Understanding Jibberish

So Keiko is starting to talk a little I can tell when she says mama, hello , and what...but she also says other things that a definitely words but i'm not sure what they are...can i get a translator...lol...I know that macaws don't talk as clear as amazons but will I ever be able to make out what she is saying

I'm not sure if what we do is the right thing to do but whenever Josie talks jibberish, we say the words that it sounds closst to. We've noticed that she will keep trying to repeat what we say and eventually she says the word we thought she said. Well, unless what she is saying sounds like bad words of course, then we give her nicer words to repeat. Unfortunately, her new favorite go to phrase is, "aw screw it!". We can't seem to redirect her on that one. Good luck.

I think she is picking up on the dogs names and trying to say parker...her voice is just much harsher that Parkers voice(es) so it will take some getting use to...she hasen't picked up phrases yet just single words...luckly no one in our house curses...but i did catch my husband trying to teach parker to say get me a beer...i didn't think it was that funny...lol...I would like to teach them just a few words and tricks and then enter them in our church talent show so we have to be very careful what we say around them both... i think the kids at church would really enjoy it

ParkersMom said:

I know that macaws don't talk as clear as amazons but will I ever be able to make out what she is saying

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As time passes, I'd say that some of those vocalizations will become much clearer as intelligible words and phrases. But even then I'm sure she'll always have her moments of gibberish. Salsa often has his moments of gibberish and he talks fairly well for a large Macaw.

Willie knows all of the animal's names. IF Dixie started her screaming, we would usually tell Dixie Hush, we no longer have to do that, if she screams, Willie will tell her Dixie Hush. It cracks me up....When we open the back door to get the dogs in the house he would call out their names one by one and say come on, get in here. He knows when to say certain words. Another thing he does that's really funny is when a phone call comes in, it can be the old ring tone or ring tones now days with music, somehow he can tell when it is from a phone. Even when it's on tv, He would go Helloooo. And at one point we used to call him a bad bird, your a bad bird Willie. One day he said "I'm a bad bird, badddd badddd bird" we were just sitting there and couldn't believe what he said and I just cracked up laughing so hard.

It is important to control what they watch if you let them watch tv, they will pick up phrases you don't want them to repeat. Willie have done that. BUT he would not say certain word for years and all of a sudden he would blurt it out. So we never know what's he's going to say....

Hahnzels jibberish is mostly at night when getting ready for bed. His vocalization is better now since he has been with us now for a solid year. When we are rehearsing songs he sings with us, but as if someone were just singing la la la in different tunes. My conure wasnt good at staying on key but Hahnzel is.

Valentino's gibberish is getting more clear of late. When he gets going I can tell some words are more formed. He has also started laughing which makes me laugh then he will laugh more and before I know it I am laughing really hard. Valentino seems to pick up speech from Lupe. She has always had the knack of getting the parrots to learn words. She taught both my mini macaws to say phrases by always talking to them and repeating the same phrase to do with what ever act. Example she hold up a piece of food and says to the macaw "Want some?" Sometimes the bird will just stare at her and she will say "Well you want some or not?" LOL. Diego was saying "Want some" shortly after his interactions with her.

Lupe will say "Where's Momma?" to Valentino and he will take off and fly to me. When he is calling to me he normally will scream the RFM baby cry which is very loud but lately he has been screaming out "MOMMA!" with normal RFM screams. So far Valentino can say pretty clearly "momma", "What?", "hi", "Hello", and I think I heard "Vato". I have noticed that he is picking up speech faster. Valentino will be 7 months old on March 12th and we had him here since December 9th. He also has gained 45 grams since he has been here going from 405 to 450 grams. I am not sure if that is too quick to gain weight. I fly him daily until he is winded and do some trick training with one on one. Yesterday out of the blue while eating at the table with us Valentino just threw down his shoulder and began rolling on the table. He almost rolled off the table onto the floor if I didn't catch him. I had spent the last couple of days teaching him to roll over. LOL This bird is endless source of entertainment.

I can't wait for my macaw to start saying things..he only says hello and step up when he wants me to have him step up and picks his claw up as he says it...what age do they start talking more?

Niko's vocabularly has grown quite a bit over the past month, and the "new" words are getting clearer and clearer.

Here's an example: When I sneeze, I always say "God bless you."

For a while Niko did some jibber jabber after I sneezed, and then I FINALLY realized WHAT he was trying to say.

Now he's as far as: God biss you. ....ALMOST there, lol.

BUT, when he wants his cracker, he'll tell you as clear as day: "Let's go get it."

God biss you.

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ROFL! That is so cute!

Keep in mind, their mouthes and vocal cords are different, and they will never be able to produce certain sounds clearly. I think "p" is one of those sounds they have difficulty with because we make it with our lips, and since they don't have lips, they can't really make the sound. So if he's trying to call the dog "Parker" it's probably never going to get better than a garbled "arker". If you want him to speak, keep encouraging the "words" even if you can't make them out. He may get better at making them, or you may just become better at figuring out what they are.

Kiwi came to us with a small vocabulary, and while we don't encourage speech (the thought of him repeating the same thing 100x in a row is horrifying lol), he still continues saying words he learned one of his a prior homes. One thing we still haven't made out is if he's telling us "I love you" or if he's telling us "f-you". It's pretty much impossible to distinguish how garbled he says it and I can only hope someone wasn't teaching the poor bird dirty words.

I don't know if I agree with the theory they have a difficult time making the "P" sound. Salsa says "apple" pretty darn well.

[ame="http://youtu.be/rTHewuXWjD4"]HELLO...want an apple... - YouTube[/ame]

They can definitely make the "p" sound. Hunter tells me she's a "Pretty girl" all the time, and that is as clear as day.

Parker says his name very well too

I haven't ever looked THAT much into teaching them to speak, since I would prefer Kiwi not to speak. I just remember reading that (about them not being able to make certain sounds) a long time ago in an article about how their speech/vocal cords works. I just assumed it to be true. Perhaps that article was written was when parrots weren't as well understood, or it was just bad information. I do know the words Kiwi does say do not sound the same as when a person says them. You can tell what most of them are, but they are said in a way that's off (like he has a speech impediment).

@ Kiwibird so I guess i'm just curious why would you not encourage kiwi to talk...I know with Parker my BF zon him talking and jibbering is WAY better than his natural vocalizations... to each his or her own ... i just can't help but laugh at Parker and his talking...do any of your other fids talk?

Honestly, I think it's usually pretty cute when other peoples birds speak. I grew up with 3 parrots, none of whom ever spoke or even imitated a noise other than their own "parrot language" (which I actually find rather pretty and soothing). I'm completely accustomed to their noises and even the occasional screech fest. What I cannot tolerate are the birds who sit there and repeat the same word over and over and over again because they learnt it by the owner repeating it over and over again. As mentioned, Kiwi came with a small vocabulary, but he says those words in with his other normal noises (which is fine by me). He doesn't really seem to be a fast learner, and hasn't picked up any new words on his own in the 5 years we've had him. If he picks things up on his own (therefore doesn't repeat them like a broken record), that would be awesome, but I'm just not going to do anything to encourage it in case he picks up annoyingly repeating stuff.

I will add, I think at some point in his life, he must have lived near geese. If you've ever heard one of those big Canadian geese "honk", he sounds just like a big goose and I'm pretty sure that is not a natural parrot noise. I do encourage the honking noise because it's super cute, and if I honk at him, he'll honk back. He does the "whistle" game too. If I do the first half of the catcall whistle, he does the other half.

Kiwibird said:

Honestly, I think it's usually pretty cute when other peoples birds speak. I grew up with 3 parrots, none of whom ever spoke or even imitated a noise other than their own "parrot language" (which I actually find rather pretty and soothing). I'm completely accustomed to their noises and even the occasional screech fest. What I cannot tolerate are the birds who sit there and repeat the same word over and over and over again because they learnt it by the owner repeating it over and over again. As mentioned, Kiwi came with a small vocabulary, but he says those words in with his other normal noises (which is fine by me). He doesn't really seem to be a fast learner, and hasn't picked up any new words on his own in the 5 years we've had him. If he picks things up on his own (therefore doesn't repeat them like a broken record), that would be awesome, but I'm just not going to do anything to encourage it in case he picks up annoyingly repeating stuff.

I will add, I think at some point in his life, he must have lived near geese. If you've ever heard one of those big Canadian geese "honk", he sounds just like a big goose and I'm pretty sure that is not a natural parrot noise. I do encourage the honking noise because it's super cute, and if I honk at him, he'll honk back. He does the "whistle" game too. If I do the first half of the catcall whistle, he does the other half.

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Oh my goodness, I would love to see a vid of your parrot honking like a goose! Mango my red belly has the greatest little munchkin voice, its just adorable when he talks. He does gibberish all the time and we dont even pretend to know what hes saying. Our foster senegal though, has the most horrible voice I have ever heard. I much prefer his normal "bird noises" and we do NOT encourage him to talk. Luckily he doesnt seem all that keen on it and prefers to whistle.

We got the Rosetta Stone program for Parrot, Actually the B&G version. Now everything MAC says is quite understandable. :54::54::54:

There are times he is chattering and I think he is saying one thing and my wife thinks he is saying something else but it is quite comical to listen to him carry on.

I wish I had the ability to take video of it, because it is the funniest thing you've ever heard. He makes a few absolutely hilarious noises I just cannot imagine where he picked them up. Whenever the regular mailman (never fill ins, just the one mail guy he's singled out) walks by his window, he bows down with his wings spread and makes this high pitched "weeeeet" noise. And everytime my husband gives me a kiss within his sight, he makes this extremely rude "grunt", every.single time. It's absolutely terrible! He's a very strange little bird.

I can't imagine how cute mango must be doing the birdie gibberish! I have heard birds do that little thing before, and it's quite adorable. Poor little sengal though, I bet his little ear holes are burning about you saying he has a bad voice