Teaching Your Bird to Talk

Teaching a bird to talk can be rewarding, entertaining, and strengthen your relationship with your bird. Obviously, it is absolutely dependent on the type of bird you have, as some are better talkers than others. For example, really only about 1 in 1000 lovebirds actually talks (limitedly). We've caught Evee saying his name and "up."

Emma has learned to say a few phrases. Her ability is still developing, as she is a young bird, but we have heard her clearly say "Oh Boy" and "Emma" so far. We are in the process of teaching her how to say "Hello." We repeat it to her over and over to help. That's really how she learned how to say her name. Rodney's favorite thing to say to her when she comes to him or gives her something is "Oh Boy" which is why she has picked that up!

What does it take to help teach your bird to talk? Well, there are some key things needed:

Patience

Repetition

Observation

Rewards

So what kind of tools do we offer on our site? Lots of different tools can help. CDs are great for learning lots of different phrases. The Babble Balls are great fun for your bird, but can also aid in helping them build vocabulary.

So a few tips:
1. Start out by teaching small phrases like, "Hello" or "Pretty Bird."
2. Remember that inadvertant things may be picked up by your talking bird if they hear you say it over and over. If you don't want them saying it for the next 70-80 years (as some can live that long), being aware of what you repeat around your bird is important!
3. Don't rush your parrot. Just like teaching a child, you need to have patience and not push anything new on them in a stressful way. Take time each day (even if just for a few minutes) and repeat the phrases you are teaching them.
4. Don't give up! Discouragement won't aid in helping your bird learn to talk.
5. Whistling to your bird may help them if they need to start to learn to talk.
6. Observe your bird! See what phrases they like to repeat or try to repeat. Those are the ones to focus on. Your bird will choose to say his/her favorite phrases.
7. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
8. Reward your bird as they learn or even listen to you. It gives them positive stimulation to learn!
9. Save 15% on your entire order with coupon code: chick15

Bird Info: Birds do not have a voice box and vocal chords. They reproduce sound through the syrinx. The variations in sounds are finely controlled with several small muscles. Some birds can even whistle or sing two songs simultaneously.