Talking birds

The gift of speech

In the wild, parrots show many natural gifts; in captivity, they display astonishing abilities. We have all heard of their ease of adaptation, taming and learning, their sociability, the attachment they devote to their owner, their extreme sensitivity (which makes them pine away when they are separated from those they are used to living with, humans or birds), but also and above all their memory and their capacity for imitation. This is indeed their most spectacular characteristic.

Without any doubt, the African Grey is the best talker. The blue-fronted amazon is also among the very best talkers. The macaws, for their part, are not very gifted at speech, but more so at calls. One can nonetheless expect a few words from them. The cockatiel and the budgerigar can also articulate a few words.

Learning to speak

This astonishing ability that parrots and other talking birds have to imitate human language makes them fascinating to study and makes them fascinating pets. To bring them to display this gift of speech and to perfect it is, of course, a matter of learning: just as you would teach a child the pronunciation of words and sentences, you must regard the parrot as a real little pupil! This entails regular lessons, patience, psychology and a minimum of teaching skill. It will also, obviously, be easier for a young bird than for an adult.

The first rule is to regard these as private lessons: if you have several parrots, you should give a lesson to only one at a time, and if possible be alone with it. The exclusive attention you give the bird during this one-to-one will be very rewarding for it and therefore very motivating. The lessons must be given at regular times and at the moment most conducive to their proper assimilation. In fact, it all depends on the animal's habits and rhythm of life, the important thing being that the lesson takes place when the bird is most rested, and therefore most receptive. If hunger is gnawing at it, it will be preoccupied above all by its stomach cramps, and the lesson will be hard… to swallow!

At the start of the training, and so that the bird becomes familiar with its owner's voice, you should begin by teaching it a single word or a very short phrase, along the lines of “Hello Milord!” or “How's it going, Coco?”, and this from the moment it wakes, while its cage is still covered. This same phrase must be repeated several times during the day, slowly and patiently.

You must tirelessly repeat the same phrases gently, articulating as clearly as possible and with the appropriate intonation (the one that matches the meaning of the phrase). You should only begin a new lesson once the bird has thoroughly assimilated the previous one. It may also happen that one fine day the bird spontaneously utters a phrase you never taught it!

The successful completion of a task must be followed by the granting of a reward, to encourage the animal to memorise and reproduce the behaviour (here, the repetition of words) in order to get the reward again. This is known as positive reinforcement. There can be no question, however, of any overly serious punishment: never punish the bird too severely, do not frighten it by suddenly raising your voice, nor discourage it with threats. It can indeed be very touchy, and you could risk seeing it sulk for a very long time…

Once the parrot has built up a vocabulary of repetition, it can perfect its powers of speech by answering its master through the association of the word with the object, and even of the word with the action. Psittacines are capable of still more complex associations: shapes, colours and combinations of the two. They are also able to associate the name of each of the household's pets with the animal itself. One lady's blue-headed amazon would call, by name and without ever making a mistake, each of her mistress's 24 (!) Chihuahuas!

The astonishing capacity of parrots to reproduce and imitate human articulated language corresponds, in all likelihood, to relevant associations made appropriately, from sound to image, from speech to action and to object. These sound emissions are transposed with a tone comparable to the personal accent of the owner's voice. The vocal exchanges are closely linked to the feelings of affection they share with their master and make up a veritable anthology of communications.

When it comes to the memory of parrots, there is no longer any need to prove the abilities they can display in this area. Many know by heart either La Fontaine's fables, or poems, or songs. A blue-fronted amazon would recite “The Crow and the Fox” without a single mistake, and could also, standing on one leg with all its feathers puffed up, sing at the top of its nasal voice “Il était un petit navire” and “Frère Jacques”.

According to the Guinness Book of Animals, a Grey Parrot named “Prudle” had a vocabulary of 800 words! And a budgerigar, “Puck”, had a vocabulary estimated at 1728 words!

Common diseases

Like all birds, parrots and talking birds hide illness for a long time: by the time the signs become visible, the situation is often already serious.

A bird that keeps its feathers puffed up, stays still at the bottom of the cage, is drowsy, stops talking or refuses to eat should alert you. In birds, these subtle signs are often already late ones: you must not wait.

Lack of attention, boredom or stress often drive these birds to pluck out their feathers, or even to bite their skin (feather plucking, self-mutilation). Certain infections also affect the feathers and beak (beak and feather disease, or PBFD) and cause lasting damage to the plumage.

An infection called psittacosis (or chlamydiosis) can make the bird listless, fluffed up and without appetite; it can also be transmitted to humans. A diet that is too poor eventually lacks certain vitamins (especially vitamin A). The beak and claws can also grow too long.