How to Teach Parrots to Talk

The lovers of parrots in most cases have the dream of owning and keeping a bird that can talk and respond. Parrots have a unique character from all the other species and types of birds in that they tend to mimic what they hear and then try to produce that sound. This is exactly how the human beings learn how to talk. They listen to what the other persons are saying and then they produce that sound.

Most people are of the belief that if you train a parrot how to talk then it can actually do so. How to train a parrot to talk is of interest to very many people because they find it very curious and funny to hear of birds that can actually talk even after training. You have to select those parrots with certain traits. Generally speaking, most of the parrots are able to mimic some few words without even undergoing some training on how to speak.

There are two main methods on how to train a parrot to talk. These methods are the responsive training and the imitation training. Responsive training involves coaching the parrot to respond and answer some questions the way a human being does. This is the most advanced form of training and it is not easy to achieve in reality. Imitation training on the other hand involves training the parrot to mimic some words or noises. For example when you whistle, the parrot will produce very similar mimic sound.

The steps to getting your parrot to talk

The most important thing to note is that the training of parrot to speak is marathon but not sprint. It is a skill that you teach the parrot and which is not naturally possessed of birds. Birds do not talk but they only mimic. You have to be patient and coach the parrot very well so that the training can be termed success.

The following are the tips:

• You have to begin the training by the imitation training
• Do not start the training with very many words. Choose only some few simple words
• Pick very simple word to begin with most preferably that which has not more than three syllabuses.
• Begin how to train a parrot to talk with very simple word like “Hello”
• Stick to the simple word that you have chosen. Do not keep on changing the word because this will cause confusion to the parrot. Note that the parrot is a bird and not human being so it does not have big brain with huge memory.
• During the training, say the words very slowly and in very clear manner and repeat the same until the parrot can respond.
• Once the parrot makes a response, reward it and appreciate even if the response does not sound pretty good.
• Reward the parrot for every good act. This will encourage it to imitate and respond better while knowing that it will get a reward for its good deeds.
• Like all the human beings, parrots have differences in capabilities. Some may be quick in their learning and response while others may be slow. Be patient with the parrots that are slow learners.
• After the bird has learnt one word, you can choose another simple word and repeat the above process.

POINT TO NOTE:
It may take several months or years for the parrot to learn. Ensure that you begin with the simple words and then later to the hard ones.