Question for those with GCC's that talk...

debratoo

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Apr 10, 2019
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How did they start?

My 3 month old GCC, Shoshana, is generally quiet but today while perching on my finger she started making garbled/indistinct sounds....almost as if she was muttering to herself and I wondered if that is how they begin?

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Jan 16, 2019
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Maldives, H.Dh Kulhudhuffushi
Parrots
White-faced 'tiel (Cookie). Pied Budgie (Pepper).
Well, I don't have a GCC but my 'tiel first began with sounds that sounded like what s/he was trying to say. S/he eventually got it and whistles/talk a lot. Oh and s/he began to talk at 3 months (now s/he's 4 months old)

BTW, that's one cute GCC you got there:)
 

Flynhigh

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Jan 19, 2019
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Murrieta California
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Apollo (CAG) , Kona (Pineapple conure)
Welcome , beautiful baby you have there. That's how my little guy started talking , it was a muttering of sorts and then boom ! He really picked up everything very quickly.
Talk to him /her like you were talking to your child , minus the baby talk and before you know it you'll be looking for the tape to shut the yapper. ( just kidding) . One example , I would use my index finger to tickle his chest and "SAY Tickle tickle . Now when I touch his chest he says it. He also says it when he wants scritches too.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
 

FlyBirdiesFly

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Kermit doesn’t talk but he does mutter nonsense under his breath at times, especially when he seems angry/annoyed or over-confident. He is 2 years old, so I think it’s unlikely that he’ll ever talk.

Pearl, my albino budgie, started chattering and mixing up garbled sounds from a young age and one day she (really a he) started making kissing sounds. Now she has quite a large vocabulary, some of which she made up herself!
 
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YSGC

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Jan 6, 2019
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Pico, gender unknown, is a hand-fed Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure, born 2015.
Pico's a good talker for a GCC.
He also started by muttering indistinct "words" to himself.
Over a few months the muttering morphed into recognizable human words.
 

T00tsyd

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May 8, 2017
1,256
862
UK
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Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Same here. I have heard small children start in the same way. They mutter repeatedly practising the sounds they have heard until they get it right. Syd now has quite a vocabulary.
 

RemiBird

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Feb 26, 2019
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When I got Remi, he already knew how to say "what are you doing?". Now, he added "Baby" to his vocab, and "NO", which is hilarious because he says it in the right context.
 
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debratoo

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Thanks to everyone for the responses...

He is 2 years old, so I think it’s unlikely that he’ll ever talk.

I've read of some GCC's that didn't start talking until 2 or 3, so it's possible you have a late bloomer lol
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Green Cheeks are not really known for being good talkers, or talkers at all really. I bred and hand-raised them for about 12 years, and rarely did any of them learn to talk, and when they did it was usually a very scratchy, garbled voice...However, that being said, there are a few people on the forum now who have Green Cheeks who are very good talkers despite it not being very common, myself included...So it's always possible. And a lot of the time they do say words that their owners understand, it's just not very clear...

Bowie is an excellent talker for a Green Cheek, and I was shocked when he started doing it at all, let alone when he started to get clearer and clearer when he spoke...He's a DNA-tested male, and he's turning 3 years-old this month. I brought him home when he was 13 weeks-old, and I think he first started talking when he was about 4 or 5 months old. When he first started talking his voice was a rough, scratchy voice that I had heard my former Green Cheek breeder-birds do...He kept trying to say "My Baby!" over and over again, and I knew what he was saying, but no one else could understand him...But over time Bowie's voice just got more and more clear, and now everyone knows what he is saying, and he says about 15-20 different words/phrases, which is excellent for a Green Cheek...

I'd say if your Green Cheek is starting to mumble or speak with a scratchy kind of voice already, she may very well get better and better over time...I will say that I owned about 30 Green Cheeks who were breeders over the years, and every one of them who spoke at all were males, which is typically how it goes for most species of parrots...But there are always exceptions, and it sounds like your girl is starting young, so hopefully she is the exception to that rule!
 

clark_conure

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Jul 14, 2017
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A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
Mine both started about 4 months after I got them.....they usually practice near bedtime, they'll well even clark when she was alone couple years ago....she would practice when I couldn't see her but we could hear each other.

Same with zod first time I heard her talk she was in the headboard when I was reading and I thought was clark but then I realized clark was in the cage.

Once they start though and they see the attention they get...they tend to add on quite a bit!

Now it's not clear as a voice recorder, they use their range to facsimilate the sound. But they do use words in context, like I love you to suck up or during cuddling and come on to come get me or lets go....they don't mimic they understand the words....
 

clark_conure

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Jul 14, 2017
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A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
mine are females but they have excellent family genetics...... :D
 
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debratoo

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Apr 10, 2019
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Green Cheeks are not really known for being good talkers, or talkers at all really. I bred and hand-raised them for about 12 years, and rarely did any of them learn to talk, and when they did it was usually a very scratchy, garbled voice...However, that being said, there are a few people on the forum now who have Green Cheeks who are very good talkers despite it not being very common, myself included...So it's always possible. And a lot of the time they do say words that their owners understand, it's just not very clear...

Bowie is an excellent talker for a Green Cheek, and I was shocked when he started doing it at all, let alone when he started to get clearer and clearer when he spoke...He's a DNA-tested male, and he's turning 3 years-old this month. I brought him home when he was 13 weeks-old, and I think he first started talking when he was about 4 or 5 months old. When he first started talking his voice was a rough, scratchy voice that I had heard my former Green Cheek breeder-birds do...He kept trying to say "My Baby!" over and over again, and I knew what he was saying, but no one else could understand him...But over time Bowie's voice just got more and more clear, and now everyone knows what he is saying, and he says about 15-20 different words/phrases, which is excellent for a Green Cheek...

I'd say if your Green Cheek is starting to mumble or speak with a scratchy kind of voice already, she may very well get better and better over time...I will say that I owned about 30 Green Cheeks who were breeders over the years, and every one of them who spoke at all were males, which is typically how it goes for most species of parrots...But there are always exceptions, and it sounds like your girl is starting young, so hopefully she is the exception to that rule!

Haha I don't actually know if Shoshana is male or female. I'm trying to build up the courage to either pluck some feathers or clip a toe nail for the DNA. I figure if "she" turns out to be a male I can always call him Shoshi (I call her by both names just in case)

As for the talking, I know theyre not known for being good talkers but several members of a fb GCC group I belong to say their birds talk. One girl even posted a video of her bird clearly saying "I love you". I personally have never had a talker so when Shoshi started making those sounds I thought maybe...I guess time will
 
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clark_conure

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Jul 14, 2017
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A crossover Quaker Scuti (F), A Sun conure named AC, A Cinnamon Green Cheek conure Kent, and 6 budgies, Scuti Jr. (f), yellow (m), clark Jr. (m), Dot (f), Zebra(f), Machine (m).
give it about a week and you will see words forming; repeat back in context.
 
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debratoo

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Apr 10, 2019
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give it about a week and you will see words forming; repeat back in context.

Thank you! I'm trying real hard not to get too excited (in case she doesn't) It would be fun, but I didn't get her for that anyway
 

IndySE

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May 5, 2016
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Southern California
Parrots
Kermit, ♀ GCC (Green Demon)
It's really hard to say when Kermit's talking became distinct, but it seemed like around 6 months of age I could start picking up what her mumbles were. She was definantly making a lot of interesting sounds before then, so it looks promising :) most green cheeks never become clear talkers, but their owners can usually figure out what they're trying to say. I find it really helpful to count the syllables & to pay attention to the stresses to reverse-engineer the word she's saying haha.
 

CallumConure

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Apr 10, 2019
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Central Minnesota, USA
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Callum- GCC Hatchday: October 15th, 2016
(nonparrot friends include rats, a dog, and a few reptiles :))
For now, Callum is just repeating phrases or words me hears he say a lot. As mentioned in the other post, Callum is just learning to say his name and nicknames. He has perfected my laughter.

Maybe I wasn't perceptive enough or didn't pay attention, but one day, it just seemed like he said "Callum" out of nowhere. He has been doing my laugh for a while now, but he just seems to have suddenly taken an interest to learning "human talk."
 

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