will my owa ever talk?

[ftlaudmom]

I just adopted a young owa and he is between 9 months and a year old (from what the store owner told me). He was in a cage with another owa and had formed a bond with her it seems. I've only had him for 2 days and so far he's been very quiet and only made soft birdy squawks. I wonder if there's hope he will eventually imitate words. I've had 2 other zons and they were both very vocal and I hope he's just in a separation phase.

 

[kozykitty]

I adopted a 30 year old BFA who already talked some but she was very quiet for the first 3 or 4 days when she first came to us. I think it may just be an adjustment period.

 

[bill_e]

I recently lost my 40 yr old OWA, had her since early 70's. She would bark, meow, ring and squawk but not a word.

 

[texsize]

My OWA does not talk. I have had him for more than 30 years and it has never tried to talk.
It does whistle what can be recognized as "pretty bird" a three note whistle, and a laugh "whistle".
I visited a avian pet shop/rescue and they had a OWA that DID talk so I know it is possible.
texsize

 

[JerseyWendy]

OWA certainly can learn to talk, but as with any bird, there's never a guarantee they will.

IMHO, if you have other birds in the house that talk, chances are better that he will. My nearly 17 year old YN started talking around 4 months. She said 'hello' while still being handfed. My young DYH learnt my YN's entire repertoire by the time he was fully weaned, and is still picking up new words rather quickly.

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum. I raise owas ., never been around any i would call "talkers". My 40 something breeder pair does talk a little. Things like hi and hello. I've had a few babies who said things like hi, at an early age but of course they all moved on to new homes. My point is i wouldn't exspect much . They good.with.sounds and whistles.

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah.

OWA's aren't the best talkers, but they more than make up for it by being goofy... I agree sound effects and whistling. The stranger the noise, the more likely it is they will pick it up.

 

[ftlaudmom]

I do know they can because the one I had previous had quite a large vocabulary and was still learning new things all the time. I just hope this one will too since he's so young. I've only ever had one bird at a time and from what I've read they say that some birds tend to talk less when other birds are around. I hope that's the case here and he'll eventually learn. That's one of the things I've enjoyed the most about amazons (as well as their amazing smell lol).

 

[ftlaudmom]

I made some progress with Shaggy today. First i had to find a treat that he likes that I can use only during training. i cut up pecans and gave him out of a cup after using the clicker. I want him to learn that a click means a treat and we did that for a little bit. He likes to run around on the floor and he stepped up on my arm but was very unsure but at least he did it. i put him back on the floor and he also stepped onto a stick and seems to like that better. He is not allowing me to actually touch him yet but I think we will progress to that soon. Maybe after a few more days of the step up game then I'll try to touch his tail or head while he's on,my arm. I'll post my progress and welcome any thoughts.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Gotta love the OWA's! Zilla is 30 this year, I've had her for about 19 months now and she has said a couple words, but really prefers not to use human language. She expects me to learn her language! She is a total sweet heart and would spend all day on my shoulder with her forehead shoved into my eye socket if I let her.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Sweet update on Shaggy! Thank you for that.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Love the name Shaggy...sounds like you are doing really well and building up a bond already. My White Fronted Amazon was very quiet at first but is pretty vocal now. He isnt talking human words but I do love his parrot talk. From what I gather the OWA dont speak many hunan words if indeed they speak at all but you will still have the joy of all the sounds Shaggy will make to communicate with you and the world around him once he settles in and feels at home. Enjoy him and have lots of fun with him

 

[ftlaudmom]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys. got another surprise today when I came home. I opened his cage door and as soon as he got on top I said scratch and he bent his head for it. He allowed it twice and then that was it. I'm just surprised that he understands the word so I have to assume his breeder used it with him. He's still in his carrying cage right now because I have him in the family room so he can get used to all the family and also to hear us talk to him to increase the chances of him imitating us. Both of my other amazons were big chatterboxes and I think I'll really miss that if this little guy just squawks all the time. I know I'll love him just as much but I still can't help but hope.

 

[ImmunoGoblin]

He might! I adopted mine from another family when he was about 3. They told me he could talk, and since then it's been kind of fun to discover what he already knew and what he can still learn. The first day I had him, he laughed. The next day, he told my ex he was a "pretty bird." "Pretty bird" is by far his strongest phrase and I bet it was the first thing he learned to say. He will usually say it back to me, or "pretty pretty," or mix it up and say it in a scary monster voice. He also makes a very dramatic movie sound effect style chicken noise (bawk bawk baGAWK!). He likes to do the ba GAWK if you do the bawk bawk, or vice versa. Those are kind of his "stock phrases" but he can also say about 10-20 other things, and he will reliably yell "HI!" about 1/3 of the time when you open the front door. He also seemed to learn the most and the best when I lived with my ex and his DYH. The two zons rapidly exchanged their entire vocabularies when we put them together.