I have heard in the past that if your birdie starts to whistle before he learns to talk, chances are that he won't talk or talk as much.....
And the reason I'm asking this is that I am beginning to believe there may be some truth to this because in Harley's first couple of years, he was talking up a storm; saying a lot of different phrases....He hasn't talked much if any in the last couple of years, (he is 5 now) and I believe it is due to the fact that when my sister would come over she would grab Harley and put him on her shoulder and start whistling "The Amazing Grace" song, which he learned very quickly, even getting that real high note.... And since he has learned this, he doesn't attempt to talk, only to say "here comes papa" or "where is papa", meaning my son.....

In saying all this, I can however put my mouth right beside his throat and say lullabyes like "Rock-A-Bye Baby" and he will say the last words on each line, 'baby', 'tree top', 'rock', etc....also he will say out loud 'bye bye" when someone leaves, but only if I entice him....and to say the least, I am certainly confused and almost convinced that this theory holds true....
What are other's views and input on this...I would like to know, please help me out here.....and thanks........

All I can do is offer my experience: Pickles is my first quaker and she whistles sometimes but has never said a word talking wise. I don't think I believe that theory personally though and I think my bird being a rehome from an abusive owner might have more to do with her not talking then the whistling theory. Just my experience though I hope it helps

Going by my own experience, I don't believe it to be true. Max has always been a strong talker and a strong whistler. We taught her both talking and whistling at the same time. My linnies are another example of birds that only knew how to whistle, but then started talking.

Clyde is my first Quaker, too, and he both whistles and talks, but he's very selective about what he'll say. Well, let me amend that. He says a lot of stuff we don't understand, but what he says that we DO understand is only a handful of words. He whistles several things and he really likes sound effects. He can laugh like both of us, and he can bark like a tiny dog and also do Gigi's bark. He hasn't attempted to copy George's bark that I know of. I've tried to teach him new words, like "love you" which he says, but it's very garbled most of the time. Once he did snuggle up to my ear and say "I love you" just as clear as a bell, but only that one time. So I don't know if the whistling is interfering with his talking or he just doesn't want to talk much. The words he does say are mostly very clear and he puts different inflections on them, so he says a lot with his few words. And he learns new sound effects very quickly. He had Gigi's bark the first week.

wasabi did the wolf whistle clear as could be and never did it again
he does however say good boy (the good is really garbled) every day all the time when he sings

i think if a bird is going to mimic, then it mimics...what it wants to
not necessarily just whistling or talking

*shrug*

I've never tried to teach Truman to whistle. It reminded me too much of the cockatiel I lost so I didn't want to do that. He's a decent talker but not that great at imitating sounds. He can do the cats when he wanted to, but other than that no whistling or sound effects. I've been trying to teach him to fart, which should be any easy one, but when I repeat the word and roll my tongue at him he just says "Fart" back. He can't do kisses either...he tries but only a weird laugh-like sound comes up. He picks up words pretty quickly tho'.

Julie I've heard that theory too, I think it really depends on the species of bird for one thing, its much easier to mimic a whistle than it is an actual word or fraise. So I think that's why.

Part of it could be that if a bird gets the same kind of reaction or bigger reaction by whistling than it does by talking its going to choose the easiest thing to do...

Well only Shakespeare talks so far, and he only talks,never whistles.Or he makes other sounds like dog barking or laughing,but no whistling.None of the others do anything but squawk.

My only experience with talking birds is Donut.

Donut learnt to whistle amd talk at about the same time.
He was about 12 weeks old.

We had only had him for 2 weeks when he wolf whistled, said hello and good boy.
Donut has added about a dozen more words/sayings and about 4 other noises.
He is still adding as the weeks go by.
Some are still garbled but he does his "Quaker practice" when no one is looking.

So I guess that it is up to the individual Quaker, not a breed specific thing.

I am not sure, none of my quakers whistle, and the only one who doesn't talk much is Miss Jacquee. They are around whistling all day long, especially the tiels and the greys who whistle alot but the quakers don't.

I'm not the first home for either of my QPs but Buttons is a stellar whistler and can imitate a cockatiel with amazing talent. She only says a few words though and she is garbled when she talks. Pickles is a great talker and constantly surprises me with his vocabulary but has trouble when he tries to mimic Buttons' whistles. Is it possible that some birds are just more talented in some areas over others, like people? For instance, I can sing well but my husband can't carry a tune in a bucket... that sort of thing?

Yogi wolf whistles once in a blue moon. I didn't teach him to do it either lol. The tiel did

I can't whistle at all, and when I try it sounds like I'm having an asthma attack rofl.

So I really hope Yogi doesn't try to learn the whistle the way I taught Raven to do it hahahahahah.

I'd heard the same thing though Julie, so when I first got Raven I only talked to him. My husband insisted on whistling to him though. Raven used to do more whistling than talking, but now he mostly talks, and tosses in the occasional wolf whistle to Yogi or the dog

I do appreciate the input on this subject and I guess I'm still like Connie and a few more, it is the kind of species..Like I mentioned, at the age of 5 which Harley is and he began talking early in life, I think it affects their ability to talk further if they start to whistle and by that I mean a song like was mentioned...There are quite a few stanzas in the song mentioned and he would go all the way through, well almost...And since he learned how to whistle that song, he couldn't care less about talking....He use to talk to himself, one of these closet talkers you know...If I was in another room of the house and I heard him start, I would ease toward him but staying out of sight, and he was just rambling off words and very very clear...but he doesn't do that anymore.. So I guess I'll still wonder just a little....

I never really thought about it until this thread but I never tried to teach Riley to whistle. I hate the sound. I really haven't actively tried to teach him to say anything except peek a boo, and an old song I would play on my computer. He has a large,fairly clear vocabulary and I guess during different activities I would tend to say certain things to him. I would then listen to him carefully while he mumbled things and at that point I would actively reinforce whatever words he picked up naturally. Once I heard what sounded like "cleaning the poo", I never called it "cleaning your cage" again. He now yells "cleaning the poo" whenever I clean his cage. I love when he adds a "Hooray!"

The only sounds we have ever heard him imitate,is the sound my loud, drip coffee pot makes and the sound my finger makes tapping water, to get him to take a bath.

Kiwi whistled before he talked.. his lil wolf whistle and a whistle for flock calling and he talks up a storm... somewhere around 25 phrases/songs or so now and he's about 9 motnhs or so?
i tihnk it is completely up to each fids eprsonality..

the only bird i feel this is true for is cockatiels.. if they learn to whistle first i beleive they are less likely to talk.. and they can be quite apt whistlers!

Sweetie is a rehomed Quaker for me and I've had her for about 3 months now.When she arrived,Sweetie was very quiet for about 5 days,and then she started talking to me.She had a vocabulary of about 50 words and phrases,but I had not heard her whistle.Just recently,Sweetie will call my dogs,just like I do...3 short whistles followd by"C'mon babies" or"C'mere,come on" She sometimes follows that w/ "hop up" which cracks me up.Since coming to live w/ me,Sweetie's vocabulary has grown.She's added more phrases and more whistles,too.I think like any other species of animal,including man,Quakers are individuals and will learn differently,talk differently,etc.Some parrots speak in clear voices,some are garbled.Sweetie has an amazing clarity to her voice,but she can also sound very gutteral,the voice we call her "devil" voice.She'll say"I love you,mommy"very sweet and clear and two seconds later,she might say it in her devil voice....She's quite entertaining...I don't know if she whistled alot before coming to me,but she has about 6 different whistles,3 of which I believe she picked up here(probably from my Cockateil,Godiva)