Among all the creatures in the animal kingdom, Parrots are perhaps one of the most intriguing to us humans. The reason for this is simple – they possess the ability to imitate sounds, which often takes the form of directly copying human speech and inflection. Needless to say, people down throughout the ages have marveled at this amazing animal’s vocal aptitude; in fact, it seems that we never tire of experiencing it (regardless of the generation, children have always been fascinated by parrots, for example).
If you’re a parrot owner (or interesting in becoming one), you are probably quite intrigued by the notion of actually teaching it to repeat certain phrases, right? Let’s face it, parrots can be a grand source of entertainment around the home, and they make for excellent guests at dinner parties as well (perhaps delighting all those who attend with their colorful coats and speech-based antics).
Here is a basic guide that will show you a quick and direct method teaching your parrot to talk…
Repetition is key
One of the things that seem to push a parrot toward vocalizing something is repetition. In other words, if you tend to greet the bird the same way every single day with a “hey, birdie!” chances are, it will eventually begin to repeat this phrase. In fact, it’s vitally important that you adopt such a training strategy right from the beginning – as soon as you bring it home. As always, you should probably avoid teaching your parrot anything vulgar or even cursing around it as you never know when it might decide to blurt it back out. You might even want to experiment humming, singing or whistling in front of your parrot as some species can be more musical than others.
Positioning the Parrot
It would seem that one of the best ways to convey something to a parrot is to physically pick it up and look at it directly – eye level. As with training most animals, being able to establish a way to get their attention is extremely important, by looking directly at the parrots face, it’s much more likely to get that your sounds are somehow important.
Word associations and common phrases
Perhaps one of the best ways to train your parrot is to repeat certain words in an exciting tone of voice as you do them. For instance, if it’s feeding time, announce to your parrot “it’s time to feed!” after a while, the bird will probably begin to associate the sound with the action. Likewise, some people even make it a point to repeat certain catch funny catchphrases or the names of their family and friends, both being good ideas, of course.
Give the parrot a reward for a job well done
When your parrot successfully does something you want, like perfectly imitating you saying something, you should immediately provide it with some type of prize. Most people report good things about Millet Spray, but parrots tend to enjoy seeds and nuts as well. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to offer your bird with a selection of foods which it has never tasted before in order to determine what it might best enjoy (remembering to choose only parrot-safe foods).