The ability of parrots to speak has always amazed the imagination and attracted human attention to these birds. The opinion that the pet pronounces the words consciously is, unfortunately, mistaken. Repetition of human speech is just a natural need for a parrot to communicate.
In their natural environment, in their flock, parrots are very sociable, it is simply necessary for them, like food and drink. Getting into an alien space, into an unfamiliar world, which for the bird, in most cases, is limited to the cage and the room where it is, in this way they create an atmosphere familiar to themselves, make up for the lack of communication. Over time, the parrot begins to consider the human family as its flock and makes attempts to communicate in the language of this flock, thus getting used to it, becoming a part of it. The ability to speak is influenced not only by the bird breed and its natural talents, but also by the atmosphere in the house, the attitude of others and the feeling of absolute safety.
The most "talkative" parrot breeds
Before buying a parrot, of course, the question of which parrot speaks the best becomes important. Each breed of these birds is good in its own way, in some way superior to its fellow tribesmen, in some way inferior to them. For example, a macaw perfectly imitates only sounds, and squeaks or rattles are best for them. Birds of this breed accurately reproduce the sound of old door hinges, the cough of an elderly person, with pleasure they repeat the barking of dogs, the mooing of cows and even the sounds of a machine-gun burst! In imitation of human speech, the macaw, unfortunately, is not so good at it.
But the cockatoo is able to memorize more than 4 dozen words and gladly demonstrates its conversational abilities in the early morning or late evening, and in a very loud voice to attract the attention of its owner. The acting skills of the cockatoo breed are also excellent - wanting to please a person, he takes the most bizarre poses that are difficult to repeat even for a professional acrobat.
The most capable are the gray parrots. Cases are described when individuals of this breed learned more than 2000 words, pronounced them with different intonation, corresponding to the situation and the topic of the "conversation". But Grays are able to learn only while they are chicks, and it is no longer possible to teach an adult bird to speak.
Amazons are no less capable, but they are less popular due to their excessive silence and seriousness. The thing is that these birds do not tolerate captivity and living in an environment alien to them, and, moreover, in a cage.
Popular budgerigars do not differ in special abilities in terms of learning human speech, memorize up to 20 words and pronounce them quite rarely. Their advantages are unpretentiousness and quick adaptation to any environment.
Education - the secrets of success
The ideal age for training a bird is 3 months. The first step is to earn the bird's trust and friendship, and accustom it to the name. The name should be simple in terms of pronunciation, because this is the first thing that the pet will say later. The cage should be in a crowded place, in a room where the whole family gathers most often. At the initial stage of training, a parrot can learn only 5-7 words, so you cannot load it with a large flow of various phrases. Lessons should be held in absolute silence, external sources of sounds (TV, radio) should be turned off, in addition, intonation and rhythm should not be changed.
