Nothing defined a cheerful, pleasant home in my youth more than the family parrot announcing an arrival with a loud expressive hello! Our parrots name was Caralampio, a name she acquired in Matamoros, Mexico prior to immigrating to the U.S. side of the Border. Forty years later, she is as talkative as ever. We love parrots for a variety of reasons but their ability to mimic human speech has been our fascination with these birds for centuries.
Choosing The Right Breed OF Parrot:
If you have your heart set on having a talking parrot there are some important factors to take into account before you buy a bird. Some talk much better than others and some tips will spare you disappointment.
The smaller species of parrots do not always learn to talk and when they do talk their speech may be more difficult to understand. Parakeets (budgies) ringnecks, alexandrine, plumheads, cockatiels, conures, lorikeets and lovebirds have spotty records as talkers. Among them there are always exceptional individuals that learn to talk well. But as a whole, they are quite difficult to teach. So I would not select one of these smaller parrots if talking ability is very important to you. As I said, there are always a few small parrots that are excellent mimics and large parrots that will not talk. I do not know the reason for this.
If you do buy a small bird, the best talking budgies and cockatiels are those that are constantly babbling and chirping at the pet shop. So it is important to take some time at the store observing the birds behavior before selecting your most likely pupil. The sex of budgies and cockatiels can be determined through observation. Choose a male if you can.
The king of all talkers is the red tailed, African Gray parrot. Timnas Greys are smaller and less prolific talkers. Select Greys have phenomenal talking abilities yet there will be a Gray now and then that refuses to talk.
Of the New World amazons parrots, Yellow Napes, Blue Fronts and Double Yellowheads are the best talkers but only when they are exposed to words at a young age. Amazons that do not talk by the time they are a year and a half old may never learn to talk. By and large any young amazon parrot with yellow on its head is a good talking candidate. A few singular macaws are good talkers but most are not the best. When macaws, such as scarlets and blue and golds learn to talk they have loud and rough voiced and usually a limited vocabulary. Cockatoos can also learn to talk but, like macaws usually have limited vocabulary. Unlike macaws, they tend to have sweet soft voices.
Choosing A Parrot With The Right Temperament:
Under no circumstances should you pick a fearful shy bird. Many mean biters, however, are wonderful talkers. The parrot should sit relaxed on the perch, not stiff or cowed back and frightened. A cowering bird will never learn to talk. Do not pick a bird that growls at you or rears back on its perch. Laughing and dilating and constricting their pupils are signs of aggression, not fear. The parrot should to come to you to be scratched cocking its head sideways.talk
If at all possible, select a bird that is still being hand fed. These birds are better purchased directly from a breeder than from a pet store. Young birds will still have pinfeathers sprouting from its head and neck and a beak soiled with caked formula. Never select a bird with occluded nostrils as these often have chronic respiratory disease. Sick birds will not learn to talk.
Just because a parrot can say a few words when you get it does not mean it will necessarily learn more words. Talking parrots do have an advantage over quiet ones but if they are amazon parrots their window for learning may have already closed. I personally prefer starting from scratch with a young bird.
Getting Ready:
The best place to keep a new parrot is in the kitchen area. Here families tend to congregate so it will be exposed to lots of human activity and sounds. The atmosphere should be quite relaxed. Also, the kitchen is light, airy and colorful and plenty of food snacks and smells are available. These are all things parrots like. If you are stressed out or unhappy the bird will be too and it won’t learn to talk. Give the bird a few weeks to get used to its new surroundings before taking it out or attempting to teach it to talk. Give it plenty of attention if it is not shy. If it is shy, concentrate on taming it before attempting to get it to talk.
Interaction with humans is the key to training parrots to talk. Parrots are flock birds that are normally part of a large group and are constantly interacting with the birds around them. Parrots that are deprived of companionship are not happy parrots and will not learn to talk.
Parrots learn to talk through one on one relationship with their owners. Do not have more than one parrot in the room or even in adjoining rooms. It is very difficult to teach two birds to talk at the same time.
Proper Nutrition:
Parrots that are subsisting on a diet rich in sunflower or safflower seeds are always duller and less aware of their surroundings than birds fed pelleted diets. This is because parrots on seed diets are nutritionally deprived. If you want your parrot to live a long healthy life and learn to talk well, then spend a few weeks to a few months converting it from a seed to a name brand pelleted diet. Do this by mixing the seed and pelleted diet together and gradually decreasing the amount of seed. You will be amazed in the change in your pet.
When To Start Training:
If you have obtained a baby parrot just out of the nest, talking will come a lot easier. Start training as early as you can while the baby is still on formula. Birds of this age bond readily to humans and develop the relaxed confidence. Be gentle, kind and patient and these birds will quickly learn to trust and respond to you. They should be comfortable when being handled. Don’t expect a young baby parrot to start talking immediately. As long as they are “clucking” for food they will not talk. But exposing them to words and phrases at this early age primes them to talk rapidly when they are old enough. These babies will cock their heads, listen to you intently and recognize words even though they are too young to talk. By the time smaller parrots are 4-6 month old and larger parrots are 6-12 months old they will begin repeating words and phrases.
Amazon parrots learn to talk during the time they would normally learn their wild calls. This window for learning is no more than a year long. After this window closes some exceptional birds will still learn new words and phrases easily but most will not. African Gray parrots on the other hand begin learning later in life and continue to learn words, phrases and mechanical sounds throughout their lives.
If you pick an older bird that is fearful of humans please realize that teaching it to talk will be difficult if not impossible. These birds must first learn to trust people. Many never do. For them, a lengthy period of socialization and calming is required. Taming wild birds is not the subject of this article, but it consists of finger training and activities that build the bird’s confidence and trust in its new owners.
The Sex Of The Parrot:
By and large, male parrots are better talkers than females. This is not always the case however, since so many other factors come into play. The majority of parrots are monomorphic. That means that one can not tell a male from female parrots by their body characteristics. However, female cockatiels have horizontal stripes or bars on their tail feathers. The cere or nose of adult male budgerigars is larger and more bluish in males than females. The eyes of adult male cockatoos are jet black while females and juveniles are dark brown. The heads of male macaws and conures is more elongated in males than females. All parrots can be genetically sexed from a drop of blood.
Time Of Day:
Parrots are most vocal in the morning and evenings. This corresponds to the times of day that they normally would disburse in the morning to feed and congregate in the evening to roost. It is futile to attempt to keep parrots quiet at these times – just get used to the noise. These are also the times of day that parrots learn to talk the best.
Positive Reinforcement To Learning:
Positive reinforcement techniques really help. Food is a major driving force in bird behavior. You should use food treats to reinforce words and actions that your parrot uses. I only give my parrots nuts and seeds as treats. Parrots enjoy shelling these nuts as much as actually eating them. The more husk a food treat has the better. My favorites for larger parrots are almonds and peanuts. Sunflower seeds are great for smaller birds. You can begin your training session with a peanut and give an additional one whenever your bird repeats a word that is new to it.
Teaching Words and Phrases Through Repetition:
Turn off the TV and radio and stop any activities that may be a distraction. Have other family members and pets leave the room. Let in the sunlight. Birds key off of the emotion and gusto in your voice, not the word itself. So how you say a word is more important to the parrot than what you say. To teach a parrot to talk you need to be the center of the bird’s attention. A parrot that is learning will look and listen to you intently while you speak. It will stand high on the perch with an alert body stance. You may notice that its eye pupils change in size rapidly. Say the word in a loud clear voice with a slight hesitation between repetitions. Remember – emotion and gusto.
Birds learn to talk more rapidly when they can associate a word with an action or an object. For example, when you give your parrot a peanut say Peanut Mmmm, Peanut Mmmm. When you uncover your parrot in the morning say Rise And Shine!. It is amazing how much a little bird will understand and he is more likely to use the word when he has an inkling of what it means. African gray parrots can easily learn a hundred words this way and exceptional birds can learn three hundred.
When teaching a bird to name objects pick objects that are small and colorful. The reward in these cases should be giving the bird the object. For example, if the bird correctly calls key chain, give the bird the key chain to play with. This technique works well with the word grape. Grape is apparently an easy word for parrots to say. Some other easy words are key, paper, box, corn, carrot, nail, water, treat, bean, and rock.
Parrots learn to talk better from high-pitched feminine voices of women and children. Once the bird is relaxed begin the lesion. Keep the training periods no longer than fifteen to twenty minutes at a stretch. Start with simple, short words and phrases such as hello and good morning. Hold the bird perched on your hand or finger about twelve inches from your mouth. You can also do this with the bird perched on a tee stand.
I try not to teach my birds to whistle until they have a rather large vocabulary of words. Actually, I find whistling parrots rather annoying. Once they learn to whistle they will often do it all day ignoring all the words they have learned. If you do whistle, whistle a pleasant short melody for them to learn.
I have never used a tape recording to teach my parrots to talk. Mechanical systems lack the human interaction and the birds quickly tire of them. Parrots really need to bond with the source of their vocabulary and a mechanical source just doesn’t interest them. If you do use a recording do not play it for more than half an hour at a stretch.
The first words that your parrot learns will be the hardest ones. You will find that their learning comes in spurts. Sometimes two to four months can pass when no new words are learned. This is normal. The bird’s first attempt to repeat a word is apt be an indistinct mumble. Reward the bird with praise and a treat no mater how garbled its attempt is. Parrots have trouble with consonants so emphasize those letters and say them louder and clearly. Saying a word twice – like coochi coochi makes it easier for the bird to repeat.
Do not try to teach more than one word or phrase at a time. Interact with your parrot in every way possible during training sessions.
When the bird cocks it head to be scratched say Wana scratch or It feels great. When you give him a toy say the name of it or just toy. With each treat you can name the treat – like peanut or grape or just say Mmm Mmm, Mmm Mmm ! When he perches on your hand say Good birdie! When you take him out of the cage say I wana come out! When I uncover their cage in the morning I say Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine!
The first indication that a parrot is trying to say a word is a soft mumble. The parrot will continue practicing the word alone long after you are through. When you hear this give the parrot a hand by repeating the word again. Many parrots will pick up mechanical sounds they hear around the house. The telephone and doorbell are often mimicked. This can be cure or annoying depending on the sound and how many hours the parrot says it.
I have found that about half the “words” my parrots have learned they have learned by themselves. Still, teaching a parrot to talk is a very pleasant and sometimes a rewarding experience. Remember that if you are not very successful another family member may be.
