I have a six month old cockatiel that I paid $80 for. The pet store owner assured me he could talk if trained. I have worked with this bird for hours on end and all I get are gutteral sounds. I'm not looking the for bird to recite poetry, but if it would only say "hello", I'd feel I got my money's worth. What am I doing wrong?
Is your cockatiel a male or a female?
From what I have heard from other bird owners, most female cockatiel won't talk. Not 100% sure if it is true. It's just a hearsay.
Six months old is also quite young. Give it some time. Most birds won't start talking until at least a year old. Cockatiel is hard to be taught, because they have short attention span. "Hello" isn't exactly easy for birds to say as their first word. Try something start with "p", "c", or "t".
It requires patient from you, and even that will not guarantee the bird will talk. Not every bird will talk.
My pet cockatiel would say "hello", "I love you" etc., so well. He would also ask for 'treat'.
I have noticed that they only learn what they want to... the children would scream "Bye mom" as they run out of our home in the morning and this guy would say "bye mom" all day long when he sees me.. this was pretty funny..
I just found a little video that could help you.. I hope it does.. http://www.ehow.com/video_4951851_teach-...-talk.html
Many cockatiels are more into whistling and sound effects than talking. My little guy tries to talk, but all he can do is babble. I've had him for almost two years now, and I accept that he's just not much of a talker. That's fine with me. There's a lot more to a bird's worth than just talking - singing, companionship, entertainment, and so on. That being said, there are actually CDs you can buy that play words and phrases over and over to help birds learn to speak. If you look up "Parrot training CD" you should be able to find one. I can't vouch for them though, since I've never tried them.
RE: Cockatiel Wont Talk