female cockatiel question

[Erynn]

i have read that a female cockatiel does not make any noise at all is this true? or are they just less vocal than males also do cockatiels whistle, cry, squack or make all sorts of noises like a budgie? THANX

[carriesb]

I can only give you my experience with Dandy. She doesn't make hardly any noise, no talking, no whistling. She makes different levels of the same squawk.Happy squawk, hungry squawk, attention getting squawk, and the mad squawk which makes you want to run and put ear plugs in but luckily that's rare. I've heard other people talk about their females and say they talk or whistle so I know it's possible. I think alot has to do with if there with other birds or such. I have the one tiel and one budgie he's on the other side of the room and he talks and makes all kinds of sounds so I take it Dandy is just not going to ever mimic or anything like that. I love her no matter what though.

[Monica]

My female cockatiel was handraised from day one of hatching, so is human imprinted. She does squawk thruought the day, though its not loud or irritating. She also makes a chirping noise when she is 'pleasing' herself. Otherwise, she is actually pretty quiet, unless I don't scratch her head just right, then she'll have a fit and give it to me! But once her short lived fit is over, she wants more headscritches.

A parent raised female may squawk more if she is afraid, and males will whistle, sing, chirp. Males usually are more vocal than females though if you are interested in one try buying a handraised tiel.

As far as noise goes, comparing tiels to budgies, cockatiels are more laid back and less interactive than a budgie so they are more relatively quiet. I do have two budgies, two bourkes, and for a short while, two tiels (I rehomed the male for his safety). I have never interacted with a handraised male, though I do enjoy my little female, even if she may be hormonal thruought the entire year (due to the fact that she was raised by humans as soon as she hatched, instead of waiting two weeks for the parents to raise her then taking over).

[Spinnergirl]

I have to agree Monica, my baby girl..who isn't a baby anymore really lets me have it if I don't scratch her head just right ~ I am like wow settle down but it must really be important to get it just right!! But then it's back to pet me some more...now ~ mom ~ now!!
She doesn't talk at all, lots of chirps and all, as if she would like to talk and she lives with a talker ( a quaker) who i am sure she would like to tell off and tattle on lots!! he he

Kristy and the crew

[Takoda]

Female cockatiels make less noise than males, usually, although both are capable of doing a rather high pitched shriek right in your ear. Females do not generally whistle, sing, or talk, though there are exceptions. Males will whistle, sing, and some talk. Their talking ability, despite what die-hard budgie owners claim, is better than a budgie, and you can actually understand what they are saying.

Cockatiels are louder than budgies. They don't make the soft "beep beep" noises. The do vocalize frequently, most notably in the early morning and evening. Mine enjoy a good conversation in the late afternoon in the summer, also.

Males tend to be less cuddly than females, but again, it depends how they were raised, the temperment of the parents, etc etc.

Monica, when I read your posts it makes me want to give you one of my babies... Less interactive? Not cuddly? I've dealt with many other kinds of birds, and cockatiels are still my bird of choice. I don't think there is a single activity I can perform without a little beak helping me out - whether I want help or not!

[Monica]

Maybe I should come and see your tiels some day! All the tiels I have seen are not as hyper as budgies so when is comes to toys are less interactive. That is, they do not attack toys as fiercely as say a a budgie might attack a toy.

As far as interaction between me and Casey, well if she thinks I should be up and giving her scritches, she'll come over, climb up the blankets (maybe even with a little help from the wings to get up quicker), then she'll come and walk around on my head, or walk along the contours of my body under the blankets. Mind you, its annoying if she tries to walk up my face instead the back or side of my head! LOL Of course then again if she just so happens to spy a hand! Oh no! She'll go over to that hand IMMEDIATELY and DEMAND headscritches! If that hand doesn't obey, it's gonna get it, and going to get attacked, then asked again for headscritches! LOL

She does of course also enjoy walking around my computer desk if I might so happen to be at it, then get down on the keyboards and follow my fingers around, then usually stop in some spot and bow for her headscritches! It's all about the headscritches! LOL

[hanqi]

Lol.... that's why its my bird own me !

Hehe...

As far as I know, Miri is very vocal in the morning, afternoon and even evening. Whenever I am sleeping in the room or doing work on the computer, he never fails to put up a show to attract my attention. Sometimes I have seen him done funny things and weird new stuff that I stop whatever I am doing and grab my camera to tape it !

So much for Miri !! ...

Oh...one more thing. Whenever he rides on my shoulder for a walk outside the house in the sun, he is capable to squealing at a high and loud pitch that sometimes deaf my eardrums for a min or so !!

[Dayna]

I have lots of cockatiels. All my tiels play with toys. They chew chew chew! I make lots of popcicle stick toys. My femals are just as loud as my males are. My males have songs that they sing that my females do not sing. HOWEVER all my females do the wolf whistle. I think all my cockatiels have chosen that as their contact/flock call. My females scream with the males, whistle with the males, and make happy chirps with the males. Only my males sing songs though.

I find that my flock is very active, lots of playing, bell ringing, wood chewing, climbing, and so on.

I think that the noise level might depend on your home. My cockatiels have their own room due to the noise that they make as a flock. I could never deal (or make my amazon) deal with that sort of chatter! I go in there and spend time, plus I take them out for showering and the like. When I only had two cockatiels (2 males) they did not vocalize as much as they do now. Now they are a noisy pair! Maybe the more cockatiels you have, the more they feel the need to compete for noise space.

[Tiki]

My two females are very quiet. All the males wolf whistle, chatter and talk a bit. They have their own room and I have never found them disturbing. I like to hear their sweet whistling and chattering when I wake up in the morning.

[Amazonwar9]

I have a female tiel. she's only quiet about half of the time she's awake.

When she wakes up in the morning with the sun, she starts saying "hey birdie, hey corie". Then she'll go through her vast repetior of whistles, screams, and phrases for about an hour. :eusa_booh

Mid-day she does a little bit of a screaming/loud vocalization thing when it's on top of the cage playtime with her friends, my two budgies.

If the TV is on loud or the radio, she'll definately match the volume and exceed it a little bit for attention. She has me trained pretty well lol ;)

She's also very young yet though, not quite a year. The last tiel I had who passed at 13 was a very quiet girl.

Though females are quieter overall compared to males, it doesn't mean that your particular female will be quieter, or even less adept at imitating sounds and phrases. I already have to watch what I say around Corie, because if she really likes a particular sound, she can pick it up on her first hearing! :eusa_shhh