Teaching a Budgie to Talk

Okay, so I finally have the want to teach my little parakeet to talk,. I am just worried I missed the window. I read places that it is important to teach budgies words before they are one year old, is that a need or does it just make it easier? My budgie Delta is just over 1-year old. Not to mention she is also a girl, which will make it even harder. I don't want a huge vocabulary for my bird, but there are certain things like her name I would like her to know.

Can I still teach her words are is it a fruitless endeavor?

Here’s the thing with talking: you can’t “teach” it like you can other tricks. You can’t stick you hand in their voice box and coerce them to talk like you can coerce them to step up.

The first step is theirs and theirs alone. Many birds wind up never saying a word, even the species with the best talkers (African greys, ekkies, amazons) have a good proportion of the population that never talk.

You can up the chances by putting the phrase you want them to learn on loop - they. Tend to mimic what they hear the most. But unless you ever hear them utter that first word of their own volition, you can’t really “teach” anything.

https://lafeber.com/pet-birds/stress-reduction-for-parrot-companions/ (do these things and pay attention to "soothing rituals" )


Not all african greys will even talk (despite being known for it)-- just b/c a bird can, doesn't mean it will.. but it can also take a long time. Stick with your bird whether or not he/she talks but also don't assume he/she wont just b/c he/she hasn't. At the end of the day (as far as I know), a budgie/parakeet still holds the world record among parrots for largest spoken vocabulary (hundreds of words/phrases). Disco is his name, and please don't assume your bird is dumb or less-than if he/she doesn't ever say a word. Talking isn't about intelligence-- it is about relationship, needs, meaning, motivation (it's so much more than just making sounds and a ton of very very smart parrots never talk even though they have the capacity).

My parrot is 14 and her species is less well-known for talking well, but she understands SO many phrases and has a good vocab, but she has to be in the mood. Sometimes she talks around me...other times, she waits to talk until she is all alone..She mostly uses words to boss me around or demand things (hint)


If you want your bird to talk, slowly build trust and talk to your bird...Not just about "pretty bird" etc (not the greatest) but things that MEAN something to your bird. If your bird loves apple, label it "apple" over and over when you hand them to your bird or if you put them in the cage.

try not to tie talking to the value/intelligence of you bird though, because some VERY SMART/capable birds choose not to talk.


Parrots use language in a similar way to the way we use it, so they have to hear it and attribute it to meaning. That is why it is SO important to talk to your bird like it is a human (but with more predictable phrases/patterns) because that is often how/why they start.

your parrot is AS SMART as a large expensive parrot. Please do not assume she is worth any less or less intelligent if she never talks.


My 14 year old bird learned 4 (technically 3) phrases this year BUT, they meant something to her and we had a bond.

They were:

"Want to look outside"

"that's hot" (as in a pot/pan being too hot to touch)

"Christmas tree"

"wanna see pup pup"

Even if your bird never talks, still waters run deep.



How long do you have yours out/interacting with your/your family daily? How much sleep does he/she get nightly? How is his/her diet?

There is no doubt my bird is intelligent based on the way she has trained me in the time I have had her. If she doesn't want to talk I completely get that and I love her either way. Thanks for the help in trying, I appreciate all responses.

noodles123 said:

try not to tie talking to the value/intelligence of you bird though, because some VERY SMART/capable birds choose not to talk.

Click to expand...

Not talking.... perhaps they are the "cowboy" mentality of Wyoming??