Talking Budgie... or other Parrot. Do you need only one?

[Aksarben]

If you are looking for a budgie to talk, will it happen if you have 2 Budgies? In the parrot world does it take just a single parrot to make or break success of talking?

 

[Lady Jane]

Good question. In my experience you do not need another budgie to stimulate talking. You can do that yourself. Look up Disco Parakeet on YouTube. His human taught him hundreds of words.

 

[SumitaSinh]

IMO, it depends on the bird itself... I adopted a male budgie at first, with all efforts he didn't bother to mimic. So i brought him friends. The budgie boys made a gang and do not bother about humans, lol. On the other hand, my Amazon can and does mimic human speech, but he'll just choose his favorite sounds. So, it's entirely their choice... They are the boss

 

[DesertBird]

I heard that if you play videos of other budgies talking, it can encourage your budgie to talk too.

 

[Aksarben]

In my experience you do not need another budgie to stimulate talking. You can do that yourself. Look up Disco Parakeet on YouTube. His human taught him hundreds of words.

Thanks for that reply. However, I was more curious if having 2 budgies lessen the chance of one of them talking. We have Adrian (female) and Rocky (male - blue budgie) and was wondering if anyone had any luck with getting a budgie to talk IF they have another Budgie companion.

Yes, DISCO is a great talker. I have downloaded about a dozen or so of his videos and our birds right now are listening to one his videos on a repeat loop. They (our birds, especially Rocky) DO chime in and chatter back.

 

[Sparkles99]

I would personally persevere with multiple budgies, if that is your goal. Their need for companionship should override your desire for them to talk. There is a dark side to Disco & if parrots weren't good mimics fewer would be in the ecological state they're currently in.

 

[donutweall]

I have a flock of 4, and three of them talk to varying degrees of "clearly". 2/3 of the boys talk, and my girl, Miss Potato, also.

The one I've had the longest, a boy, is the best talker. He says "what a good boy", "little bird", and will buzz like a phone LOL.

Second boy came to me knowing "bless you", but he's pretty quiet. Doesn't chirp as much as the others overall. But he's a cuddler

Miss Potato ... Is clearly trying and I think will get to clear words, but she is still young and just started using her voice more. I count her because I believe in her

HOWEVER, I have put a lot of time into them! I talk to them many times a day, every day (work from home) and tend to use the exact same phrases when I chatter to them. So I'm also setting up the environment in which they are likely to learn.

Sometimes birds will pick things up randomly, but if you are consistent with them and put effort into it- they are more likely to learn.

 

[Aksarben]

There is a dark side to Disco & if parrots weren't good mimics fewer would be in the ecological state they're currently in.

I assume the "Dark Side" you refer to is this species ability to mimic humans? If they never spoke, they would probably not be in as much demand as pets. Personally, I think speaking is a "Bonus" with the parrot species, and the true attraction to them should always be the interaction between owner and pet, the bonding, the chitter and chatting they do, the fact they want to be with you and snuggle (some do) and looking to entertain themselves. Sometimes I think it's not to impress us, but their curiosity and intelligence drives them to be the birds that they are. Which, an lead to frustration in the bird as opposed to a cat that just wants a decent meal, soft place to sleep, and will entertain itself.

One guy, that does Youtube videos, "Fives-a-Flock" I believe, said a lot of people that look to parrots as pets, are looking for a dog... that flies, and cuddles, talks and has color. If dog's talked human sounds, mimic us, they might be fewer neglected or re-homed... just a thought.

 

[Aksarben]

When people think of "PARROT" their idea is a colorful bird that talks in normal human tones, or mimics sounds... telephone, microwave, etc. It is almost as if they expect ALL parrots to talk, but some never do, and some species of parrots are more inclined to mimic than others. African Grays and Amazons are known for talking, as well as Indian Ring Necks and a few others, yet, there are many African Grays, Amazons, Indian Ring Necks, that never say any human words. Just the nature of the bird.

I have seen, heard, on Youtube also that the more quieter species of parrots, those that do well for apartments, have less chance of talking than those that are quite noisy and chatter a lot. But, in ll things, there are exceptions to the rule.

 

[Aksarben]

I would personally persevere with multiple budgies....

It is just a thing I am working on, a goal if you might, to get the budgie to talk. Sort of a challenge and if it works, it works, and if not, no worries. Pet Store gal at VI Pets said Parakeets don't talk. I know better. So, it would be fun to see one of ours, probably best bet is Rocky, to talk. I am retied now, at 68, and have the time to work on this. It's a journey and sometimes the journey is more rewarding than the destination.

 

[Birdlove]

My siblings had two budgies as kids. One was indifferent about humans and the other chose my sister as her human. She talked and whistled like a human to taunt the dog. I would guess that it really depends on the bird.

 

[GreenThing]

Sometimes birds will pick things up randomly, but if you are consistent with them and put effort into it- they are more likely to learn.

How old were yours when they said discernable words? I love my boys' little budgie noises best , but I'm curious if they lose the motivation to learn new "songs" after a certain point in adulthood.

 

[donutweall]

How old were yours when they said discernable words? I love my boys' little budgie noises best , but I'm curious if they lose the motivation to learn new "songs" after a certain point in adulthood.

Well, my oldest budgie is only about 2, so it's hard for me to say if they lose motivation their new word acquisition is fairly slow and sporadic. And it doesn't come out clear at first- I've noticed it starts as copying the tonal inflections of the phrase in a garbled mumble.

 

[GreenThing]

Well, my oldest budgie is only about 2, so it's hard for me to say if they lose motivation their new word acquisition is fairly slow and sporadic. And it doesn't come out clear at first- I've noticed it starts as copying the tonal inflections of the phrase in a garbled mumble.

Oh, interesting! Because Merlin definitely seems to copy the inflection of "treat" (it is so darn funny, like his contact call bent into a different shape), I have wondered if that is a thing...

 

[Aksarben]

I'm working on new phrase for ours... " I'm finally getting used to this body".

 

[Sparkles99]

I assume the "Dark Side" you refer to is this species ability to mimic humans?

I missed this earlier. No, I meant that if budgies didn't have the ability to talk, people wouldn't raise them in isolation. I'd bet money Disco was isolated from his own species from a young age. The dark side is his conspecific socialization deprivation, imposed by people.

 

[Sparkles!]

@Britnicorn

Bacon Pancake advice needed!!!

 

[FeatheredM]

I think that having a strong relationship with your budgie may encourage talking IMO. Since parrots literally talk with each other, and if you get accepted into the flock, why not try to copy one of the members of the flock if you have the talent? I think this might apply to some budgies, Not all, but who knows? My budgie likes to imitate my bird clock, so it also probably also depends on what they like to hear. Deos your bird love the word taco, or deos your bird love the sound of other birds?

 

[Britnicorn]

I have two very talkative boys! Even after living together for almost a year they learn new words all the time, I don’t think having more than one bird affects their ability to talk

Their first word is always the hardest to learn- it took Phoenix almost 4 months before he finally said it. Don’t give up hope! Once they learn that first word it gets easier for them to learn more words

You also have to think like a bird does. How often do you hear them make that same “Chirrrup!” sound? You have to say the word you want them to learn almost constantly, every day, especially for them to learn that first word. After they’ve learned a few words they’ll start picking up words on a whim

Once one picks it up, the other bird picks it up almost immediately. It’s like a game of telephone. I have actually figured out that Phoenix has started picking up words faster after living with Raijū(Phoenix was an only bird for about 5 months), so it might have helped having more than one- he may have been more encouraged to talk with another bird around. Raijū picks words up just as quickly if not even faster than Phoenix, and Raijū was a super timid bird when he first moved in. Took me months to get close to him- so I believe any bird can learn to talk with the right dedication and persistence. Raijū even knows words that Phoenix doesn’t know- so I don’t think it has much to do with Phoenix being an only bird for a few months (which I don’t encourage at all, Phoenix was an only bird due to certain circumstances)

I wish I knew how many times I had to sing bacon bacon pancakes for Phoenix to finally pick it up. It became such a habit for me I’d start randomly saying it even when I was away from the birds

 

[Toy]

I find relating a words(s) to an item or action seems to work best. Example: item word-apple. Hold a piece of apple, say apple a couple times, then give the bird the apple. Action words would be step-up/step down/wings-up/etc. Once you chose a word(s) to relate be consistent. Once they learn relating words they pick up more easier. I have 3 parrots & they all talk at different levels. Some better than other, some barely at all.