Help my 1 talker has "shut up" !

[Niteldy]

Hello friends!!! I have been very busy with winter! UGH willl we ever have spring?? All my birdies are hormonal and thats crazy since I have 6 now!! 5 tiels and 1 Alex. So I have been away from the forum- I am sorry!!
But- I need help! Only the kind of help I can get from people like you!!
Here is my problem-
I hand raised 3 baby Cockatiels- 2 are the same age and one is a month older. The older one is male the other 2 are a male & female. I have had the older one in a cage alone but butted up next to the cage with the male n female in their cage. I began teachingthe older to talk- he said hello baby and what doin. The male in the other cage began about 2 weeks later to say both of those things BUT he also said good boy, what?,hey hey hey!. Since he began talking my older one who talked first has completely quit speaking!!
What should I do??? I want them both to talk but fear my oldest with the fewest words wont talk anymore.I work with them everyday about 6 times a day ( lol)
Please what should I do or could I try. All responses are greatly appreciated!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hello friends!!! I have been very busy with winter! UGH willl we ever have spring?? All my birdies are hormonal and thats crazy since I have 6 now!! 5 tiels and 1 Alex. So I have been away from the forum- I am sorry!!
But- I need help! Only the kind of help I can get from people like you!!
Here is my problem-
I hand raised 3 baby Cockatiels- 2 are the same age and one is a month older. The older one is male the other 2 are a male & female. I have had the older one in a cage alone but butted up next to the cage with the male n female in their cage. I began teachingthe older to talk- he said hello baby and what doin. The male in the other cage began about 2 weeks later to say both of those things BUT he also said good boy, what?,hey hey hey!. Since he began talking my older one who talked first has completely quit speaking!!
What should I do??? I want them both to talk but fear my oldest with the fewest words wont talk anymore.I work with them everyday about 6 times a day ( lol)
Please what should I do or could I try. All responses are greatly appreciated!!

I had much better luck teaching my young male cockatiel Charlie (decades ago), to whistle songs than to talk. I'm not sure many ever become good talkers like some budgies, Amazons and Greys do but I've never heard a budgie whistle as well as a cockatiel. Charlie LOVED to whistle entire songs, a bit of key at times, and he would "splice" two sings together, but he would throw his head back and out would come a litany of show tunes and commercial jingles and he obviously enjoyed it so much. If you can whistle (I can't but my husband could), pick a few tunes and start whistling! He will probably begin to pick them up very quickly. Has anyone reading this had a cockatiel that was a good talker?

 

[Niteldy]

I had much better luck teaching my young male cockatiel Charlie (decades ago), to whistle songs than to talk. I'm not sure many ever become good talkers like some budgies, Amazons and Greys do but I've never heard a budgie whistle as well as a cockatiel. Charlie LOVED to whistle entire songs, a bit of key at times, and he would "splice" two sings together, but he would throw his head back and out would come a litany of show tunes and commercial jingles and he obviously enjoyed it so much. If you can whistle (I can't but my husband could), pick a few tunes and start whistling! He will probably begin to pick them up very quickly. Has anyone reading this had a cockatiel that was a good talker?

Hi Donna!
I guess I should tell you myone tiel whistles and talks so clear! He does the wolf whistle and is now trying to whistle the adams family show tune! It like the little tiel is a savant!! LOL
Thanks for commenting!!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Hi Donna!
I guess I should tell you myone tiel whistles and talks so clear! He does the wolf whistle and is now trying to whistle the adams family show tune! It like the little tiel is a savant!! LOL
Thanks for commenting!!

That's great! The whistling comes more naturally to them than the talking but keep working with him. My talking budgies usually talked most during "quiet time" when winding down at the end of the day.

 

[LaManuka]

I wonder if your "talker" is somewhat of a shy, retiring type, like my Fang? Fang's not a talker but he has a HUGE range of whistles and tunes in his repertoire, but has unfortunately fallen pretty quiet since our newer 'tiel Jem joined the flock. Jem is very loud and proud and talks and whistles A LOT, and I wonder if perhaps in doing so he has intimidated Fang a little who, as I say, has always been the one to take the back seat in the flock. However, Fang's VERY favourite spot is the bathroom, and when I take him in there and prop him in front of the bathroom mirror and start singing with him, he comes alive and whistles up a storm!! I think he likes the acoustics in there too Perhaps if you and your little talker have a private spot in the house where you can have some one-on-one time, it may bring him out of his shell too??

I hope this helps you, @Niteldy! 🙏 🙏 🙏

 

[JimsBrother]

Has anyone reading this had a cockatiel that was a good talker?

Nope. "Bebe good boy" are the only words my 'Tiel says. But as you said, he can whistle up a storm.

 

[SailBoat]

A major change in activities should always be considered as a possible health issue. May no always be, but something to consider.

As noted by LaManuka above, spending some one-on-one time maybe of great help!

 

[Niteldy]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Remember my talker went quiet?? well..........
I dont know what happened but I got up this morning to my little tiel talking up a storm!!! I wrote down all the things he is saying - Here they are: Hi Baby, What Doin, good boy, I like it, and the wolf whistle- plus he bobs his head and is saying "what what what!!!! He must have been practicing to talk when I was at work! LOL I am so excited and happy. My grandson is by the cage now saying I love you over and over. and to think I had this little guy up for sale! Heh!! Not now! And to think my other little male that is next to his cage - In his own cage - just said What doin!!! Do birds teach each other to talk ? and has anyone had something like this happen to you??

 

[DonnaBudgie]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Remember my talker went quiet?? well..........
I dont know what happened but I got up this morning to my little tiel talking up a storm!!! I wrote down all the things he is saying - Here they are: Hi Baby, What Doin, good boy, I like it, and the wolf whistle- plus he bobs his head and is saying "what what what!!!! He must have been practicing to talk when I was at work! LOL I am so excited and happy. My grandson is by the cage now saying I love you over and over. and to think I had this little guy up for sale! Heh!! Not now! And to think my other little male that is next to his cage - In his own cage - just said What doin!!! Do birds teach each other to talk ? and has anyone had something like this happen to you??

Where you really going to sell your cockatiel because he wasn't talking? I hope you were just kidding!

 

[texsize]

When I rescued Lucky he could say pretty bird super clear.
He taught my second Tiel to say the same.
at some point after getting more Tiels they both Stopped talking.
I always assumed they learned to speak cockatiel instead of human to fit in better.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

When I rescued Lucky he could say pretty bird super clear.
He taught my second Tiel to say the same.
at some point after getting more Tiels they both Stopped talking.
I always assumed they learned to speak cockatiel instead of human to fit in better.

I think it's hard to teach birds to talk and keep them talking when they have bird companions.

 

[wrench13]

Talking in parrots is just an icing on the overall cake of owning one. Take greys for example. Some talk, exceptionally well, and some never do but have an amazing array of sounds they mimic perfectly. And some do both. If you have any species of parrot that takes up mimicking human speech, consider yourself blessed!

Salty, a little know Amazon species Yellow Shoulder Amazon, not overly known for talking, is quite the talker when the mood hits him. He has learned to copy myself and my wife on some phrases (he calls to our dog, Tinker, saying "C'mere Tinker, come on puppy", for example). But he learns new phrases best by watching and listening to Youtube vids of Indian Ringnecks. I don't know why but he will pick stuff up from those after a viewing or 2.

 

[LaManuka]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Remember my talker went quiet?? well..........
I dont know what happened but I got up this morning to my little tiel talking up a storm!!! I wrote down all the things he is saying - Here they are: Hi Baby, What Doin, good boy, I like it, and the wolf whistle- plus he bobs his head and is saying "what what what!!!! He must have been practicing to talk when I was at work! LOL I am so excited and happy. My grandson is by the cage now saying I love you over and over. and to think I had this little guy up for sale! Heh!! Not now! And to think my other little male that is next to his cage - In his own cage - just said What doin!!! Do birds teach each other to talk ? and has anyone had something like this happen to you??

Congrats @Niteldy, I'm glad your little guy has found his voice again!

My cockatiel Fang is the singer of show tunes among other things around here, and he has taught Jem a number of little tunes that he's then mashed up together to make his own. Jem was an escapee whose original family we could not find, but they'd already taught him "peekaboo", "pretty bird" and "whatcha doin'?", and he has passed those onto Lovejoy the lorikeet, who says them all in Jem's voice! Both Lovejoy and Val the budgie have picked up a LOT of Jem's whistles too. Curiously Fang point blank refuses to repeat any of it, I think he considers it all beneath his musical dignity