Caiques are not known for their ability to talk. They are more valued for their ingratiating behavior. They do learn a few words, but their vocabulary is seldom large. They can be taught to whistle and once they learn it is hard to keep them quiet. I have never made any serious attempt to teach any of my birds to talk since this is a difficult task when one has more than one caique. There is a reason for this. It is called call convergence.

It is thought that parrot learn to talk because of call convergence (Hile, 2000). In the wild, when a male parrot meets a female parrot it likes and would like to mate with, it changes its call to imitate that of the female (at least in the case of budgies). Young male birds are more adept at this, but even female and older birds can do this. Thus, learning to talk is probably a part of the bird’s courtship behavior.

So if you want to increase your chances of getting your bird to talk, here is what you should do. First, the best talkers are usually young males. Second, it is best to keep the bird away from other birds so that it will focus its attention on you. You must interact with the bird frequently using the same words over and over. The word need not be said repetitively, but should be associated with an activity. For example, every time you visit the bird’s cage say "What ‘cha doin’." This is a phrase that caiques seem to find easy to learn. If your bird beaks with you or pumps on your finger, this is a good sign. It means it is trying to bond with you and more likely to try to imitate you. You should be warned, however, that caiques almost never learn to pronounce words as clearly as other parrots. Typically, when the talk they speak in a softer voice, you will probably have to accommodate yourself to their version of talking. If you decide to teach your bird, I wish you good luck.