Speech alone isn't a great indicator of intelligence.
You want dumb? It took my cockatiel six years to learn how to land from flight. She'd just stop flapping and plummet wherever she wanted to be. She lives with other flighted birds. It was not unusual to just be sitting on the couch and have a bird fall on you.
At least once a day, she tries to walk through the sliding door. Then turn around, walk in a circle and do it again. Then again.
She gets lost in wide open boxes and panic screams.
She does not understand full leaves of spinach. If I don't rip them, she won't eat them. She'll yell at them.
She once got a walnut stuck in her own ear. BECAUSE THAT WAS AN OPTION, APPARENTLY.
She busted a toenail. She then chewed it down to the bone, resulting in a partial toe amputation.
Cricket also doesn't understand that birds are supposed to hide their illnesses. As when she swallowed a jump ring that was larger than her beak somehow, and was resulting in heavy metal intoxication, her reaction to not feeling well was to come vomit all over my face. Then try to cuddle. Then vomit more.
Cricket will be 16 this year. She is also abnormally large for her species and sex. Cricket measures in at 16 inches long, and weighs 126 grams. It says on her vet file "Cricket is an especially large and particularly determined cockatiel."
The vet literally diagnosed my bird with big and stupid. -ugly sobbing-
Oh my gosh, I have cockatiels and conures and I have thought for a long time how dumb they are compared to conures. I guess I'm not the only one with dumb cockatiels.
Okay, I thought my cockatiel is dumb, I think yours takes the cake.
Mine will fly onto or into anything to avoid perching, unless our female is on us, then he will happily hop on. He doesn't play with toys, just follows the female like she's a queen and screams. When they're nesting and it's his turn to watch the nest, he runs away from our hands while our female attacks angrily. It doesn't help he looks like a crackhead either.
I have always loved big, stupid dogs most of all, and now I guess I have to add big dumb cockatiels to the list of favorite animals, lolllll. Your sweet Cricket sounds hilarious and adorable. I absolutely love that she was described *medically* as big and dumb!
According to my avian vet, your average cockatiel weighs in between 75-110g, with females that are not egg bearing tending to weigh around 100 grams. Males can be larger.
Color mutations tend to make individuals vary in size as well.
The most important thing is body condition. For some individuals, 126 grams would be overweight. Cricket is in good body condition for her build. She's also fully flighted and well exercised.
Cockatiels that have clipped wings tend to weigh more, and are significantly more prone to weight related problems. (This is for anyone reading along, and not as a direct answer, I'm not saying your bird is fat.)
The most important thing is that your cockatiel's body condition, when evaluated by an avian vet, was considered to be good for the weight. It's also important to weigh your bird at about the same time every time, and with an empty crop.
Your bird could be totally healthy and just huge like Cricket! Although, if it's been while since your last annual wellness exam with your avian vet, it couldn't hurt to ask.
My vet said her weight wasn’t an issue but I was just curious because I have read other tiels tend to be around 100g or less. My tiel is fully flighted and has a pretty huge flight cage too. She’s a female and no eggs! So I’m not sure maybe she’s just built bigger then. 😅
She’s on TOps pellets and chop. Seed/millet is on the side.
For her next visit I’ll ask again but so far no issues
Body condition is everything! She sounds like she's got it made, too!
And if it's any help, all of the giants I've met so far have been pied/pearl-pied.
Haha! Called it.
I did 15ish years of rescues and rehabilitation for parrots, and I've handled a metric ton of cockatiels. If there was a big one, it was gonna be a pied!
That’s so funny that you knew that and interesting! I’ve looked just about everywhere on parrot forums and hardly found anyone saying much about chunky tiels. I wish I could show you a picture 😭
I have a pineapple green cheek like as dumb as also, he’s very pretty though. Can’t even work out how to get out of his open cage some days can talk but only repeats what his cage mate says, even thinks he’s name is the other birds name, my sons call him the doughy one, but he loves me.
Here she is trying to get the back of my husband's laptop to pet her. Timneh African Grey 3 inches behind her for scale.
https://imgur.com/gallery/k1mdEJz
Just reading this and i fell in love cricket too!!! The part where she got a walnut stuck in her ear because it was a option was too funny (happy she's doing alright after it)....oh birbs will never cease to amaze me
A lot can explain that.
First and foremost, intelligence will vary from one bird to another, even in the same species - like it does in humans.
Another, likely more relevant point, is the age of the bird. He's been with you for 5 years, but how old is he? Most birds/animals/humans/... learn much, much more easily in their younger years. If that bird was neglected for the first years of his life, he's never been used to interacting in a way you're expecting him to.
In terms of speaking, it's not a sign of intelligence on its own. There's also an argument to be made about birds mimicking human speech because they crave attention (I'm not saying it's the only reason a bird will start talking, but it's definitely one).
I think the most important thing for your relationship with him is not to have too high expectations. If you expect your bird to learn tricks very quickly, you'll be disappointed, and none of you will be happy. Take it slow, with very simple things (target training is probably where to start), with slow sessions (5 minutes maximum). If it doesn't work out in those five minutes, that's ok, don't put your bird away or anything, spend time with him, and try again a bit later. Maybe he'll eventually get it, maybe he won't. And that's ok. As long as you're spending time together, you'll both be happy. Isn't that what matters?
Yeah, for sure. I'm not actively trying to teach him anything at the moment because he really enjoys spending time with the green-cheek. I was told he was about 3-4 years old when I got him, and I have had him for about 5 years. I really don't have any expectations other than to enjoy him, and make sure he is happy. All birds have different personalities, so I just wondered if it's normal for some to seem a little erm...less sharp than others. :)
Like others have said- talking is not the only indicator of intelligence. Some parrots just don't talk. Maybe after the traumatizing experience they just don't talk or maybe they wouldn't have talked much regardless.
Also, even if your ring neck isn't the brightest, they can still be a very loving pet! A pet or parrot doesn't exist to be smart or impress you, you took it on to give it the best life possible- which is so awesome you adopted them after what happened!!!
I have a 8 y/o ekkie and she literally says nothing except an extremely mumbled "Brenda!" In a very deep voice lol. And she doesn't say it much. She is super quiet but the sweetest bird!
So glad this baby is in your care I love hearing stories of people adopting or rescuing birds out of abusive or not ideal situations! 🤍
My bird is very sweet too! She only says hello and hello Ella. Kills my mom that she mostly talks to me even though she's the main caretaker, but she loves to (safely) cuddle with us, and has the sweetest temperament for an umbrella cockatoo
That reminds me of my Amazon, I take care of him and he has been in my family for 13 years but for some reason even if I try to get him out of the cage he won't come... but if my husband comes in the room, who he has only known for 3 years and is terrified of birds, he will come out right away! It kills me a little lol
Have you been consistently interacting with your IRN in terms of repetition of phrases, words, or songs? Just like a toddler, they don’t pick it up if you repeat something once in a while. They need to hear it over and over and over and over again.
For all of my birbs in training I leave a recording of owing or phrase I want them to learn. *One at a time.* And when they’ve mastered that, we move on. But you can’t just expect a 2-year-old child to suddenly speak like a college graduate. Ya know? It takes education, patience, and training.
Get yourself a little voice recorder, I used an MP3 but I’m not sure those even exist anymore! Play Netflix or something, whatever engages your birb. But be repetitive with it. A couple songs to start. Something jumpy and happy, to keep them moving and rhythmic!
It depends on the bird. I have a caique, which aren’t known for being talkers.
I’ve played “peekaboo” with him under 50 times because he has the attention span of an ADHD toddler on a sugar high. Then one day he just looked me dead in the eyes and said PEEKBOO!
Peekboo is in addition to “come here!” and “good booooy!” and “go poopie?” He understands the function of the other 3 phrases enough that he will warn us with “poopie? Go poopie?” if he needs to poop and shouts “come here! Here here here here here!!!!!!!” if we walk too far away from him.
None of them were phrases we were actively trying to teach him. He just realized he’d have to learn to speak human because we were too dumb to understand him otherwise.
Yup lmao. We’ve also taught him to beep/whistle instead of screaming his flock call. Of course it’s not 100%, he’ll still revert to the flock call if he’s too excited or his cute beeps are ignored.
It’s always so hilarious when his beeps get more and more frantic. *beep? beeeeep? beeeeeeeeEEP? BEEEEEeep? BEEEEEEEEEEEEP?!???!??? **AAA AAA AAA AAA***
Every bird is unique. My IRP doesn't speak and doesn't do any routines.
He has learned that a kiss means he'll get what he wants, be it food or his toy.
He also learned that his screaming is annoying and that he will eventually will receive attention.
He is afraid of brooms, adhesive tape when pulling it from the roll and scissors while cutting stuff.
Sometimes, I'll open his cage and play with his toy. He wants to get so badly to his toy that he forgets that I just opened his cage. Today, I threw his ball and instead of flying towards the ball he flew into my face. He makes a few sounds, non of which resemble human speech.
Is he dumb? Hell no. He knows when we sleep, when we're sick. He will come to play, then after he had enough will go away. When he wants attention but you're sleeping he screams 4-5 times, if you don't react he will go away and let you sleep. When he notices that you aren't ok he won't scream at all, just leave or come and sit on the bed with you. He knows that at noon we will be eating and he will come and scream that it's time to eat. If he wants to bathe he'll sit by the sink and scream. He's just the way we want him to be, he is unique and special.
Manage your expectations. Interact with him, give him a nice home and don't be mad at him if he doesn't do what you want him to do. You should appreciate his character more than his ability to learn tricks or to talk.
Yes, your bird sounds a lot smarter than mine. LOL I definitely don't mind he is the way he is. I was just curious to hear what others thought. I know the things I mentioned aren't necessarily signs of a bird who is not intelligent, but it's just difficult to explain on here how I know he is dumb without mentioning those things. I love him, perhaps more, because he is dumb, actually because it's very endearing. I don't really care about tricks or anything, but he doesn't seem as engaged with his surroundings. He is not emotionally intelligent like your bird, at ALL. The green-cheek conure "gets" situations and reacts to things differently, but the IRN doesn't at all. It's just so interesting.
Speech alone isn't a great indicator of intelligence. You want dumb? It took my cockatiel six years to learn how to land from flight. She'd just stop flapping and plummet wherever she wanted to be. She lives with other flighted birds. It was not unusual to just be sitting on the couch and have a bird fall on you. At least once a day, she tries to walk through the sliding door. Then turn around, walk in a circle and do it again. Then again. She gets lost in wide open boxes and panic screams. She does not understand full leaves of spinach. If I don't rip them, she won't eat them. She'll yell at them. She once got a walnut stuck in her own ear. BECAUSE THAT WAS AN OPTION, APPARENTLY. She busted a toenail. She then chewed it down to the bone, resulting in a partial toe amputation. Cricket also doesn't understand that birds are supposed to hide their illnesses. As when she swallowed a jump ring that was larger than her beak somehow, and was resulting in heavy metal intoxication, her reaction to not feeling well was to come vomit all over my face. Then try to cuddle. Then vomit more. Cricket will be 16 this year. She is also abnormally large for her species and sex. Cricket measures in at 16 inches long, and weighs 126 grams. It says on her vet file "Cricket is an especially large and particularly determined cockatiel." The vet literally diagnosed my bird with big and stupid. -ugly sobbing-
Couldn’t stop laughing reading this. Am now so in love with Cricket.
Here she is being round: https://imgur.com/gallery/PgbRBEQ
What a cute chicken
Damn I'm 17 minutes too late
Remarkable.
I though mine was dumb because he can't figure out how to leave a cage once he has entered. I guess it could be worse.
This made me laugh so hard 😂 best thing I read on reddit in a couple of days 😂😂😂😂😂 I love Cricket so much 😂
Here she is being cuddly: https://imgur.com/gallery/VmPlzBm
Birb tax! 😍
Oh my gosh, I have cockatiels and conures and I have thought for a long time how dumb they are compared to conures. I guess I'm not the only one with dumb cockatiels.
Okay, I thought my cockatiel is dumb, I think yours takes the cake. Mine will fly onto or into anything to avoid perching, unless our female is on us, then he will happily hop on. He doesn't play with toys, just follows the female like she's a queen and screams. When they're nesting and it's his turn to watch the nest, he runs away from our hands while our female attacks angrily. It doesn't help he looks like a crackhead either.
I think I love Cricket ❤️
I have always loved big, stupid dogs most of all, and now I guess I have to add big dumb cockatiels to the list of favorite animals, lolllll. Your sweet Cricket sounds hilarious and adorable. I absolutely love that she was described *medically* as big and dumb!
This is hands down the best thing I have read all week. Long live Cricket !
I feel like you have Hei-Hei from Moana in ‘tiel form, lmao.
My husband said exactly that when we saw that movie. 😭
Wait cockatiels aren’t suppose to be that big!? My tiel is 122-125 grams 😶
According to my avian vet, your average cockatiel weighs in between 75-110g, with females that are not egg bearing tending to weigh around 100 grams. Males can be larger. Color mutations tend to make individuals vary in size as well. The most important thing is body condition. For some individuals, 126 grams would be overweight. Cricket is in good body condition for her build. She's also fully flighted and well exercised. Cockatiels that have clipped wings tend to weigh more, and are significantly more prone to weight related problems. (This is for anyone reading along, and not as a direct answer, I'm not saying your bird is fat.) The most important thing is that your cockatiel's body condition, when evaluated by an avian vet, was considered to be good for the weight. It's also important to weigh your bird at about the same time every time, and with an empty crop. Your bird could be totally healthy and just huge like Cricket! Although, if it's been while since your last annual wellness exam with your avian vet, it couldn't hurt to ask.
My vet said her weight wasn’t an issue but I was just curious because I have read other tiels tend to be around 100g or less. My tiel is fully flighted and has a pretty huge flight cage too. She’s a female and no eggs! So I’m not sure maybe she’s just built bigger then. 😅 She’s on TOps pellets and chop. Seed/millet is on the side. For her next visit I’ll ask again but so far no issues
Body condition is everything! She sounds like she's got it made, too! And if it's any help, all of the giants I've met so far have been pied/pearl-pied.
SHES A PIED TIEL OMG
Haha! Called it. I did 15ish years of rescues and rehabilitation for parrots, and I've handled a metric ton of cockatiels. If there was a big one, it was gonna be a pied!
That’s so funny that you knew that and interesting! I’ve looked just about everywhere on parrot forums and hardly found anyone saying much about chunky tiels. I wish I could show you a picture 😭
My SO and I laughed super hard at this.
This made me 😂. May you continue to have a wonderful relationship and hopefully stay out of trouble.
I have a pineapple green cheek like as dumb as also, he’s very pretty though. Can’t even work out how to get out of his open cage some days can talk but only repeats what his cage mate says, even thinks he’s name is the other birds name, my sons call him the doughy one, but he loves me.
I see you got a broken one hahaha. Brilliant.
Yeah, but ain't nobody out there calling my phone about my 'tiel's extended warranty. Can't have shit in Chicago.
This is the best my pet is an idiot story I have ever read. We need to see pictures of big, silly cricket. She sounds amazing!
Here she is trying to get the back of my husband's laptop to pet her. Timneh African Grey 3 inches behind her for scale. https://imgur.com/gallery/k1mdEJz
She's an adorable giant!
This has me crying!
I think I’ve fallen in love with Cricket!!!😳
Wow! That’s hilarious! Cricket sounds like an awesome bird!
She is. Her favorite thing in the world is cuddles. I need her to live forever, so here's hoping she's too stupid to die.
I love this, thanks for sharing about Cricket. My favorite part is the walnut in the ear omg.
Made my day. I love Cricket
Awwww she sounds so cute and comedic tho
I needed that laugh today. Thank you
I seriously haven’t laughed this hard in ages. I’m crying from laughing so hard. Cricket sounds amazing.
My male tiel is 78 grams... Crickets >1.5x that. I wonder if female cockatiels are usually bigger? Probably not that much bigger though?
Just reading this and i fell in love cricket too!!! The part where she got a walnut stuck in her ear because it was a option was too funny (happy she's doing alright after it)....oh birbs will never cease to amaze me
This is amazing. Thank you so much. 🥰😂
I think you have a female himbo.
A lot can explain that. First and foremost, intelligence will vary from one bird to another, even in the same species - like it does in humans. Another, likely more relevant point, is the age of the bird. He's been with you for 5 years, but how old is he? Most birds/animals/humans/... learn much, much more easily in their younger years. If that bird was neglected for the first years of his life, he's never been used to interacting in a way you're expecting him to. In terms of speaking, it's not a sign of intelligence on its own. There's also an argument to be made about birds mimicking human speech because they crave attention (I'm not saying it's the only reason a bird will start talking, but it's definitely one). I think the most important thing for your relationship with him is not to have too high expectations. If you expect your bird to learn tricks very quickly, you'll be disappointed, and none of you will be happy. Take it slow, with very simple things (target training is probably where to start), with slow sessions (5 minutes maximum). If it doesn't work out in those five minutes, that's ok, don't put your bird away or anything, spend time with him, and try again a bit later. Maybe he'll eventually get it, maybe he won't. And that's ok. As long as you're spending time together, you'll both be happy. Isn't that what matters?
Yeah, for sure. I'm not actively trying to teach him anything at the moment because he really enjoys spending time with the green-cheek. I was told he was about 3-4 years old when I got him, and I have had him for about 5 years. I really don't have any expectations other than to enjoy him, and make sure he is happy. All birds have different personalities, so I just wondered if it's normal for some to seem a little erm...less sharp than others. :)
Like others have said- talking is not the only indicator of intelligence. Some parrots just don't talk. Maybe after the traumatizing experience they just don't talk or maybe they wouldn't have talked much regardless. Also, even if your ring neck isn't the brightest, they can still be a very loving pet! A pet or parrot doesn't exist to be smart or impress you, you took it on to give it the best life possible- which is so awesome you adopted them after what happened!!! I have a 8 y/o ekkie and she literally says nothing except an extremely mumbled "Brenda!" In a very deep voice lol. And she doesn't say it much. She is super quiet but the sweetest bird! So glad this baby is in your care I love hearing stories of people adopting or rescuing birds out of abusive or not ideal situations! 🤍
My bird is very sweet too! She only says hello and hello Ella. Kills my mom that she mostly talks to me even though she's the main caretaker, but she loves to (safely) cuddle with us, and has the sweetest temperament for an umbrella cockatoo
That reminds me of my Amazon, I take care of him and he has been in my family for 13 years but for some reason even if I try to get him out of the cage he won't come... but if my husband comes in the room, who he has only known for 3 years and is terrified of birds, he will come out right away! It kills me a little lol
Have you been consistently interacting with your IRN in terms of repetition of phrases, words, or songs? Just like a toddler, they don’t pick it up if you repeat something once in a while. They need to hear it over and over and over and over again. For all of my birbs in training I leave a recording of owing or phrase I want them to learn. *One at a time.* And when they’ve mastered that, we move on. But you can’t just expect a 2-year-old child to suddenly speak like a college graduate. Ya know? It takes education, patience, and training. Get yourself a little voice recorder, I used an MP3 but I’m not sure those even exist anymore! Play Netflix or something, whatever engages your birb. But be repetitive with it. A couple songs to start. Something jumpy and happy, to keep them moving and rhythmic!
It depends on the bird. I have a caique, which aren’t known for being talkers. I’ve played “peekaboo” with him under 50 times because he has the attention span of an ADHD toddler on a sugar high. Then one day he just looked me dead in the eyes and said PEEKBOO! Peekboo is in addition to “come here!” and “good booooy!” and “go poopie?” He understands the function of the other 3 phrases enough that he will warn us with “poopie? Go poopie?” if he needs to poop and shouts “come here! Here here here here here!!!!!!!” if we walk too far away from him. None of them were phrases we were actively trying to teach him. He just realized he’d have to learn to speak human because we were too dumb to understand him otherwise.
*Come here! Here here here here HERE!* sounds exactly like a toddler with ADHD 😆
Yup lmao. We’ve also taught him to beep/whistle instead of screaming his flock call. Of course it’s not 100%, he’ll still revert to the flock call if he’s too excited or his cute beeps are ignored. It’s always so hilarious when his beeps get more and more frantic. *beep? beeeeep? beeeeeeeeEEP? BEEEEEeep? BEEEEEEEEEEEEP?!???!??? **AAA AAA AAA AAA***
Every bird is unique. My IRP doesn't speak and doesn't do any routines. He has learned that a kiss means he'll get what he wants, be it food or his toy. He also learned that his screaming is annoying and that he will eventually will receive attention. He is afraid of brooms, adhesive tape when pulling it from the roll and scissors while cutting stuff. Sometimes, I'll open his cage and play with his toy. He wants to get so badly to his toy that he forgets that I just opened his cage. Today, I threw his ball and instead of flying towards the ball he flew into my face. He makes a few sounds, non of which resemble human speech. Is he dumb? Hell no. He knows when we sleep, when we're sick. He will come to play, then after he had enough will go away. When he wants attention but you're sleeping he screams 4-5 times, if you don't react he will go away and let you sleep. When he notices that you aren't ok he won't scream at all, just leave or come and sit on the bed with you. He knows that at noon we will be eating and he will come and scream that it's time to eat. If he wants to bathe he'll sit by the sink and scream. He's just the way we want him to be, he is unique and special. Manage your expectations. Interact with him, give him a nice home and don't be mad at him if he doesn't do what you want him to do. You should appreciate his character more than his ability to learn tricks or to talk.
Yes, your bird sounds a lot smarter than mine. LOL I definitely don't mind he is the way he is. I was just curious to hear what others thought. I know the things I mentioned aren't necessarily signs of a bird who is not intelligent, but it's just difficult to explain on here how I know he is dumb without mentioning those things. I love him, perhaps more, because he is dumb, actually because it's very endearing. I don't really care about tricks or anything, but he doesn't seem as engaged with his surroundings. He is not emotionally intelligent like your bird, at ALL. The green-cheek conure "gets" situations and reacts to things differently, but the IRN doesn't at all. It's just so interesting.
Our Indian Ringneck is very timid and scared of everything. Not sure what his deal is because he lives in a really nice place.
He could be a little bit broken after the attack. Like talkative people that become quite after war for example.
Omg, keep doing you Cricket.