Teach Parrot to Talk: Stimulating the Reluctant Talker

When you teach parrot to talk you need to know different types of parrots are known to have differing propensities for mimicking human speech. The ease with which a parrot can physically produce speech is probably determined by the musculature in the trachea. Sound is produced by expelling air across the mouth of the bifurcated trachea.

Variations in the sound are produced when the bird alters the "depth" and shape of the trachea. Some parrots such as the African grey parrot seem to have great ability to produce various sounds while others such as the cockatiel have limited ability to produce varied sounds. There is also great variation between individuals of the same type. A good-talking cockatiel might have a larger vocabulary than a poor-talking African grey.

A well-socialized, home-bred baby, when you teach a parrot to talk, often learns to talk more quickly than a human infant. It is somewhat more difficult to stimulate a wild-caught bird to learn to communicate verbally with human speech.

In addition to physical propensity, a parrot must be motivated to communicate. I believe parrots who rapidly narrow the pupil of their eyes ("pinpointing" or "flashing") are demonstrating a high level of interest in whatever is going on, including verbal communication. Frequent pinpointing is often observed in good-talking parrots, and I believe lack of or infrequent pinpointing can be an indication of either poor health or a lack of curiosity.

Talking ability in parrots is unrelated to disposition. Some of the orneriest, meanest, most aggressive birds I have ever seen were great talkers. Many of the environmental manipulations we use to teach parrot to talk are also those we use to reduce aggression. A balance must be maintained so that the bird is happy and excited about life, but not arrogant and temperamental enough to abuse humans.

Presuming a particular bird is of a type known to be capable of human speech, the following will help teach parrot to talk.

• Include the bird in your daily rituals like showering, grooming (be careful with aerosols), and eating. Allow the bird to observe you sleeping and expressing affection.
Participating in or observing these activities replicates the feeling of being a part of the flock and there will be a natural instinct to desire communication with other members
of the flock.

• If the bird is usually housed lower than eye level and there is little problem with aggression, allow it to spend some social time in a very high place. The intoxication of height might stimulate aggression, screaming, or in a shy bird, speech.

• If the bird seems to suffer from poor self-esteem but is acclimated to the home environment, try allowing it a little more wing feather than usual when grooming; or perhaps allow the wing feathers to grow in completely to stimulate the motivation to communicate.

• Model for the bird by calling back and forth with a human companion. Teach parrot to talk as you would to a human baby, using words to represent their meaning. Put a human companion in a competitive situation where the human companion receives a reward that the bird wants for speaking an easy-to-say word like "What."

• Try to provide a like-species role model to teach the bird to talk. If you can't find a
role model, try establishing a rival or competitive student.

• Try to learn the meaning of a particular sound the bird uses; then use it with the same meaning.

• Try allowing access to a "bird safe mirror"—a flat piece of shiny metal that swings on a chain. Watch out for the development of aggression around the bird mirror.

• Many birds find it fun to talk "into" the corner or the seed dish. Give the bird an interesting "echo" device in its cage, maybe a jar, metal can, or plastic cup.

• Watch lots of Tarzan movies and nature programs. Yell at television sports activities, in bird screams if possible.

• Stand out of sight of the bird and whistle. Try to get the bird to whistle back.

• Make up stories that mention the bird's name frequently. Sing to the bird when you run the shower, dishwasher, or vacuum cleaner.

• Establish singing, dancing, or music rituals: vacuum to "William Tell Overture," shower to "The Thieving Magpie," or perform Brigadoon on Sunday mornings.

• Most importantly, if there are several people in the household, talk to each other as well as to the bird.

These are the best ways to teach parrot to talk.

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