African Grey Congo

Hi everyone,

I have a recently bought female African Grey Congo who is about 5 months old. She seems to have a very normal behaviour (she eats all the time, poops all the time, climbs up and down the cage walls and perches all the time, very clumsy, goes to sleep around 9 PM and wakes up at 6-7 AM and gets very vocal etc.). Recently she has shown signs of being bonded to me....she hardly ever gives any attention to my wife or daughter. If they try to approach her, she sometimes growls at them but thankfully she seems to be extremely comfortable and calm with me. She even steps up on my fingers and sometimes makes loud squeaky noises when she doesn't see me around.

My question is: Last couple of days, she incessantly makes those guttural noises and cooing noises as if she is trying to form words. I think it's highly unlikely for a 5-month old CAG to start talking. Today she made funny noises (as if she was talking to herself) for almost an hour as if trying to perfect her speech. When I talk to her, she always cocks her head on one side as if trying to underdstand the words. She already knows the meaning of words like "eat", 'drink water" and "time to sleep"....

Please help - is it normal for a 5-year old to start practising and/or start experimenting with words? I sometimes think there may be something stuck in her throat and she is desperately trying to get rid of it.

Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

Welcome !!

Also, you might want to think about socializing the bird with everyone in the family everyday

With our birds we actually set timers so the next person in the family gets their turn (like while we watch a movie or whatever)

If not you may find that the bird bonds to you so much and no one else in the family (or guests) will be tolerated

There is a lot of info about this on the forum
It should be done right away while the bird is young

BTW, we LOVE pictures

Best of Luck!

Joe

GW.Joe said:

Welcome !!

Also, you might want to think about socializing the bird with everyone in the family everyday

Click to expand...

True!! Talk to the bird as you would anybody else, take time out to interact frequently!! The more enthusiastically you talk, the more they'll be interested to speak! Our Grey started around 5-6 months then one day just came out with a very clear "HELLO" (in my voice) right in the middle of a bunch of clicks and whistles! From there it was incredible how quickly she picked up a sizable vocabulary.. It's still hysterical lying in bed on a Sunday morning listening to her chat and form sentences with the others in the house.

Mine was speaking a few phrases by 5 months, plus the assorted doorbell and phone noises.

So, yeah, your bird is practicing. They practice when they think no one is looking, and then suddenly they just start blurting things out.

If you take the time to teach this bird words and phrases in context, the bird will pick it up in context, and use it back with you in context.

YES THEY CAN!

OH, AND MY FAVORITE: "I can talk, can you fly?"

I agree with all of the above. But, it is also important to take your bird to a bird veterinarian to make sure she doesn't have any problems. A bird check up of sorts. There are some bird diseases that need to be addressed to make sure that your bird is free of them. You may also want to discuss any concerns that you have with the vet.