upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

hi all, we have 2 ecclectus parrots. neo is 4 and veronica is 1. neither bird can say a word. the breeder that we got neo from said our voices are too low (never heard of that) they are caged together. we spend a good deal of time with them in the evening out of the cage. we talk directly to them individually. but not a word. they scream at each other tho!! my boyfriend did approximately a years worth of research before he purchased as he wanted to get birds that talked. we love them as our "kids " despite the fact that they are speechless. do you have any suggestions? is there something else we can/should be doing? (btw, veronica seems to be on the verge of saying something... if she learns to talk, do you think she would be able to teach neo?) love this site. thanks....debbie

neo and veronica when she was first brought home. (hope i down loaded the pics!)

i need to get a newer pic of veronica as she is a gorgeous red color, not the orange that she had when she came to us.

HI. I HAVE HAD AN ALEXANDRINE FOR 3 MONTHS. I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO EVEN GET NEAR HIM. LONG STORY. I WAS ADVISED TO REMOVE HIS MIRROR.4 DAYS AGO.2 DAYS LATER HE SAT IN CAGE NEAR ME INSTEAD OF CLIMBING UP THE BACK AS USUAL.HE SQUAWKS TO HIMSELF IN THE MORNING BUT SHUTS UP WHEN I COME IN ROOM. YESTERDAY HE SAID HELLO 5 TIMES IN QUICK SUCCESION. IT WAS FAR FROM CLEAR BUT WAS DEFINATELY A CONTROLLED 2 TONE NOISE RATHER THAN A SQUAWK I AM FAR FROM A PARROT EXPERT AS I AM A FIRST TME BIRD MUM AND BILLY HAS PUT ME THROUGH HELL. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT AS YOU CAN HANDLE YOUR BIRDS. I CANT. THAT YOU SPEND AS MUCH TIME WITH THEM INDIVIDUALLY AND APART AS YOU CAN SO THEY LEARN TO INTERACT WITH YOU AS WELL AS EACH OTHER. IF IT WASNT FOR THIS SORT OF GROUP I WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP ON BILLY COS I HAVE ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT DAMAGING HIM WITH MY LACK OF KNOWLEDGE. THEY HAVE REASSURED ME IM DOING NOTHING WRONG AND THE PROOF HAS BEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS! GOOD LUCK

nursedebbiepink wrote:hi all,  we have 2 ecclectus parrots.  neo is 4 and veronica is 1.  neither bird can say a word.  the breeder that we got neo from said our voices are too low (never heard of that)  they are caged together. we spend a good deal of time with them in the evening out of the cage. we talk directly to them individually. but not a word. they scream at each other tho!!  my boyfriend did approximately a years worth of research before he purchased as he wanted to get birds that talked.  we love them as our "kids " despite the fact that they are speechless.  do you have any suggestions?  is there something else we can/should be doing?  (btw, veronica seems to be on the verge of saying something... if she learns to talk, do you think she would be able to teach neo?) love this site.  thanks....debbie

Debbie, wonderful news that you and Billy have made such great progress! Someone made a great catch with that mirror

Debbiepink, I did not realize ekkies often speak our language, so I will only urge you to love your two and talk with them enthusiastically, not as a broken record. Birds who want to talk will say the things they enjoy, not necessarily what we might prefer to hear. None of my 3 African greys has done much talking in 15 years. They are very easy to love despite this, although it is a thrill when one does say something in English or Spanish. Mine have taught each other whistles and sounds, so it's easy to imagine a talking bird teaching another to speak. Mine also have many sounds only one has made through the years. Not very helpful, am I?

Hate to say it, but if you really wanted something to talk, have a child! Talking is more like the icing of the cake... it doesn't MAKE the cake, but it's a bonus to have!

Birds can and do learn words, sounds and speech from eachother. However, there is no guarantee that they WILL learn from eachother. Birds also love words that are high pitched and animted. Think about it... If you said just "Hello", no animation well that's pretty boring. However, if you yelled "F**K!", that's animated, high pitched and the bird gets intrigued... which is how we end up with many birds who know cuss words maybe better than other words!

So that may be what the breeder is talking about... your too quiet/not animated enough for talking to be of interest. Birds may also have more interest in talking with eachother rather than humans, thus it's usually recommended to get one bird and work with them first before getting a second... however it's not impossible to have two or more birds and to have at least one talk.

You also should try teaching them things... such as going around the house and choosing say 10 items. Point out each item, tell the bird what type of item it is, pick the item up and let the bird examin that item. The next day, go around again and ask the bird what the item is. If they don't reply, tell them, let them check it out, and go on. You can repeat this... but make this exercise fun and entertaining! Treat your bird as a toddler learning to talk. You may have better luck.


However, if they never talk, no big deal! You'll still have great and wonderful companions regardless of the fact that they'll test your limits, strain your money, trash your house, scream when unhappy, but still love you all the same!

Although Eclectus can learn to say a few words, I don't believe they are known for their talking ability. The Eclectus that I have been around only said a handful of words. Every time you come home, say "hello," and every time you leave, say, "goodbye." Play games with them. Many birds love peek-a-boo. That is my birds' favorite word. Even birds that are known for being good talkers, such as African Greys, may never talk.

all you can do is keep talking to them. Try to do it in an excited, happy voice. One of my birds loves to imitate us either yelling at the dogs or calling them, because both of those are done in excited voices. They may never talk - but at least you love them regardless.

well, don't be so quick on giving up on teaching your Eclectus to talk, it really needs a lot of repeating, mine is only a year old and is already talking well.
just check out this amazing Ekki

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMx10BUgzEM

I live with a RS female, and 3 amazons in my living room. Of the 4 my ekkie talks more clear and mabe knows more words than the zons. Problem is getting her to talk when you want. She has never talked on command or answered anything you say to her. When she decides to speak, it is so clear it's scary. She has gone talking for over half an hour on her own terms. Once she gets going, we try not to "talk" with her. This just gets her quiet and into that studying look they give you.
I often describe her to our friends as a conceited girl, she'll sit there, look pretty, and only talk to you when she feels like it.

thanks all so much with the replies. i have been trying to make things more "interesting" for them.... show them an item,tell them what it is and repeat it. i really don't care so much if they don't talk.... i just love them to pieces. "dad" is the one who would like them to to speak!! and he loves them just the same too. they are our spoiled little babies!! just looking to see if i could do something different. thanks again and i will keep you posted. debbie

nursedebbiepink wrote: just looking to see if i could do something different.

after reading your reply, I was wondering how you interact with them one on one ...
I only have the one bird and we are a retired couple, nevertheless, he is not out of his cage continuously, but when he sits with me, he very often just loves to be close and then I really talk and repeat and I know I have his attention because he really listens and it is working because he talks very clearly now.
There are words I say every day, for instance: good morning Ben when I get him out of his sleeping cage ( he gets 12 hrs of sleeptime a day) and he now repeats that. When he is in his cage I talk to him with "Hello Benny" and he has that down pat... "what u doing?" he learned that without much prompting and of course, his " tickol tickol " (that's how he pronounces tickle).
He has been with us now since he was 4 months old, a little over 10 months now and by now I know his bodylanguage enough when he is ready to learn because he really pays attention to me when he is close, it only takes a few minutes of intense repeating time and during the day he often sits and repeats the whole gammut of sounds and words and we just sit and listen to him and he makes us smile and happy.
I hope you have success with your gang soon, Eclectus are highly intelligent with great speechcapacity but they may just take their time and do it on their " own time" when they are ready, I am sure it will happen

Are you sure your pair isn't talking?I am owned by 7 Eclectus and the time they do
their most talking is when no one is in the room.The things they say are amazing but the minute you return to the room the talking stops.I have quite a flock and 2 are RS females.To this day I still can't tell you who says what.

Marcia

Perhaps, they speak to each other when no humans are around?
I have a male red-sided who will be 2 next month. He can rival the talking ability of any grey that I've met. He has an uncanny ability to grasp and correctly use the english language. He was a few days shy of four months when I brought him home and he started trying to say hello that night. For several months after the other birds went to sleep at night, he would go through every word he knew expecting me to repeat them back to him until he fell asleep. He gets very frustrated if I don't understand a word he says. He used to start over every time I said I didn't understand him or repeated a word incorrectly. lol
I lived with an adult female eclectus for a year that I was told didn't speak. She started speaking to me about a month after she moved in. The first time she spoke to me was when I was cooking italian food. Other than screaming Maaaaaaaaaaaa or mooooooooooom she rarely said a word unless there was pasta and tomato sauce cooking. She didn't say nearly as much as he does but she had the sweetest voice and used words accordingly when she wanted her way. For instance one very hormonal day I kept her in her cage to protect myself and the other birds from her wrath, when she realized screaming wasn't going to get her anywhere she looked at me then clear as anything demanded "come here".
I met a guy about a year ago with a 2 year old male red-sided that he had had since the bird was weaned that was just beginning to speak at the age of 2.
Not all of them do speak. I'm very lucky to have such a vocal little man. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. Speaking has never been important to me however nearly all my birds tend to talk their heads off. Then again, I have a nanday that only can say "step up" and rarely even says that. So who knows?
I talk to them as I do small children. I have always had conversations with them rather than trying to "teach" them to say certain words. Each of them chooses which words or phrases they like to say. Also when they do talk to me, I repeat what they say back to them. They seem to get a kick out of me "parroting" them.
Rebecca

Rebecca

It sounds to me like you have the gift to make them gab.Even with all that we have living with us you would think that they would be jumping at the chance to carry on a conversation whether we were in or out the room.But that's okay I'll settle for the talking that they do give us.I just wish I knew which one was saying what it's so interesting all the things they say until you come in their area.Complete silence

Marcia