Nana 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have an older (12-15 year old) male and he is still picking up on and repeating things I say a lot. I got him from a friend a few years ago and since I live alone and I'm unable to work we spend a LOT of time together. I didn't realize how much I talked to him until he started repeating me.
They are a lot like children in the fact that
you have to be clear and repetitive, then they will learn the word or phrase you are trying to teach them. Since I have had mine for awhile he is prone to ignoring the tapes and Cd's just because he is more attached to me. No doubt a younger bird would pay more attention to and learn from them though.
Just tell her to keep talking to the bird, patiently, and after awhile he will start talking too. They will bond faster also.
If he is anything like mine pretty soon you both will be asking us how you can get him to STOP talking!!
(some days mine talks non-stop :)
2007-02-09 21:40:44 · answer #4 · answered by Magpie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
he can learn to talk at any age - truly because they never stop learning. However, they are more likely to talk if he was hand raised and is a male, and there is a lot of company. I mean spend a lot of time with it. I have 3 cockatiels - one is a fabulous singer and sort of talks - imitates everyhting (loves phones the most)
try repeating things at certain times - like when someone comes in the room say "honey I'm home" - but only then
when he's eating say something like "I'm hungry"
and when you leave say see you later alligator. Even giving them treats helps - "you want a treat?" repeat it over and over - and give them the treat even if they don't say it.
say them in different tones because they do get bored!
he may never talk - but maybe will understand what you're saying after a while. If it's a male he can speak clearer than a female.
just so you know
good luck!
2007-02-09 21:40:28 · answer #5 · answered by 24tulips 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
How old is the bird? Cockatiels need a lot of repetition..........saying the word over and over and over and over ad nauseum.........but the YOUNGER they are the easier they learn.
Mine basically didn't pick up any new words after their first birthday or so. They can still be a great pet, though. If your pet is under a year old, I'd go with a bird tape/CD that can play all day while you're gone......
2007-02-09 21:08:15 · answer #6 · answered by Avon Lady 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If your bird is a FEMALE it will never talk. I have a baby bird now under a year old and he was talking 4 months old caged beside his 14 yr old daddy. ONLY A MALE COCKATIEL will REALLY TALK WORDS. All the females do is tweet. If its a female she very well may have stripped tail feathers. Go look and see.
2007-02-10 00:31:55 · answer #7 · answered by reasonable-sale-lots 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
first off, Studies show that the male is usually the one that talks. But repetition (of they are young) is the only way for it to learn anything. Give it treats when it tries to pronounce the word. And be patient!
2007-02-09 21:14:10 · answer #8 · answered by Eve M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
oh,i own a cockatiel.Whatever word you want your bird to learn,then keep on repeating the word.But make sure only one person is teaching that word to your cockatiel cuz if you and your mom both teach it then the bird will get confused cuz it has to remember the voice of that person teaching it but if you have two people teaching it then it won't know who to listen to,cuz he/she will have 2 different voices to remember.So it'll be better to only have one person teach it and it probably takes 4 or 5 months but i'm not so sure,but the rest i true.I read it in a book.
hope this helped and good luck to you and your mom!!!!!!
2007-02-09 21:11:54 · answer #9 · answered by SierraMist 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you know what sex you have? Only the males talk in cockatiels and not the females. Not every male chooses to talk.
2007-02-10 13:55:37 · answer #10 · answered by janet s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is completely true that your cockatiel may never talk. I own three and only one talks.
I started with whistling. After that, my bird just picked up things he heard alot. I tried for years to teach him to say "hello," but he never learned that one.
Good luck!
2007-02-09 23:55:20 · answer #11 · answered by Christie D 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋