# Make tiel whistle when I want ...



## LT2009 (Oct 20, 2009)

My tiel is four and a half months old and it (?he) is making whistling sounds (I whitsle to it a lot). But it whistles and makes sounds only when I am not in the room. It normally is quite and screeches when it wants something or if I am not in the room and it wants attention.
Is there a way I can encourage it to whitle when I want it to? It likes when I whistle to it but just shows effection quitely by its body language.


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## gaurdianaq (Nov 4, 2009)

Ok Im sorry I don't mean to be a grammar troll... but quite you mean quiet. Anyways on a more relevant note I don't know about getting them to whistle when they want, but does your tiel come out at all?

My tiel only whistles when he wants me to pay attention to him... or when he is looking at himself in the mirror.


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## LT2009 (Oct 20, 2009)

"ok so I should pick him up sometimes? I thought that was flooding... also sorry about the misinformation... it might also help if I had a little bit more patience with him.... I have been kind of stressed recently and short tempered... now he is trying to type on the keyboard... ya ok thanks but one more question he has some kind of feathers that are kind of got sticky with something and I can't clean ti since he doesnt like getting his face touched I will see if I can add a pic

ok yes I added 3 pictures as attachments of hacker sorry if they are bad angles he wouldnt cooperate for the camera and it was a webcamera so holding steady was hard!

ps you're right he only bites me when he is preening like if I scratch my shoulder"

Wow, a grammar lesson for one spelling error ....

My tiel is ALWAYS out - I don't lock his cage, even when I am out. He is very well trained for his age. My problem is that he always wants to be on my shoulder or in my lap. It does not like to miss excitement. If I leave the room without him on my shoulder, it screams and runs around like a maniac. If I go to the kitchen sink, it expects to be presented with water to drink (in a glass). It also loves car rides - I usually take him with me for short trips to stores. Out in the street, my neighbors are surprised to see him on my shoulder. 

It knows what it is allowed to do. It runs around on my shoulders and down my arms to my hand if I am working on something, but it rarely tries to step off to my desk. If I am eating, it is on my fingers, trying to taste everything that I eat. It adjusts to my body position very well and sometimes I even forget that he is on my shoulder (I make a sudden movement and the poor guy falls on the desk or to the floor). It is funny how a telephone ring scares him.

Now I frequently have two tiels on my shoulders. The second one that I bout 3 weeks ago is also learning well. Now only if I can teach them to get along!!!


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## gaurdianaq (Nov 4, 2009)

first off I would like to apologize....

It always drives me crazy when people spell quiet as quite... I don't know why it just does... anyway's sorry.

Well it sounds like you're way closer than me to getting him to do anything than I am with my bird.... I want to train him but I always get side tracked... or my mom complains about millet on the floor, (I will start cleaning that) or someone else complains about the clicker being to noisy, next thing I know my sister is barging in trying to take the bird... or I will be trying to teach him something and he will ignore it and just fly onto my shoulder where I can't reach him or he will fly to a door ledge... I don't even have any millet right now... I can't afford to get any either... *slams head into desk...

I wanted Hacker to be a pet where I could learn about training birds... I want to get an African Grey eventually... I hope that I can learn to train him properly...

Sorry again I took your topic off track... I wish I could help you but Im probably useless...


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

Please do not take your stress out on him, you will freak/stress him out and his trust in you will go out the window! 

You can try misting him with a spray bottle to try and get the sticky stuff off, but try spraying him from below towards him *or* spray up and let it fall on him like rain, it depends, some don't like being misted certain ways. 

You need to teach him to stay put, on either a play gym or somewhere he can entertain himself, every time you go to him when he screams, he knows that when he screams it gets your attention which isn't what you want otherwise you'll have a Cockatiel screaming all the time. When you leave the room, talk to him, say 'I'll be right back *insert his name* don't worry', you're his 'mate' therefore when you leave the room, he's going to contact call you. Another thing you can do is reward him with a treat when he's being quiet, or playing with a toy or eating, this way he knows when he's quiet that he'll be rewarded for that and not when he screams.

You can't make a Cockatiel whistle when you want it to, maybe he feels more comfortable whistling while no one's around, that's not to say he'll never whistle while you're around, give it some time and whistle to him while he's sitting in his cage.


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## Clairey331 (Oct 21, 2009)

LT2009 said:


> "ok so I should pick him up sometimes? I thought that was flooding... also sorry about the misinformation... it might also help if I had a little bit more patience with him.... I have been kind of stressed recently and short tempered... now he is trying to type on the keyboard... ya ok thanks but one more question he has some kind of feathers that are kind of got sticky with something and I can't clean ti since he doesnt like getting his face touched I will see if I can add a pic
> 
> ok yes I added 3 pictures as attachments of hacker sorry if they are bad angles he wouldnt cooperate for the camera and it was a webcamera so holding steady was hard!
> 
> ...


Firstly i would suggest that while you are out you keep your bird in his cage and close it. Birds should be supervised at all times when out of their cage. Birds can get frightened and spooked at the best of times when they are being supervised never mind when their owners are out. Also, if the bird knows he can come out anytime he wants while you are there at home, or not, he might start thinking why should he come and interact with you when he is allowed out of cage access at anytime. Allowing him out all this time is not going to be of any benefit in the long run. Out of cage access should be for good birds, (and no im not saying never get your birds out!) bonding and a small amount of training needs to be established first) otherwise when there is a time you have to put your bird back in its cage you will start to get a demanding screeching bird, and this is no good for anyone. Take him out for small periods of time first then gradually build it up to a few hours per day.

I can only suggest you get a good bond with your bird by taking things slowly. This way things are more natural and things mostly just fall into place in time. It will happen. Your bird will naturally be more quiet if he is in his cage and your in the room,to begin with, he may well be calling to you with how youve described this screeching, however this can become a huge problem very quickly if you encourage this behaviour. It could also be the fact that he is content in his cage when you are out of the room as his enviroment is so new to him he is adapting.

If i were you, i would quarantine both birds for 30 days to ensure they are not carrying any diseases.

These cockatiels are extremley intelligent birds, training them to fly to you etc is the easy part however training them to whistle when they want something is not what these birds do.

Oh and never take your tiel to the shops or in the car. This is so so dangerous without the appropriate harness. If the wind picks up just a bit your bird can be carried by the wind then you
the bird would have gone. It doesnt matter if your tiels wings are clipped or not! (Im sure hoping they have been clipped if you have been taking him outside!)Seriously this is not even worth thinking about.

Good luck, hope it works out.


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## Clairey331 (Oct 21, 2009)

LT2009 said:


> "ok so I should pick him up sometimes? I thought that was flooding... also sorry about the misinformation... it might also help if I had a little bit more patience with him.... I have been kind of stressed recently and short tempered... now he is trying to type on the keyboard... ya ok thanks but one more question he has some kind of feathers that are kind of got sticky with something and I can't clean ti since he doesnt like getting his face touched I will see if I can add a pic
> 
> ok yes I added 3 pictures as attachments of hacker sorry if they are bad angles he wouldnt cooperate for the camera and it was a webcamera so holding steady was hard!
> 
> ...


Firstly i would suggest that while you are out you keep your bird in his cage and close it. Birds should be supervised at all times when out of their cage. Birds can get frightened and spooked at the best of times when they are being supervised never mind when their owners are out. Also, if the bird knows he can come out anytime he wants while you are there at home, or not, he might start thinking why should he come and interact with you when he is allowed out of cage access at anytime. Allowing him out all this time is not going to be of any benefit in the long run. Out of cage access should be for good birds, (and no im not saying never get your birds out bonding and a small amount of training needs to be established first) otherwise when there is a time you have to put your bird back in its cage you will start to get a demanding screeching bird, and this is no good for anyone. Take him out for small periods of time first then gradually build it up to a few hours per day.

I can only suggest you get a good bond with your bird by taking things slowly. This way things are more natural and things mostly just fall into place in time. It will happen. Your bird will naturally be more quiet if he is in his cage and your out of your room, he may well be calling to you, however this can become a huge problem very quickly if you encourage this behaviour. It could also be the fact that he is content in his cage when you are out of the room as his enviroment is so new to him he is adapting.

If i were you, i would quarantine both birds for 30 days to ensure they are not carrying any diseases.

These cockatiels are extremley intelligent birds, training them to fly to you etc is the easy part however training them to whistle when they want something is not what these birds do.

Oh and never take your tiel to the shops or in the car. This is so so dangerous without the appropriate harness. If the wind picks up just a bit your bird can be carried by the wind then you
the bird would have gone. It doesnt matter if your tiels wings are clipped or not! (Im sure hoping they have been clipped if you have been taking him outside!)Seriously this is not even worth thinking about.

Good luck, hope it works out.


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## Danielle (Aug 15, 2008)

LT2009 said:


> My tiel is ALWAYS out - I don't lock his cage, even when I am out. He is very well trained for his age. My problem is that he always wants to be on my shoulder or in my lap. It does not like to miss excitement. If I leave the room without him on my shoulder, it screams and runs around like a maniac. If I go to the kitchen sink, it expects to be presented with water to drink (in a glass). It also loves car rides - I usually take him with me for short trips to stores. Out in the street, my neighbors are surprised to see him on my shoulder.
> 
> It knows what it is allowed to do. It runs around on my shoulders and down my arms to my hand if I am working on something, but it rarely tries to step off to my desk. If I am eating, it is on my fingers, trying to taste everything that I eat.



With all due respect, your cockatiel is not well trained, not for its age and not in general. YOU are the one who is well trained, and your cockatiel is controlling you.

You're giving him everything he wants, as soon as he wants it. He wants attention, so you give it to him. He wants to drink from a glass, so you let him. He wants to free range, so you give him access to this all the time.

This won't do anything but create bad behaviours that will take twice the time to unlearn as they do to learn. Teaching him to whistle is a fun goal, but you need to start with teaching him to behave well - if he gets everything when he wants it by demanding, how can you train him through positive re-enforcement? He has no reason to work for you because he already has everything he wants!


If he likes to sip from your glass, let him do it after he's exhibited desirable behaviour. First, teach him to step up onto your arm or finger on command, preferably a vocal command (which will make it easier for him to learn to whistle on cue). You might have already done this, but you can still use that behaviour to make him earn his reward. Tell him 'step up', and when he does it, reward him with food he likes or a drink from his glass.

If he demands something, take note of what he wants and completely ignore him. If he wants to come with you, cover him up and leave the room if he's yelling and demanding it. Once he's quiet, come back and praise him, then let him out for a little while and put him back. Repeat the exercise when desired.


Once he does things that are considered general 'good manners' for birds, then you can move on to trick training. If you want to teach him to whistle, find a sound that he likes to mimic (some birds have a preference for a certain pitch or note), then keep doing it until he eventually does it as well. Praise him lavishly with head scratches, praise and food (millet is a great training tool). Then keep whistling over and over until it happens again and repeat. Train for no more than 10-15 minutes, maybe twice or three times a day.

Sometimes he won't whistle at all. That's okay, he's still learning. Be patient and consistant, always reward him whenever he makes even the smallest sound in response when you're whistling, even if it isn't a whistle. He will quickly learn what to do - he seems like a pretty smart fellow!


Most of my tiels are female, so I can't train them to whistle. One of my boys doesn't whistle at all and the other wolf whistles and sings two different songs. I've never trained him, other than to teach him the songs in the first place.
I did teach my deceased Quaker to talk, he had a huge vocabulary within the first 2 months in which he had learned to talk. I also taught him a tune, which he didn't whistle to (Quakers aren't songbirds) but he did actually sing to. It does work, and those methods are tried and true and are used universally with amazing success. The key is to reward even the tiniest positive step towards what you're teaching, and to ignore bad behaviour. It seems that ignoring your boy would be very effective in deprogramming his bad behaviours, since he loves attention so much.


Lastly, as mentioned above, you really should never let him free range unsupervised. The most unexpected freak accidents can happen at the best of times, and if you aren't there you can't help him if he does get into trouble.
In regards to taking him to the shops and on the streets, make sure that he never goes outside without a flight harness on (the aviator is the only truly escape proof one on the market, it retails for about $50). They get spooked so easily, and the wind can lift off a little cockatiel, even if he's clipped, in the blink of an eye.

As someone who lost their most beloved bird in an absolute freak accident, in a one-in-a-million twist of fate I never could have anticipated, I know how devestating it is to lose your bird and how easily it happens. Please try and keep in mind how easily they can come to harm and do everything in your power to keep him safe.


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