Do your birds talk?

[nkrbkr]

People associate parrots with talking, but as we know, not all parrots talk. We also know that regardless of whether or not they speak, they are just as lovable. Do your birds talk? If so, what are your favorite things that they say? Are your birds “closet talkers?” Surprisingly, both my birds talk. Lovebirds are not known for their ability to speak, & I never expected that Button would say a word, but he does have a very small vocabulary. Ava, on the other hand…

Button:
-He says “Step Up!” in a big boy voice when he is in a mood, usually accompanied by a sassy swooping motion. He’s too big for his britches.
-We whisper “hi” to him all the time, so that is how he greets us. Also, in a whisper.
-Button makes the most adorable kissing sounds when he receives a kiss.
-I swear I’ve heard him say “Kiss” & “Hi, pretty bird” in his closet talking sessions.

Ava (my favorites):
-“Woooo!” when she receives a treat
-“Aaaavvvvvaaaa!” Or “Hi Ava!” Or “Hello Ava!”
-“Peekaboo!” Sometimes with a falsetto voice on the “boo”
-A super cool laser gun noise that does not sound like a bird
-Since being home with us, she just started saying, “ I love you, Ava” today, & whistling a certain way that she learned from us.

We’re still learning new things that Ava says each week.

 

[LaManuka]

Lovejoy is my only talker, I didn't teach him anything, he just picked a few things up. He says "bounce bounce bounce", "peekaboo" and "Lovejoy", and he's just learned to say "smoochy", cos he gets LOTS of those

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My budgies don't talk human speech but they speak to me through their eyes and with their souls. Rocky in particular has a lot of empathy and soul. She looks into my eyes and listens to me as if she knows what I'm thinking and saying.

I had a budgie years ago that talked. Buddy would say "Who's your Buddy", "Birds can't talk" and various combinations of those words. The Goffin's cockatoo I had, Casper, would say "Caspie boy". The cockatiel I had, Charlie, would say "Charlie" and could whistle many tunes.

 

[OttoVonRuthless]

Otto ( Budgie) is a talker... He's my first talker, 80 words so far. Too many favorites to name. Otto the Brit
He speaks in different accents no idea where he learned them, British, Canadian, American Gangster..

 

[nkrbkr]

Otto ( Budgie) is a talker... He's my first talker, 80 words so far. Too many favorites to name.

My budgie growing up was quite the talker too. They have the sweetest voices.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I wrote a post in response about talking budgies under the wrong thread- Funny Otto Story.
Maybe one of the Moderators can move it for me.

 

[wrench13]

Even though Yellow Shoulder Amazons are not famous as good talkers, Salty talks pretty well, when he wants to. We have never included talking into our training sessions with him. So anything he says is strictly by his own violition. Despite that, he is amazingly on point usually. Before our dog Tinker passed away, Salty would amuse himself by calling the dog in from another room or downstairs in my wife's voice. He calls my wife by her name and me, I'm Daddy and he even varies the inflection when he does this, sometimes making himself sound very plaintive! Just the other day we had some people over and he told the lady "You're pretty", something we don't normally say to him.

Salty does his practice talking in the AM, just after he gets up and has finished breakfast. He sits in a corner of his cage and quietly rehearses and mumbles to himself for an hour or so. His loud periods are just before lunch and dinner, but sometimes he just like to make noise cuz' well.... parrot. He often talks during those, mixed in with the typical Amazon chatter, screams and laughs.

True to type, Salty likes to sing too. He sings "Little Brown Jug" with most of the words, knows the cool female part of the Magic Flute opera and of course lots of his own Amazon creations. Honestly, I like those best.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

Out of my four stinkers, Charlie is my best talker. He says, 'WHAT NOW? What chya doing? SHUT UP! (to the dog) and swears at the dog (I swear it happened once, and he picked it up!). He also says Night Night at bedtime. His most recent one was 'Good Morning'.

Redshift doesn't talk much. He says (more like whistles) 'Night night' and tells the dog to SHUT UP! .

Vortex mumbles some stuff in typical Pionus fashion, and I can't decipher what she says. I've heard her say 'WHat Now' clearly.

YVons is more of a whistler. He's not learned anything new since being here, except to swear, clear as day, in Charlie's voice. Needless to say, THAT was discouraged. He's also said 'Hey a$$hole' to me when I first brought him home, in a decidedly MALE voice. Something he picked up from previous owners. He's said it to me once or twice since then. We have a game we play where he makes a cartoon falling noise and I say 'splat!'. He loves it. He's also started saying ' Wooooooooow' more often.

 

[rheashard2]

Nameliss mimics a variety of animals, machine sounds. She does so at volume learned. Nameliss is more of a talker. When she asks questions a response is expected. She will talk to to strangers. I haven't figured out what triggers that. If I want her to, she's mute! She does one thing that is amusing and annoying. If I am talking on phone, to daughter, strangers etc she interjects comments. I talk, she talks louder, I get louder and so does she. I never know what she's going to say. Or when! Her favorite is giving the dogs orders and telling them to shut up. I have the most fun tracking down what, where sounds, statements originated. The sound of dog kibble hitting metal or plastic bowls. The weird whirl squeak sound of attic vent. I enjoy her talking and mimicking. Oddly enough I enjoy her behaviors and personality more. Don't get me wrong. I've lost count of the numbers when I contemplate parrot pot pie with a vodka chaser.

 

[texsize]

Bella has a large vocabulary but her favorite”s are.
Red butt shower.
What’s going on.

The Twins have a limited vocabulary and don’t speak as clearly as Bella.
They say.
Hello.
Parrot.
Such a parrot.
And my son’s name.

 

[onamom]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: talking parrots never ceases to entertain me. I could talk to a parrot all day.

Both Yuri and Ona talk! So far Yuri is a really good speaker and she says her name very clearly. She also sounds like a villager from Minecraft and likes to go “wra-wroah” and “pew pew”

Ona says quite a lot but can be difficult to understand:
- Step Up
-Pretty
-Love you
-Thank you
-Quasimoto
-Mommy and Daddy
-Goodnight
-Outside
-Yeah and what
-she said “could be fine” a couple days ago
- + many others

My favorite thing about Ona’s talking is she so often talks in context. She does go on little chatting sprees where she just says things but very often it’s in context. She says “yeah” all the time after Zach or I say something and “what” when we ask a question. She says “pretty” when she fans out her wings. She screams “mommy” when she wants out of her cage. Oh and “Quasimoto” is when she rings a bell my husband taught her that one and it’s hilarious

 

[nkrbkr]

I forgot to add that Ava laughs as well. Someone will laugh, then she laughs, then everyone is laughing at each other. When I took her to the vet, the vet tech had her toweled for the exam, & was waiting for the vet to grab something. Ava started laughing (nervous laughter?), & pretty soon everyone in the room was laughing.

 

[rheashard2]

I forgot to add that Ava laughs as well. Someone will laugh, then she laughs, then everyone is laughing at each other. When I took her to the vet, the vet tech had her toweled for the exam, & was waiting for the vet to grab something. Ava started laughing (nervous laughter?), & pretty soon everyone in the room was laughing.

Is she laughing to get you to do the same?

 

[nkrbkr]

Is she laughing to get you to do the same?

Sometimes I think she does! She likes to do it when meeting new people.

 

[OttoVonRuthless]

Otto was sitting on my chest the other day, he knew I was stressed and he looks at me, kisses my face then says, "I don't want to lose you, Bird! I love you!"

 

[rheashard2]

It's amazing how sensitive and responsive parrots all sizes can be.

 

[AprilRobin]

Our only bird that talks is Sprite, a female Sun Conure. Of course, it would be fine with us if none of them talked. Kona and Pepper, the Cockatiels, will sometimes mimic a whistle-like sound that I make. (I am in my late 30s and can't whistle.)

Sprite says...

• "Sprite"
• "Pepper"
• "Basil", one of the Budgies. Although, she dislikes the Budgies and can't be loose when they are.
• "Good bird"
• "Vegetables" and "eat their vegetables" (from hearing me say "Yes, good birds, eating their vegetables!")
• "Want some millet?" or "Want some pellets?"...sometimes we can't tell!
• "Hey!"
• "Winston", one of our dogs
• Sometimes I hear "Saint", one of our other dogs
• A "hoot-hoot" sound. One of the sounds that I make for the Cockatiels.

Storm and Spirit, our Green Cheeked-Conures who sadly died young, would each say their names in turn: "Spirit!" "Storm!" "Spirit!" "Storm!"