How To Teach A Cockatiel To Talk

Many people ask me how to teach a cockatiel to talk, and the answer here is just patience, patience and more patience.

First of all you need to know that if you have a female cockatiel, it is very unlikely you are going to get her to talk, no matter how much patience you may have. Only the males can learn to talk. However a female cockatiel can be a really clever and lovable pet too.

How To Teach A Cockatiel To Talk…..

A cockatiel that is trying to talk repeats syllables, making a robotic replication of words or noises you say to it.

Remember that your cockatiel’s speech will never sound as clear as that of a parrot, but with some work you should be able to understand the words it says to you.

Before you try teaching your cockatiel to talk, it is a good idea to bond with it, train it to sit on your finger and get it as tame as you can.

Next make sure that your cockatiel is happy so that he is more receptive to learning from you. Give him lots of attention and mental stimulation. Teaching the cockatiel to talk is part of that attention, but you also want to give it toys to play with and praise and affection whether it is talking or not. A cockatiel’s brain needs to be stimulated in order for it to be happy.

Start off with small simple words and gradually increase its vocabulary. Talk in a high pitched voice rather than in a low tone, as cockatiels have high pitched voices and may not be able to mimic you if you talk in a low tone of voice.

Have patience, and never raise your voice, scare or show violence to your bird, or he may withhold words he does know.  Keep training your cockatiel regularly to keep your parrots mind stimulated.  Reward your bird when it achieves, by saying ‘Good Boy’ and give him a treat.

Handle your bird frequently and make him or her part of the family.  Parrots of any species are very social animals.  Watch the language in the house, parrots are also very good mimics.

Never teach your pet cockatiel to swear.  Your bird may out live you and then nobody will want to look after it.

Keep your bird stimulated, and take it out of its cage for daily exercise.  A small amount of television will also keep him stimulated.  Try the cartoon channels, as your parrot will enjoy the different sound effects.

Always teach your bird to speak before you teach him to whistle.  Whistling is easier for most birds to learn and then they will be lazy to speak when whistling is much easier.

When speaking to your parrot, emphasise the word that you want him to learn.  You can add some volume and dramatise the word and your parrot will pick it up faster.

A cockatiel has the brain potential of a two year old child, so it can definitely learn to talk with just a bit of extra time and attention from you.