Am I the only one here that doesn't care if my birds talk at all?

nyspy

New member
Nov 5, 2013
157
0
Parrots
Pretty Birdy (BG Macaw)
Duke (BG Macaw)
Just wondering. If my birds talk, great.. if they don't, great. I just love them regardless.
 

Birdman666

Well-known member
Sep 18, 2013
9,904
258
San Antonio, TX
Parrots
Presently have six Greenwing Macaw (17 yo), Red Fronted Macaw (12 yo), Red Lored Amazon (17 y.o.), Lilac Crowned Amazon (about 43 y.o.) and a Congo African Grey (11 y.o.)
Panama Amazon (1 Y.O.)
I've had birds that do, and birds that don't.

Actually, with me, I am more interested in the goofy/interactive factors. Which is why I love my big macs and zons so much!
 

BruceV

New member
Oct 20, 2013
362
0
S.E. Michigan
Parrots
Simba (Blue & Gold Macaw); Cosmo (Blue Quaker); Blue (Blue IRN); Mattie (Green Quaker)
I love the fact that Simba talks. But if he didn't, I'd love him anyway. He's got so much personality!
 

MomtoPercy

New member
Nov 15, 2013
1,816
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South Africa
Parrots
Percy, a 5yo BFA & Jack, a 8yo Budgie
I don't actively try and teach Percy words but he's very quick on picking up certain things and it is ever so cute when he says something unexpected. Yesterday he was "gossiping to himself" like he does sometimes and suddenly piped up with "Oooh, he's SUCH a good booooy!" Just like I say it when he does something right in our training sessions. Needless to say, I just collapsed laughing and of course he joined in! But if all he ever did was whistle and say "helloooooo" like he does when he wants food of my plate, I'd still love my green baby.
 

kendrafitz

New member
Jul 14, 2012
362
0
Central NJ
Parrots
Rosie the Green Winged Macaw
Nope, I don't care. I think it would actually make life a bit easier if Rosie didn't talk. She is quite demanding and uses her words to boss her people around. ;)
 

tab_xo

Active member
Aug 9, 2012
3,288
1
Queensland, Australia
Parrots
Fargo- Blue and Gold Macaw
Exactly!!!

Also what i dont understand, is when people say: I want a bird that will talk, but not scream?! :20:

Fargo does this high pitched word and these random noises that are so high and loud, they are ALOT noisier than a scream :09:


I don't try and teach Fargo words, i hardly say anything to him, except: Fargoooo.. Noo.. ;)

So mostly his words are just random noises, i knew macaws aren't known for talking, hence i didn't care when i got Fargo, didn't expect him to talk! :)
 

strudel

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Sep 30, 2013
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All of my birds talk, just not all of them speak English. I don't care. When I got my budgie they said it won't talk if you put it with another budgie. She looked lonely, she got another budgie. She only talks "budgie", that's fine with me.

Because my galah can already say "hello", I do say things to her that she might one day repeat. I don't care whether she ever does, but it would be a nice surprise if she suddenly did. That's just because I'm impressed by all of her "schtick", not because I specifically want her to talk.
 

Mayden

New member
Apr 22, 2010
2,540
12
UK.
Parrots
Merlin & Charlie (Senegals)
Merlin and Charlie both say a few phrases. Never expected them to, couldn't care less if they didn't. I love my green fuzzballs regardless.
 

Mike17

New member
Aug 12, 2013
592
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Outback Western Australia
Parrots
Alex- Eclectus, Ariel- whiteface, Junior- pied, Custard-lutino, Ziggy- pearl cockatiels, Kermit- Princess parrot, Jade- Plumhead parrot, George- budgie, Coco- Rainbow lorikeet, Corey-Little Corella.
We don't expect our birds to talk, but it's fun when they do. Our eccy Alex says a lot (sometimes whole sentences :)) but mostly unintelligible. Ditto Corey the Corella. The budgie George was the biggest surprise, he learned to talk very quickly, but then decided he'd rather copy all the other birds (he has the plumhead down pat, just slightly lower volume) than expand his human vocabulary. The antics are more fun than their "speech". IMHO.
 
OP
nyspy

nyspy

New member
Nov 5, 2013
157
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Parrots
Pretty Birdy (BG Macaw)
Duke (BG Macaw)
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It was always a question I wanted to ask. Obviously, when you meet someone who sees your bird the first time, they always ask, "Does he talk?" For some odd reason, that question really bothers me.
 

Featheredsamurai

New member
Aug 24, 2011
4,172
19
California
Parrots
African Greg
2 cockatiels
I don't care, Rosie never talked(she barely made noise at all) and whether she did or not wouldn't change my opinion of her. I LOVE her for who she is, not for what her species is capable of doing.

When I adopted Kenji I already knew he was already skilled at making various noises and talking, but whether he talks or not wouldn't make me love him any less or more. I'll admit it is fun, and getting to see my friends and family hear him talk for the first time is very cool. But I personally do not care :p
 

getwozzy

New member
Feb 26, 2013
7,218
7
Oregon
When we got chili I wasn't expecting her to talk, and I don't really teach her either. However, much to my surprise she's got a few words down and working on more. My son (19 months) is also learning to talk, so I spend quite a bit saying words over and over and over, so I'm sure she's picking up on it haha.

It's slightly frustrating when it seems like the only thing people want to know is if they talk. And if you say no, then they lose interest. Which is silly because I think they're just as fun and interesting even if they can't talk!
 
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nyspy

nyspy

New member
Nov 5, 2013
157
0
Parrots
Pretty Birdy (BG Macaw)
Duke (BG Macaw)
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Maybe that's the way to get people to leave birdy alone! Tell them "he doesn't talk!"
 

Betrisher

Well-known member
Jun 3, 2013
4,253
177
Newcastle, NSW, Australia
Parrots
Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
The Beaks can only say 'Hello', but they pack *so* much meaning and expression into that one word, they don't really need to learn any more.

They can also warble a few bars of 'Brindisi' from 'La Traviata', but they only ever do that when we're out of the room. So, we'll all be sitting in the computer room and hear 'Buckbaaark! Buckbuckbuck buckbuckbuck buckbuckbaaark!' coming quite clearly from the kitchen. We've been trying to get a recording of them, but the Beaks are crafty and always Know when there's a microphone nearby.

See, my daughter and I used to think it funny to sing 'Brindisi' in Chicken. So we would cluck the tune at each other, laughing helplessly and falling about with the humour of it all. Of course, the Beaks picked up on the emotion and have learned to sing 'Brindisi' as well. In Chicken. We reckon that's pretty neat. :D
 

TessieB

New member
Nov 3, 2013
1,230
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6
2
Upstate, South Carolina
Parrots
1 Blue Front Amazon, 1 Yellow Head Amazon, 4 Cockatiels, 2 Parakeets
I've never insisted on owning talking birds. Now I have one that talks I'm amazed but I like the one that doesn't talk just as much for her endearing nature.
 

GaryBV

New member
Nov 2, 2013
627
7
Southwestern Pennsylvania
Parrots
Pacific Parrotlets - green Beanieboy and blue Skya;
Fischer Lovebirds - Mariposa and Papillon
None of my birds talk and I've never had a bird that talked - it's just not important to me, but it also makes a difference that the species I have, Fischer Lovebirds and Pacific Parrotlets, aren't known for their talking ability - I guess if that was something I did care about I'd of gone for something like an African Grey
 

Abigal7

New member
Jun 17, 2012
853
1
United States of America/ Kansas
Parrots
Captain Jack (Hahn's macaw)


Clover (green cheek conure)
No, I do not care. I personally am into the playful cuddly personality. I had birds that never talked such as a budgie that would move its mouth but no words would come out when you talked to it and cockatiel that took up whistling but had a hard time saying hello. No green cheek conure I had ever talked. My green cheek conure Paulie got very good at mimicking the phone so we ended up having check if a number was coming trough on the ID before even grabbing the phone. Macaws are not considered the greatest talkers but Captain Jack has picked up on stuff. And it is a curse somewhat. I have allergies and currently he sometimes bobs his head and makes a weird sound that is similar to breathing or stuff nose sound. One can view it as sarcastic when you call a bird and it decides to sit there and say "come here" in a cartoonish voice. My hearing in my right ear is not as good so I sometimes have to as for people to repeat themselves. Well my sister laughed when she found out Captain Jack can say "what."
 

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