How to Teach an Amazon Parrot to Talk
Parrots are one of the most endearing pets a person can have. They can live for more than 30 years when cared for properly and when trained can provide joy for the entire family --parrot included. One of the first things you can do with your parrot is teach it to talk.
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Instructions
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Determine the person in your house who has the best relationship with your parrot. Many parrots will be a "one-person" bird--meaning it will respond to a specific person better than anyone else. This is the person who should start training the bird to speak. Once your parrot begins speaking, everything from the kids to the doorbell will be fair game for its mimicry.
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Have close and regular conversation with the parrot. Let it see how your tongue and lips move. As a bird is trying to learn this new talent, it will start to play with its beak and tongue trying to copy you. It is important for it to see this as it helps it learn.
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Record a simple phrase such as "Hello," on a CD. Say the same phrase to the parrot several times, then play the CD repeatedly. For your own sanity, it is best to hit "Auto Replay" when you are not home. Let the parrot hear the same word repeatedly. When you are with it, show it how to say the word as well. Keep it simple and don't give it too much to learn at first.
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After it learns the first phrase, add a second track to the CD. Once again, keep it simple. Letting it learn things people are saying to it regularly allows the parrot to get constant reinforcement for its efforts. A great second word or phrase is its name; e.g., "I'm Polly."
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Once the parrot masters a word, it will often incorporate it with something else it learned. So once it has mastered the first two words, you may hear it say, "Hello, I'm Polly." As its vocabulary increases, replace old recordings with new, more elaborate ones. Songs and poems are also great things to offer your parrot as it is able to repeat longer and more complex phrases. At this point, it will be picking up things you aren't teaching it, always attuned to its environment.
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Tips & Warnings
While you can teach a parrot of almost any age to talk, it is best to work with a younger bird as its brain is still developing and it takes in new information the best. While whistling is an easy trick to teach since it coincides with the shrill sounds a bird naturally makes, try not to focus on this for a first lesson as it may inhibit the bird's desire to learn something counter-intuitive to its nature.
Be careful about what you say around the house. Once your parrot starts to learn to imitate, it won't be long before those little verbal slip-ups you wish you didn't say are being projected for the neighborhood to hear.
Comments
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capslock
Sep 04, 2009
* meaning you can buy an African Grey but it isn't going to be a guaranteed talker. Purchase a bird that is already talking if you absolutely must have a talking parrot. -
capslock
Sep 04, 2009
Always get a parrot for what YOU can do for it, not what it can do for you. If it doesn't talk, don't just get rid of it, as parrots have many other talents and amusing things that they do.. At the end of the day though, they are not a source of entertainment as much as they are *work*, and they can't be expected to perform like a dog. I have found my birds speak when they want to, and pick up phrases they prefer. Some never talk and prefer to make bird noises or just mimic noises, with African Greys or Amazons.
