So, Budgies can talk??

[EnglishBudgMom]

Hello all,
New English Budgie owner, he's 3 months old. Opinion here is that he is a "he". So, how early do budgies talk IF they are talkers?? All he does is Chirp, Ack Ack Ack, TWEET, warble warble, peep peep, grrrrr, and some strange click/mumble type noises. I repeat the same phrases to him all the time.

 

[Feather]

Some birds talk, some just don't. They usually start pretty early if they're inclined to at all and he may surprise you one day, but it is never a guarantee so I wouldn't count on it too much.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Some birds talk, some just don't. They usually start pretty early if they're inclined to at all and he may surprise you one day, but it is never a guarantee so I wouldn't count on it too much.

Right. I just wondered if people noticed it was a maturity thing or what. Of course we hoped he’d talk, but if not, he’s still a cutie patootie.

 

[sunnysmom]

@Lady Jane ?

 

[Lady Jane]

Out of all the EB I had had as companions only one talked and boy he was good. He sometimes learned to say a word in one day. I never tried teaching him to talk. He just picked out the words he wanted to say. There are a few videos of Chipper talking on AA. Anyway he was about 7 to 8 months old when he said Hello Chipper.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

It’s so obvious that he’s listening to us however. I can tell he’s paying attention, it’s like hey, come on, I know you’re listening to me!

 

[Parakeet88]

Start with “baby bird” it’s a phrase that seems to be easy for them to say. They pick up words that start with “b” and “p” really well. Baby bird was the first phrase my parakeet learned and now he never stops talking! Like others have said, he may never pick it up but if he’s listening that’s a good sign. My keet comes running over like a maniac when I go up to his cage, he sits in his spot and listens so intently. He loves being talked to

This is how it was when he first started

This one was more recent

Also, the cage in the first vid was not his long term cage. I got him as a baby and figured he’d be more comfortable in a smaller cage while still getting the hang of perching and jumping around. He lives in a mansion now

 

[MauiWendy]

My Gary, he’s about a year old he talks up a storm. Last night he said a new word, Keeeeoki, my other bird. He says lots of thing. And mimic’s all the same sounds Keoki makes. It’s like I have two red bellies parrots. Just keep talking to him. Hopefully he will learn to talk. You can tell by their little robotic sounding voice. At first it was hard to make out what he was saying but I knew he was trying to talk. Have fun!

 

[Fergus Mom]

This is how it was when he first started

Awwwwww!

This one was more recent

He is quite articulate now! He sure loves that snowman, doesn't he? So funny that he's calling him a chicken, and that word is so clear.

My Gary, he’s about a year old he talks up a storm. Last night he said a new word, Keeeeoki, my other bird. He says lots of thing. And mimic’s all the same sounds Keoki makes.

It makes me wonder what the average is for how many words budgies can say.
My Lucy (probably boy, but that's what we named her when she came).. had a large vocabulary, but since I have forgotten a lot of the words she could say - I only remember maybe ten words or so.

 

[Lady Jane]

Here is an old video of Chipper talking. Hope you can understand his words.
The other bird was his cage mate. Some of it is "Chipper is a cracker" Wanna bap? Bap is his word for bath. "Chipper is a girl" All of these words he picked up from hearing them. "Cracker Chip" Sometimes he says Gypsy which is another budgies name that sometimes visits him.

 

[mutlus]

mine can talk especially grey one can talk 5-6 words.he learned on his own i never tried to teach him anything.other one learned 2 words from grey one and he is saying them when he is flirting with mineral block but my other birds in past usually never talked.i am not much interested in it so i never put extra effort for it and i always buy them another friend soon after so i guess thats why they didnt talk much.

 

[Dona]

Oh my gosh that was cute @Lady Jane.

 

[Mysdrym]

I read budgies can learn between 200-300 words, though the world record for most words a budgie learned was something like 1700.

 

[EkkieLu]

Start with “baby bird” it’s a phrase that seems to be easy for them to say. They pick up words that start with “b” and “p” really well. Baby bird was the first phrase my parakeet learned and now he never stops talking! Like others have said, he may never pick it up but if he’s listening that’s a good sign. My keet comes running over like a maniac when I go up to his cage, he sits in his spot and listens so intently. He loves being talked to

This is how it was when he first started

This one was more recent

Also, the cage in the first vid was not his long term cage. I got him as a baby and figured he’d be more comfortable in a smaller cage while still getting the hang of perching and jumping around. He lives in a mansion now

that is adorable!!!

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

mine can talk especially grey one can talk 5-6 words.he learned on his own i never tried to teach him anything.other one learned 2 words from grey one and he is saying them when he is flirting with mineral block but my other birds in past usually never talked.i am not much interested in it so i never put extra effort for it and i always buy them another friend soon after so i guess thats why they didnt talk much.

HA! Bubbles was head bobbing and chortling to his new mineral block today! It's shaped like a pineapple, who knows....

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Start with “baby bird” it’s a phrase that seems to be easy for them to say. They pick up words that start with “b” and “p” really well. Baby bird was the first phrase my parakeet learned and now he never stops talking! Like others have said, he may never pick it up but if he’s listening that’s a good sign. My keet comes running over like a maniac when I go up to his cage, he sits in his spot and listens so intently. He loves being talked to

This is how it was when he first started

This one was more recent

Also, the cage in the first vid was not his long term cage. I got him as a baby and figured he’d be more comfortable in a smaller cage while still getting the hang of perching and jumping around. He lives in a mansion now

Cute Chicken!! I love it!! He gets still and listens both in his cage and on my shoulder. He likes to be right up against my mouth when he's on my shoulder. He makes sometimes makes sounds that sound like people talking on a really static filled radio station, but you can't make out any words at all. I keep repeating "Baby Bird" and "kiss kiss" to him. Like I said, it's totally fine if he doesn't talk, it would be heaps of fun if he did however.

 

[Serin]

My Joey is a little over five months and started imitating six weeks ago. It can begin as early as 4 months, around the first molt. In that time, he's learned his name, "pretty bird", "I'm a parakeet", and "Good boy" plus the chirps and songs of the society finches, Java sparrows, canaries and the cockatiel he lives with. Before he began to speak, he started the attentive listening behavior mentioned above and if I am talking he will come right up to my mouth and listen closely. Only tame birds that are bonded to you usually talk. Joey bonded with me on his own, all I did was talk nicely to him, repeating phrases, and after a few weeks he began coming to me and initiating interaction. Having only one budgie is best if you want it to speak, I have only one, he lives with a cockatiel and is bonded to her though. Not one of my past budgies kept in flocks spoke a word, even though one in particular was extremely friendly with people.

 

[mutlus]

HA! Bubbles was head bobbing and chortling to his new mineral block today! It's shaped like a pineapple, who knows....

yellow face one always flirting with mineral block.even outside of cage he is still flirting.grey one is flirting with everything,he is bit pervert

 

[Miss_sj]

We didnt think our budgie joey would be a talker, and he surprised us when he was 7 months old. We only realised because my brother was recording something when we weren't home, and it picked up Joey talking! I think they often practice when no one is around, and he always cocked his head and listened intently when anyone talked to him. He ended up being an amazing little chatterbox. He also talked a lot of jibberish and combined words like "heludgie" and "heloey."
Whether they talk or not they are beautiful little characters