Teaching your bird to talk can be fun, even if all they learn is a single world – all you need is a little dedication, concentration and time!
Getting ready to train your bird
Learn about your bird. Not all birds can or will want to talk, so the first thing you should do is find out more about the bird. There is little point in trying to teach a bird to talk if it will only respond to you by whistling. Some of the species of birds that can learn to speak include:
- common parakeet
- monk parakeet
- Amazon parrot
- Kramer’s parrot
- Argentine parrot
- eclectus parrot
- religious parrot
- gray parrot
- cockatoo
- cockatoo
- blue and yellow macaw
Develop a relationship with the bird.
Birds that are able to talk are social animals. It is very important to develop a relationship by talking to them often, so that they trusts you and gets used to your voice. It is recommended to spend as much time as possible with the bird in the first few months, talking to it in soft tones.
Be sure to play with your bird often, every day. These birds in the wild have many interactions every day, and engage with a large number of stimuli. Evolved for group living, these birds like to socialize quite a bit. Spending a lot of time with the bird will help ensure that you foster a good relationship. Talk to your bird regularly to give it a chance to learn. However, if they choose not to talk, they will enjoy your efforts and be really happy with all the attention.
Plan your routine.
As with training any animal, talking birds need short, frequent and regular training sessions. Be sure to develop a plan so that you can give the bird the time and attention it needs in order to maximize its learning potential.
- Make a schedule of activities.
- Limit training sessions to five minutes, two to five times a day.
- Plan to work with the bird many times a day.
Tips
- Don’t let the bird hear words you don’t want it to imitate. Discourage unwanted expressions by simply ignoring them.
- Some types of parrots cannot or rarely will learn to talk, and even breeds that are known to talk occasionally may never learn.
- Reward your bird for talking or making sounds close to speech, even if you are not in a training session.
- Some experts believe that parrot owners should teach their birds to talk before teaching them to whistle, since whistling can interfere with learning words.
- African Grey Parrots have a reputation for being the best talkers.
- Be patient. Many birds can learn to talk quickly, but some may take months. Either way, teaching your bird to talk will pay off in the long run.
- Birds that talk well will imitate many words they hear. Be careful what he says or hears around him, because he can easily copy foul language or things you don’t want him to say.
- Don’t yell at or shout at a parrot if your parrot doesn’t behave. They may become frightened.
