Sources for teaching to talk?

[Skittys_Daddy]

I was wondering if anyone knows of any site/source to download audio files of words to teach birds to talk.

I don't have a microphone, so I can't record my own voice- but I'd like to have some sort of audio file that I could play on repeat while I am out of the house to teach Skittles to say those words.

I want to see if I can teach him to say "hello", "goodnight" and "pretty bird".

 

[Eve2]

Have a look at this site. Bird Training CD

 

[GaleriaGila]

There are free apps you can download that let you record your own voice and make repeat-loops. "AUDACITY" is one I have used for other purposes. It was easy.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I guess I'll have to keep looking. I tried Google but didn't get anywhere, that's why I posted here.

Thanks anyways.

 

[snowflake311]

Is your bird a male or female? I could record my voice for you and send you the file haha I will charge you $5 haha.

 

[DerTier]

I was teaching my friends gcc to talk. I started with rewarding squawking and other noises then started repeating words and he'd try and copy me. High value treats were his trick, he would say numnums and apple haha it was adorable

 

[DerTier]

We also played the copy cat game which also likely helped him decide to mirror words later on

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Skittles is a male. I had him DNA sex'd back in 2011 shortly after I got him.

 

[plumsmum2005]

I was teaching my friends gcc to talk. I started with rewarding squawking and other noises then started repeating words and he'd try and copy me. High value treats were his trick, he would say numnums and apple haha it was adorable

Not the usual scenario

 

[DerTier]

well, it was very specific squawking, I don't know all the right terms yet. He would make a very quiet sound that was like a murmered squawk (lol) when I would have treats in his line of sight. He was a very quiet bird and so soliciting any sounds from him was a bit of a challenge. He began to try out different sounds of differing volume, and eventually tried to mirror the sounds I made. He got the most rewards when mimicking and he did learn a few words in the short time I had him

As I train a variety of animals from dogs to lizards to fish to what have you, I definitely don't have a traditional background in bird training like yall, just sharing what I found worked.

It was NOT the same as rewarding shrieking and non solicited noises. It was definitely very specific things he did that got rewarded, I was very careful not to turn my friends bird into a shrieking demon.

Mostly we worked on tricks, such as "foot" (lifts his foot), wings (when they stretch their wings vertically), flex (when they stretch their opposite foot and wing), shoulder(go to shoulder, he didn't like hands), and a variety of in the cage and on the cage positioning so we could easily do maintenance and such in his cage He is very famous on my buddies stream for the silly tricks he learned. We were working on "hi-yah!" which was a combo of "wings" and "foot". He loved to show off his wings and tricks even without treats. They are definitely one of the smartest animals I've trained. Training him gave me a much more zealous attitude toward training my other animals. My Service dog in training made huge strides during that period as I was extra motivated

feel free to delete if you think I did it wrong and am giving bad advice admins

He definitely knew what numnums and apple meant imo, as he would get pretty upset if he said apple and I didn't immediately go get one for him XD (although that could just be me putting my inexperience on him)

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I assume you don't mean screeching? You mean other sorts of noises?

Skittles makes 'kissy noises' a LOT and also makes 'froggy noises' (common among suns) and he also makes little 'squeak noises' (like when you are washing windows). I tend to reward those noises cause they are cute and pleasant.

He has learned that if he makes those noises, he gets what he wants much easier than screaming. When he screams, I try diversion tactics and setting limits which usually work like a charm. When they don't, and his screaming in excess persists its back to the cage he goes where he will persist on making 'kissy noises' in repetition trying to manipulate me into letting him back out. I do let him back out when he does that, then if he starts screaming in excess again, I put him right back.

I don't discipline him when he screeches to alert- I discipline him when he screeches to try and get his way.

 

[Notdumasilook]

First off...IMHO.... don't waste time downloading or recording anything. YOU interacting with your bird with simple words and phrases... just like you would do talking/teaching a child. My birds talk to me... they just don't imitate some noise they heard. These critters are SMART and talk to each other in the wild with their own language. Bridge the gap and they will meet you half-way. That's how my birds learned and it worked for me. Lil "for instance". .. Id walk up to the cage and ask... "wanna come out??"... and open the door. Now when my BFA wants out he tells me... "wanna come out".. asking me to open his door. Can site other examples but you get my drift. Good luck

 

[wrench13]

Salty says Hello, Hello Geri and Hello Daddy. He only will say that when you actually come in the front door. No other times.

 

[RedheadedVixen]

With Soleil being 8 already and only having her for a few months, I didn't think I'd be able to get her talking or any type of word association. Her former home said she knew "pretty bird." She hasn't said anything of the sort lol. A few days ago, I went in to her room and said "Whatcha doin pretty girl?" She responded with a sweet sound, no words but the sound was unlike any I've heard from her. She's done it every time I ask that same question now. I keep a clock radio going up until it's bedtime, so there's always some sound. I reward with either treats or positive encouragement, depends upon the situation. Fingers crossed, she'll eventually say something. IMHO, only being a newbie myself, I don't think you need a recorded voice. Skittles will definitely let you know when it's time. I'm guessing in time there will be a post (possibly from me) complaining about not being able to get the birb to STOP talking lmao

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[Skittys_Daddy]

I've never had a talking bird before and never tried to teach Skittles to talk. His talking came as a complete surprise.

But now he's not saying it as much and he's picky about when he says it. Sometimes he'll be on one of his playstands and I'll walk over to him and put my face near him and say 'love you' or make 'kissy noises' to get him to repeat them and 99% of the time he just glides over and either presses himself against my face or more commonly, lifts his wing and covers my nose with his wingpit.

I get why he chose 'love you' for his first words, it's what I say to him more than anything else. I just hope he doesn't start saying "quit being a booger!". I say that to him almost as much.

 

[RedheadedVixen]

Lmao. Soleil is my first talking bird too. It's a whole new experience. It really is amazing how much the little goobers actually do teach us. I wouldn't trade it for the world <3

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[BoomBoom]

Hello, Skitty's Dad! Just wanted to drop in and see how you're doing. Regards to your Neotropical Pigeon from my Technicolor Chicken!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Hello, Skitty's Dad! Just wanted to drop in and see how you're doing. Regards to your Neotropical Pigeon from my Technicolor Chicken!

Haha! I just posted in your new thread before I came here. lol. Skitty is talking now!

 

[EllenD]

I don't know what type of cell phone you have, but I know that at the Play Store for Android phones (and I'm sure at the iPhone equivalent) there is a free app that you can download to your phone called "Parrot Voice Recorder", so go to the place on your cell phone that you can download apps, games, etc. and type "Parrot Voice Recorder" in the search bar. That's the exact name of the app. You can download the basic app for free, and that's all you will need for what you want to do. Download the app to your phone and then open it up. It's by far the best sound/voice recorder with the most options/effects available for free (I'm a musician so I use this app to record myself playing songs I write on guitar). You can actually download the computer version of the app on the internet for free as well. You can basically use your phone (you don't need a microphone this way) to record yourself saying whatever word you want to say. Then save it as a sound file on your phone, and then either email it to yourself and open it up on your computer and download the file to your computer through your email, or download the file to your computer using a USB cable. Then you open the app on your computer and you can edit it any way you want to, like putting it on "Repeat". So you can actually utilize your phone as your microphone using this app. Once you put the file on "Repeat" on your computer you can actually set the amount of time you want it to play for. So you can make a separate file for each word or phrase you want your bird to learn, record it, download it to your computer, then open it up in the app on your computer and have it play on "Repeat" for however long you want it to play.

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[SassiBird]

"Feathered Phonics" makes CD's. I have no idea if they work.