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How do I go about teaching these guys to talk? At what age do I start them, and what do I do to begin the learning process? Are there any secrets and what are the do's and don'ts? These two still don't get along very well with each other, but they really seem to like the wrest of the family.

if you got a bird because you wanted it to talk, then you could be disappointed as not all birds will talk. I got a bird because I like birds.
But this doesn't mean you shouldn't try. with every interaction speak to the bird. you know, say "good morning" when you get up and "good night" when you go to bed. if you go out say "good bye" and when you come home say "hello" show your bird a sunflower seed and say "sunflower seed" or it could be a piece of apple or carrot.

Have a look at Dr Pepperberg and Alex the gray video so you can see what can be achieved.

No, I didn't get the birds because I wanted them to talk. The birds are part of our family. If they talk or not I don't care, I just want to try and don't want to do it wrong.

Hi Mike,

If you keep talking to them and repeating things, they may decide to join in. Reply to anything you want to encourage.
When Nila started talking he would practise when there was a lot of background noise and we were out of sight. We would hide around the corner with the stereo on quite loud and eavesdrop on him He would stop when he heard us giggling though!
Nila learns quickest from other birds, so YouTube videos can be great for learning. Nila learnt every native bird call that we hear at our place before he learnt to use our words. Sapphire has learnt all his non human noises (contact call, squeaky door hinges, native birds and budgie noise my bf taught him) from him already and he does all her noises too. I encourage them both to try any learnt sounds, annoying or not, so our house is a bit on the deafening side at times!
Btw if you live with people who don't enjoy the sound of phone batteries going flat and squeaky door hinges, you should probably be more discriminate about what you encourage than I am

Yea it gets pretty noisy here too! I think they like talking to each other from across the room. I talk to them every day and often in the evenings one of them will sit on my shoulder and we will have a nice chat. My wife thinks I'm a bit nutty but I enjoy it. Again if they talk or not I don't really care but I think it would be nice if they picked up a word or two. Percy is mimicking the sound of our 4 month old grandson crying. We are not real happy with that, but, it's a start.

Keep your expectations low and you won't be disappointed.
Nila learnt to yap like the next door neighbours chihuahua. He doesn't do it often anymore, as the dog moved out. The last time I heard it was when the neighbour knocked on our door last month. We took the opportunity to point out where Nila learnt it from! I'm surprised Nila hasn't started doing it again, we laughed for about 20 minutes after the neighbour left!

That's funny!! Isn't it grand how these small creatures can do something completely innocent, and give us a big laugh. I'm gonna play some you tube videos of other IRN's talking and see what response I get. I'll keep ya posted. Thanks

My Rocky has not quite got the word "Tweet!" I don't remind him of it often, so it doesn't come up often, and it's probably more of a sound that sounds like me saying "Tweet" than the actual word. But it's a crowd pleaser.

BTW, Mike, we're kinda like neighbors. Can you keep your eyes open for a bird for me? I'm kinda, sorta wanting an older male Alexandrine who maybe needs a new human friend. I gave up looking, figured if it was meant to be then it would happen, but, you know, sometimes I feel hopeful.

I have two that think they're cockatiels

An alexandrine that sneezes and then blesses himself.

We thought Skye would never talk. She was 14 months old before she said her first word...and then she just kept adding to it weekly. They tend to pick up the things you repeat without even trying. Like "good boy" or "thank you" or "step up". And then they never stop

MissK, I would be happy to keep my eyes open for you. My son in law has a pet supply shop and also sells a lot of birds. He has many connections with rescue operations in our area. I'll ask him to put out a couple of feelers for you and see what happens. If the birds say what they hear most often, then their first words may be "Stop chewing on the couch!!, or maybe "Stop teasing the dogs" or "Why did you chew up Dakota's car seat??!!"

lol