How to Teach an African Gray to Talk

Video Transcript

"We don't have a grey parrot here today but this little conure here has been taught to talk, can talk when he wants to. And you would teach a grey parrot to talk by having them to where you can have their complete attention where they're not distracted. And repeat the same phrase. When the bird acts like it's trying to say it or trying to cooperate, you would use a clicker, then give them their treat and tell the bird it was a good bird. Birds love praise. They love to know that they've done something good. I would do this every morning and again every evening for about fifteen minutes. Don't stress the parrot, don't overtire the parrot, don't expect too much at one time. Parrots learn to talk at different rates. They're very much like a child. Some children don't learn to talk until they're a great deal older than others, and some learn to talk very rapidly. Grey parrots are great talkers and they learn usually quite well and quite rapid. But you need to expect what your parrot can do and don't try to over emphasize or over pressure the bird because that will cause stress and make them back off from talking. But they do talk, they talk usually quite soon and they want to please you."