Chatterbox 'Tiel (do your birds do this?)

[spunkadelic]

I have a one year old Pearl Cockatiel (male). He is an absolute lover! This is my first Cockatiel (I've had budgies all of my life) and let me tell you, I'm sold!

I've had Birdie (or "Alex", "Herbert" - he chooses what he wants to be called that day) for a year (I believe he was either 2 months or three months old when I got him; we just celebrate on the day I got him as his 'birthday').

He started talking about a month after I got him. That word was 'birdie'. He would say it all of the time. Then I taught him 'hi'. So now he says 'hi' when you walk in the door, or when you take him out of his cage. He also says 'hi birdie' when he sees another bird - which means he UNDERSTANDS what he is saying. (Weird, isn't it?)

Then he graduated to an actual SENTENCE. "Wanna come out". If you walk by his cage he says "Wanna come out." Or if you go by his food dish he says either "popcorn?" (as in a question) or he says "whater yadoin?"

I have never seen a Cockatiel learn this many words, or sentences - ever. Even most cockatiel owners are suprised. I play "where's the birdie" with him all the time, I'll say "oh no! Where's the birdie?" and cover him up and say "where's the birdie?" and he laughes. He mimicked my laugh and that cracks me up - then he'll sidle up really close to me and say (he hasn't got this down pat yet) it sounds like a muffled 'where's the birdie' and I say it back to him and he laughes.

His absolute most recent one though, is "Come 'ere" then he'll whistle like you'd whistle to get a dog to come to you and then he'll say 'here, birdie birdie birdie". At night when I call Maui he says "here kikikiki" he can't say the whole 'kitty'.

What can your birds 'say'? Do yours have any funny quirks about them (like Birdie will get p.o.'d if you call him Alex anymore. He'll scream and hiss. Herbert he likes only when you are joking around. It's weird). I think I give him too much credit! LOL.

I have a photo of him (on my website) click
here to see him

He's lost all the majority of his pearling making him look like a standard grey cockatiel, but he still has a few yellow spots on him - just the way he should.

[Nibbles]

WOW! You must be able to spend a great deal of time with Herbert. My in-laws had a bird like yours,Ruffles. He said hello and whistled Dixie. He could say things like pretty bird but not nearly the things your baby can say. He lived to about 18 years old. He probably would have lived longer but he would only eat seed. NO Veggies.

[spunkadelic]

I spend a lot of time with both my cat Maui and my bird

He is usually out of his cage for a total of 4-5 hours every day. When I am on the computer, his cage is next to me and he whistles to me, I'll whistle back. When I come home from work he is brought into my bedroom and I let him out for about 2 hours before I put him to bed He's spoiled rotten. lol.

I try to give both my cat and my bird equal amounts of attention and I try to give them both what they need and I think that I accomplish that (somehow).

He eats anything that I eat (except for nasty stuff like potato chips and chocolate). His FAVORITE is popcorn. He has also eaten *gasp* chicken from chick-fil-a. I hear that feeding your bird meat is good for them - I just never tell him that he's eating a (very) long distance relative! LOL. He likes veggies like lettuce and cabbage (but only a little). He loves reduced fat/sodium triscuits/wheat thins. I experiment to see what he'll eat. Usually if he sees me eating it, he gives it a try

[popcornbird]

AWWWW! Your birdie sounds SO cute.......and SMART! I have two cockatiels, Popcorn and Muffin. The male (Popcorn..lutino) had learned to whistle various tunes, and he imitates the cell phone melodies sooooooo well, but he really doesn't *talk* as in saying words. Everything he learned is in a whistle. I read that if you teach your birds to whistle at a young age, they gain interest in whistling and sometimes only want to learn to whistle than talk........so I think that's what happened to our Popcorn. My dad ALWAYS whistles to him........I mean, ALWAYS, so that's what Popcorn picked up! He also gives kisses when we tell him *gimme kiss* and makes a quiet kissing sound when he does that.

Muffin my pearl female is very very intelligent, but she doesn't talk at all, probably because she's a female and most girl cockatiels don't talk. She has, however, taught us *HER* language, and constantly tells us what to do.....and we understand. Like she tells us when her food bowls are empty by screaming and banging her beak on the bowls.........she tell us when she wants to sleep (be covered), when Popcorn's hogging the food bowl SHE wants (yes she's a good complainer), and so many other things! They are both very intelligent and we love them so so very much of course! As you can see in my signature, Muffin still has all her pearls. Being a female, she shouldn't lose them.

As for cockatiels talking a lot, some do, some don't. It just depends on their individual personality. My friends cockatiel can talk all day long, non-stop. He knows how to say SO many words, sentences.......its just amazing!

Thanks for telling us about your feathered friend! They sure know how to wrap us around their feathers now don't they?

Ps. I really wouldn't give your bird meat. They are herbivores, not made to eat meat...........and I really don't believe in feeding a parrot meat, no matter what they say. They just weren't built to eat meat........God didn't make them that way. My birds eat seeds, pellets, lots of veggies, cereal, popcorn, nuts, and all sorts of other stuff, so they have a very varied diet.........I have never fed them meat though and probably never will. You can feed hard boiled eggs though, which is especially good for females laying eggs and during molting season.

[Logan]

He sounds adorable!!!!

Our Roger is quite the "talker" when he's ready to be. He can say "hey Roger", "Hey birdie", "whatcha doin birdie", and he can whistle Zippity Do Dah all the way through. We've had him two years, this coming January. His partner, Milly, doesn't whistle so much, but she will start the "wolf call" and Roger finishes it for her. It is is fun to just sit in the room with them and listen.

Logan

[spunkadelic]

Popcornbird: Thanks for that P.S. I'm going to ask my vet about it. I didn't really think of it as being bad for him! *feels bad* I'll have to tell my friend that - she says that an avian breeder told her it was okay in small portions as long as they liked it and it was cooked VERY well.

Popcorn and Muffin sound very cute!
Roger and Milly sound like quite the duo, Logan! And it is lots of fun to listen to them, providing they are in a good mood I would love to see photo's of your cockatiels