How to Teach a Parrot to Talk

As satisfied bird owners can attest, teaching a parrot to talk takes patience but is well worth the effort.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Cassette Tape Recorders
• Parrot Cages
• Parrot Food
• Parrot Treat

1. Begin teaching your parrot to talk when she is 4 to 6 months old at the latest. Try a simple 'Good morning' to your bird at the start of each day. Keep in mind that some parrots will pick up words sooner than others.

2. Hold the bird in front of your mouth when you teach her, so that you have her attention.

3. Repeat words or phrases, such as family members' names and common expressions. Be sure to show lots of excitement in your voice. Your parrot will gradually begin to repeat after you.

4. Repeat certain words or phrases every time you do something, such as 'Up' when you lift your bird up, to teach her to associate a certain movement with certain words.

5. Reward with treats when your parrot mimics you.

6. Consider playing recordings of words you want her to learn for up to 15 minutes at a time ' longer than that can cause boredom.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't let your bird hear sounds or words you don't want her to mimic. Discourage unwanted utterances by simply ignoring them.
• Some experts believe that parrot owners should teach their birds to talk before teaching them to whistle, as whistling can interfere with learning words.
• Mynah birds and certain types of parakeets can also learn to repeat words.

[mickeyandjoey]

on 5/23/2009 how can u tell how old your parrot is?....when u first get her

[ghengiskhan]

on 7/1/2008 ChetWomach is right. You can get free spacer tracks up to 1 hour long from http://www.teachmybirdtotalk.com/freeBirdSpeechmp3s.htm also free 'hello' 'goodbye' etc tracks you can play on your computer for parrot speach training

[ChetWomach]

on 2/14/2008 Be careful playing a recording of a word over and over for long periods of a time. Even 15 minutes would probably be too long as doing this can sometimes cause birds to actual 'dislike' a word. Also watch for pinning in your birds eyes when trying to teach him/her a new word.

[gpcs]

on 1/5/2008 How to see Wild Parrots in the US of A by George Sommers: they just might be in your neighborhood!

on 9/23/2006 If you mumble or whistle frequently, the bird will become incoherent. Also, budgies are quite easy to train, especially if they are hand-raised from a breeder.