Accomplished BIRD talkers, that is!
I see a lot of posts about talking capabilities. I think most of us newer members are curious about our toddlers beginning to speak.
I was hoping some of you with the great talkers... you know who you are, would chime in and tell us the process.
Poppy talks quite a bit. Some of it is unmistakable, some of it clear enough for only me to decipher and some just jibber jabber.
So I guess the question I have is when they do start to talk, do their words become clearer as they practice? Poppy has been telling me he is a good boy every day for about 6 weeks, and it still is nothing like Twiz.
He is certainly saying more words, adding new ones all the time, but the clarity is pretty rough. For about 2 weeks, I was thinking his version of 'step up' was a hiccup!
So anyone who wants to chime in and give the evolution of their QP's talking history, I am sure it will be appreciated by many!

There is no real actual clear time frame on when they start to talk. The jibber jabber is practice and with time words that you say often they will begin to say more clearly. Dont be surprised if certain shows you watch on tv or songs on the radio they pick up a word two three or four as well.
I think the reason mine is such a good talker is because I am verbal myself. I talk alot and am repetitious with words and expressions I use so that yea unfortunatly petey has also picked up some things that even I didnt notice I say alot.

Petey is older than your bird and now it only takes him hearing something over a span of a few days before he picks it up practices it and is adept at it.

Case in point my husband sometimes will say 'hello peters weinders' (its a brand of hot dogs here) and now petey himself is saying it.

The jibber jabberish is just practice of tones and sounds which is a good thing. You will find also that at certain times of the day your bird will start to run thru all the words he knows rapidly. I sort of think they are practicing when they do it.

Some birds dont talk alot. Some do. Some only talk in their cage. I think because mine is out most of the day is the main reason why he talks outside of his cage and also because he loves the interaction. My other observation with quakers that I have found interesting is that the more vocal they are in mimicking human speech the less they do bird type talk.

Im my experience with Dodger...his words do get clearer as he practices them
Also the words he learned first were the ones that went with "daily routines" Such as "wanna bite?" I would ask him this each time I feed him his veggies.Now whenever he sees me with food he says this.
Sometime his words are questionable..like "did he just say that???" but after a few times of hearing it either I get used to understanding him...or he gets it clearer each time.
he spends quite a bit of time on his boing mumbeling to himself..the in the middle of his mumbeling a word will come out loud and clear.The newest word was last night..he was chattering to himself them all of a sudden at an almost scream came "MOOOOM!"
I have 3 kids and am home all day..my house is very loud at times..someone is always talking..or yelling..or in the case of my two boys..fighting! I think this is why dodger talk so well...he fits right in LOL

another question... what circumstances make them talkative?
Like some have said, Poppy is usually on his cage or more often IN it when he starts.
Or when I do dishes and the water is running. That gets him going.
Outside too....
But the most active talking comes when we are in the car! Yes! He talks up a storm in there (only if it is light out). I was talking on my bluetooth last saturday to a friend while driving, and she was cracking up. I asked Poppy if we where going bye bye, and he said bye byyyyyeeeee, dragging the last bye out. It was hilarious!
I know they surprise you.
Kind of off the subject here, but I was SHOCKED at how well starlings can talk! I am pretty sure if I find one this year in distress, it might have a new home!

I have noticed with mine...that when it comes to practicing...he does it alone and in or on his cage.But with words he already knows well..excitement brings them out We had friends over last weekend..he was tickled with all the people in the house and sat on his boing and proceeded to yell out most of his words It was better then just screaming I suppose..but the telling of "WANNA BITE?" "WATCHA DOIN?" "OH HUSH!!" "GO AWAY" "KISS ME" "SWEETIE SWEETIE SWEETIE!" got pretty old fast

Although some birds are "closet" talkers..which basically means the do it in their cage..or only around family members.My dodger has never had any trouble talking to or around strangers..but Shelby (my female GW) talks only to me or hubby..or when she is alone in her cage.

Using different tones and rhythms in your speech to them will help. Their clarity will improve with time and maturity, most of the time; though my Rico's, "Come here!" is VERY clear, his "Viki" still sounds like "Voo-ick-eeee" even though that was the first word I taught him when I met him.

My Sassafrass is a wonderful companion, even though she doesn't speak as much. So I guess I ought to be the one to point out that speech is not what makes quakers so wonderful. It's their companionship and personality that attracts so many of us.

I think of quakers as good gateway birds. My mother never would have considered getting a bird at all if it wasn't for our late, beloved Mickey ( a quaker). After she realized that birds are not catfood, she is now happily wedded to a darling Senegal named Samuel.

My Quaker loves activity and he talks when alots going on but he talks alone and at all times. He talks all the time anyway he now has atleast 75 words and phrases. His latest is "hello my darling" and "good morning my darling". My daughter and I started with hello and after that we said the same words over and over. Most of what we say is in context so he knows whats going on with the words. Keep on with your words and phrases and when your ready he will pop them out. Cheeky dosent practise... he just pops out what hes heard when I guess he has it down pat in his head. He seemed a tad slow popping words out then seemed to just take off saying them. Some things he learned in 3 days like good morning was a 3 days learning time and look at that was a week. Its incredable we taught him to say "Im a big bananna" and now its a big big big big big big big big bananna or hell say Im a big ____________ and we say bananna or well say Im a big____________ and hell say bananna. My husbands taught him to say "the chicken says buck buck buck ba gock" in a very low voice as well lol. My feeling is they are as smart in speech and understanding as you will teach and allow them (I realise some dont talk but Id bet you they understand everything). Right now Cheekys learning to lie on his back in the palm of my hand....Myrapixs pic on her siggy inspired that she has 2 QPs in her hands lieing on their backs LOL!

Have fun!

My observation is that Kirby picks up fastest on words associated with some kind of drama (what Quakers love drama? )

Thus his first word - peek a boo - is still always accompanied with throwing his head back and then laughing! All the other words he says so clearly he's picked up from lots of interaction, rather than repetitious "teaching": Buh-bye, whatcha doing? hello baby, c'mere Bailey (our dog) and my personal favorite: you're FUNNY! He also yells delightedly whenever I come home: HI KIRBY! which of course is how I greet him (I truly believe he thinks MY name is Kirby, or maybe Kirby is just someone you really love )

That's why I think tapes/CDs/whatever designed to teach your bird to talk don't really work - it's the interaction that gets them to learn our language, to communicate with us. Which when you think of it, is pretty REMARKABLE. And it lessens the flock calling when they can use human language to check in with us, or at least it has with our Kirby the wonder bird.

Be patient, talk to them a LOT, even read and sing to them, and you may hear the Kirby version of the Quaker song: I'm a a little quaker - PEEK A BOO! peek a, peek a, peek a BOOOOO!

I thought that song would be easier to teach my birds than the long-versed version, so I went out to where they play and started singing it, and now I'm hearing two quakers repeatedly yelling, "ka BOO!" and one senegal squeeking, "STOP IT QUAKERS BE QUIET be QUIET birdies!"

I think "ka BOO" is far more interesting than simply, "ka boo."
So, yes, drama helps.

I've found with my guys they are most talkative at flock call time...first thing in the morning and then again right at dusk...So I've taken to really talking to them then especially, as well as through out the day... So I'm "Killing two birds with one stone" so to speak...I'm working on getting them to talk rather than the natural "flock call" and using their most vocal times to teach them what I want them to say. It's working well with several of them...

I've given this example before...But repetition is a big key. When the phone rings of course...all of them now say hello in some fashion...when I put on my coat and get my car keys several of them now tell me good bye...so they learn to associate certain behaviors with words just like we do. Repeat it enough they'll get it.

My U2 suprised me last night, and is working to prove my one of my experiments successful...She already knows how to say Hello...and Hi...So I wanted to give her a new twist to see if she'd actually pick it up as well and sure enough...during the evening flock calls my citron and she were saying hello and Hi, how are you back and forth to one another and Cowboy popped up with a Squeaky HI THERE...just like I was saying it to her..actually saying it to everyone. So now I'm going to try a LOW version and see how long it takes her to pick it up...Its only taken her 6 months to get this one....SIGH!

Thats the one thing that has surprised me with my U2. I was always told they were not renowned for their talking skills given the vocab might not be as extensive as other birds the clarity of the words they do know is crystal clear once they get the hang of it. I cant take credit for the words abby knows nor would I want to in some circumstance due to the content of what she says but my husband calls her abby dabby and she says that now which I find cute. Yet I can seriously say and admit I didnt know what loud really was till a U2 became residence in the house and I am so glad I dont have neighbors or they would think I was torturing someone.

I'm a total amatuer. I'm not very verbal. Anyone who has read any of my past posts knows that, yet, here I wind up with a bird that is 8 months old and knows about 20 sentences. He alternates the verbs with the adjectives as well and understands expressions. I am amazed and shocked everyday and like I said this is my first bird.
I talk to my fid a lot and ask him questions which I think prompted him to answer back.
I, too, use the same expressions over and over again so I think that helps.
I think it was mentioned already that the more expressive you are the faster they learn. He's definitely learned a few bad words I didn't want him to know. (thanks to my driving with road rage)
I think the one thing that helped him the most, however, is letting him put his beak on my mouth when I speak. I read this on a thread here sometime ago and that is Dobby's favorite way of learning a new word.
Hope this helps. If it doesn't and you keep reading this forum, you'll get the right answer.

I just wanted to add....Birdbluff you are right about birdie talking next to your mouth...I put Harley next to my face if I want him to talk and he says what he already knows...And he just rattles it off.... I've never figured out why putting him next to my face would encourage him to communicate....Maybe the vibration....

The man next door comes outside a lot and Harley can see him...I have several times awhile back said "hey Joe"...Well it didn't take Harley long to pick that up...And he says it exactly like me with a loud tone like he is hollering... I love 'em....

Georgie talks when ever she thinks she's alone. And when she's got company, we talk to her and all she does is mumble. Sometimes when she's in her gab session, I chime in somewhere in the house and she, depending on her mood, responds or gets quiet. When she wants my attention and I'm elsewhere in the house, she's telling the Lord and everyone else that she's pretty. I guess she seems to think if she says it enough, someone will tell her so.

In my experience, Kermit's talking ability gets better the more he practices the words. He seems to respond more to my wife's higher pithced voice than mine, so he actually learned alot from her. For example, he imitates the sound of her sneezing perfectly. Some things we still don't understand what he is saying, but most things are pretty clear. One phrase he has never picked up, no matter how hard we tried, is "I love you". If he hears me reading a story to my son, or talking on the phone, it really sets him off as if he is trying to get my attention to talk to him instead. LOL. And yes, things said loudly or dramatically or over and over again he picks up very quickly.

Jeff

Mine has said 2 things in the two months I've had her... which made me a bit sad, to be honest. But then- she is really really really quite. So- can't have both I suppose. The annoying part, though, is that I know she can she just won't when I'm in the room. I have reports from mother and brother that she makes songbird calls and all kinds of noises when alone. I get in there and it's braaak. Or mumbles... anyone have advice on how to get her at least to make a variety of sounds? I can sometimes get her to mumble or make clicking noises... if I try really hard and talk to her for long enough

Janet, thats so funny because stendeck does the same thing with his "big blue banana" but he will drag out the biiiiiiiiiiig and really shout the "banana" and always adds the blue or banana bit if we leave it out, guess they really like saying banana.



I found with stendeck that crazy beaviour gets him going, prancing about like a total loony gets him excited to talk. Loud dance music also excites him.

He likes to get really close to my lips when he is learning something new and this is how I know it is something he likes so is likely to repete it. Then its just a case of saying it to him. He has slowed up alot recently though since I tried to teach him you are my sunshine song. He knows all the words and the tune but never gets them in the right order.

He is learning to count to 10 tho, he will mumble the words along with me and make the sound of the word if he masters that he will have a vocab of about 70 things, plenty when you have to listen to supercallafragilisticexbealidochious 15 times in a row. Drives my husband batty.

This is a funny thread! I love the "hey Joe"
I'm trying to get Dobby to learn the theme from bonanza but he can't get the do do do's in the right order.

Dilly had learned so much and everyone tells me he laughs like i do and after most words and phrases he says the same thing i do which is EH! Guess cause we are Canadians after all Eh!

good point! lg2312 and others...the first thing my fid learned was my laugh. maybe the best place to start is not with words but with gestures, grunts, chuckles, etc.
I've found the fact that my fid uses the words correctly to be very rewarding for me and my bird. Your bird might be waiting for the understanding of the word before he/she speaks it.
For instance, I'm wondering if Twizzler learned the word breakfast right after or before he ate breakfast.

Yep. the first thing he learned was kissy noises, then good boy... then my laugh.
Now it is step up, bye bye (which could be good boy!) pretty bird, and I heard him today say "awwwww", which I say when he gets real sweet. He also does the wolf whistle and the c'mere whistle.
But he mumbles so much. His words are not real clear and have not seemed to get clearer, but I have only had him 2 months, and he is 6 months old. I think he is going to be a pretty good talker, but then again, he usually talks in the closet.

With muse (before he recently went nuts) he learned best if the word was associated with some kind of movement, or excitement. Will give you examples of how he learned most of his words.

He learned to say "yeah" whenever he saw someone nodding (he will also nod his head back).

He learned "snack" realy fast because whenever he said it someone shoved food in his face.

He learned "good morning" because I always said it when I removed the cover on his cage.

"Wana come and play" means I am going to open his cage.

"Take a bath" is fairly obvious, and he yells it at the top of his lungs if I so much as run water anywhere in the house.

The non contextual ones were the harder to teach him and he just picked it up from repetition. "Are you evil" he learned from my husband, but once he got the hang of it, was his favorite thing to say because whenever he says it my husband will throw his head back and go "MUAH haha ha ha ha!" He learned Chicken Chaser while we were playing Fable (its the starting nick name the character has). Whenever he did something obnoxious or silly we just asked if he was a chicken chaser, and then if he said it back we would go "bock bock bock" at him. Now he says the whole thing by himself.

Other things we did not try to teach him, but he learned because of the excitement / drama associated with them, were "here kitty kitty" we have 4 cats and say it alot, and when he learned that the cats came to us when we say it he got all kinds of excited. None of them have been silly enough to go to him. He also learned "Loki" because our youngest cat is constantly in everything and we yell her name to make her stop what she is doing.

The worst one he has learned is "****** Dagobah" which he has shortened to "******". When he would drop something on the floor our dog would run over to see if it was something to eat, scattering whatever was in his way, and I would say ****** Dagobah! Now he will drop things on the floor and yell "******" just because people laugh at it.

He also loves to laugh when anyone else is laughing. Thing is he can tell if it is a fake laugh or a real laugh. If you try to fake a laugh he asks if you are evil, and if it is a real laugh he will laugh with you.

He knows alot of other silly stuff, like he sings the ABC's and twinke twinkle little star, but I figured the other ones had the best examples of how he learned them.