It doesn't surprise me that Otto is such a great talker. He's got all the features of a great talking budgie- He's male, human bonded, not kept with other budgies, chatty in general, and obviously doted on by his human. With all this going for him his vocabulary can get huge. Every human sound is another sound for him to make, too. I've read that the record holder for the parrot with the largest vocabulary is a budgie. Otto's vocabulary will continue to grow for his whole life. You really should make a list of all the words and phrases Otto can say.
The budgie I had years ago that talked. Buddy, was a lot like Otto. Buddy died when he was less than four years old but if he had lived longer I'm sure his vocabulary would have grown a lot. Being an only budgie definitely makes a difference. Budgies are much less inclined to speak human if they listen to "budgie chatter" all day, regardless of how tame and friendly they are. However, once a budgie speaks human, he will speak human even to new budgies acquired later on. I've had many great budgies since Buddy but none were "only children" during the formative period and none ever started talking.
As for female talking budgies- I'm sure some girl budgies can learn to talk but most female budgies just aren't as naturally chatty as males. My boys prance around and tap their beaks and chatter to inanimate objects even with plenty of budgie friends around. My girls never do this.
I would love to hear from any PF members who have had a female budgie that talked.
