Is My perry starting to talk?

[Habbeshaw]

Hello All!, I am new to this post. I have a male CAG named Perry,14 months old, very smart has learned 20 advanced tricks-basketball,skateboarding,colored rings on pegs etc-etc.... He whistles anything he hears in a day and I have been trying for a year to get him to talk, I know they normally don't start till around one years. He says Hello and Stop it! occasionally, but in a gravelly-robotic voice,sometimes aliitle clear. Is he starting to learn to talk,will he get clearer,any tips. Thanks, Brent and Perry

[SRSeedBurners]

Do you have any other birds that he's learning from? My CAG learns from my wife and my Caique. Both are separate voices with the 'Caique' voice being the robotic gravely voice as you mentioned which is common to Caiques, IRNs, parrotlets and others.

[Inara]

Hi Brent, and what a smarty your Perry is! Some CAGs/TAGs are big talkers and some are more of the whistler mumbler persuasion. Do you talk with Perry, i.e. conversations or are you using the same trick training methods with regard to talking -- repetition and reward? For some Greys, repeating words over and over is just plain boring and they may be less likely to want to hop on the speech train even with rewards -- like trick training. If you are using meaningful language and continue to do so with Perry, for example: answer him back when he makes any noise (other than screeching and screaming) he may surprise you eventually with how much language he actually has stored up to now. Keep one ear open as Perry whistles and mumbles, and respond with something that makes sense. For example when he says, "Hello," you might reply with, "Hello. What are you doing over there?" or "Hello, I am busy over here _________" <--- insert what you are doing. When he says, "Stop it!" You might reply, "OK. Alright. What do you want?" Anything that makes sense. I found that Inara was more amenable to talking around dinner time. So that was our own jumping off point. You might notice that Perry has a particular time of day when he is more open to chatting, and can use that time to start reinforcing speech.

 

Do you know if he is a closet talker? One who prefers to chatter away when you're not looking at him or when you are not around? Many birds can be shy about just piping up when someone is around.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Inara

[JeffNOK]

14 months is pretty young. My CAG had a vocabulary of about 7 phrases until about 14 months, and then she started to really pick things up and use them clearly from that point. I agree with Inara that lots of meaningful talk with your bird helps. Once your grey realizes his words have meaning and effects, he will be more likely to use them. Take every opportunity to narrate your life. Talk about whatever you are doing in simple consistent ways. Talk about whatever Perry is doing in the same way. Responding to any utterance Perry makes is also very important. Even if you aren't quite sure what he is saying--responding consistently shows Perry that language is reciprocal and meaningful and a bonding experience. Also watch Perry's body language. I can always tell when Gracie is about to learn some new phrase because when she hears me say it, she stops, cocks her head, and focuses intently. Look for those signs and capitalize on them. This shows that your bird likes what he is hearing and has his senses heightened to learn it and use it. Gracie is now 2 1/2 years old with a vocabulary of 350+ words. Most of the time when Gracie talks, she is expressing her feelings, desires, and observations. She knows what she is saying and has purpose to it.

[Habbeshaw]

Thanks you Inara for the reply, I do reward for trick training,don't use a clicker,just praises and a safflower seed, But I do not do speech training and rewards. Just since I posted my thread he has started robot talking more and less whistling! He goes on and on like he is speaking a whole conversation(which he probably is!) but I have no clue what he is rambling about!.

Yes , Perry talks a lot in the mornings and especially before sunset, I have tried to be more "conversational with him the last week and less repetitive, it may be helping as he has chosen to stop whistling as much, but then I stopped whistling back at him and talk back instead.

Thanks for you interest and information, I do appreciate it!, Brent

[Habbeshaw]

Thanks for the response!, I do agree and see Perry's body language as you mentioned and I have been taking advantage of that moment. Since I posted he has stopped mumbling more and whistling less, but I decided to talk back to him when he whistled, instead of whistling back at him and I think it has help. His "Hello" has gotten a little clearer and even has said it clearer that I thought it was my son saying it. I do think hello is a little boring maybe to him as I have been saying it to him for months, where as when I say stop it to my son when he is messing around he pick it up in two days, although quite robotically!.

Thanks for your interest and I will post you when he improves!, Brent

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I'm a big believer in whistling back and forth. I think this communication is very important. I wouldn't give it up. Nancy

[Habbeshaw]

Thanks Nancy, I have just noticed if I talk back at him instead of whistle back all the time ,he is now starting to talk more just the last two day,clearly saying "Hello" and "Bye-Bye" when I come or go out of his sight! WoW! amazing turn around. Once he talks consistently, I will continue to whistle still to him. How could I not hear his beautiful songs, He can whistle the whole main verse of Guns-n-Roses "Patience" he sounds exactly like him! Amazing creature God has created! Thanks Nancy

[Dave007]

I personally think that the worst thing you can do with grey is start whistling at him. Greys are one of the most famous birds as far as their whistling ability. It really doesn't what matter whether you're successful or not successful concerning the imitation of humsn language. The one thing you never need to do is train your bird your bird to whistle and believe me, you'll eventually start hearing it all the time. Actually you'll hear it a lot more than you'll hear your bird imitate human language because human language is not a natural thing with parrots. Concerning greys, it's totally natural so do yourself a favor, stop encouraging the bird to whistle. It very well may hinder his ability to imitate human language. Human language isn't natural. Whistling is natural.

[Acappella]

I do a contact whistle with Dorian, and I'm trying to teach him the first line of "IF I Only had a Brain", but other than that, I talk back to him when he whistles for me. He's a very clear talker, but does it mostly when I'm out of the room, or at least out of his sight. When I'm in the room with him he hardly talks or vocalizes at all because he has what he wants - me. lol

[Talon]

I agree with Dave, I never whistled to my birds when they were young, I found if I did, all they would do is whistle. When I used words. they tried harder to talk my language, it encourages them to speak I believe.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I disagree about the whistling! It became a " favorite game", with us in different rooms and creating something " new". I would whistle, she would repeat... I'd add to it... so would she! It was a game she loved right from the start, it helped her develop trust. Fourteen years later... it is still her favorite game. It never changed on how she learned words. She talks up a storm, and when she runs out of words, she does baby talk. I know I talk alot... kids complain all the time. They also comment that Sophie is just like me! I disagree.... she blabbers WAY more than me! Nancy

[JeffNOK]

I tend to agree with Nancy. When I did early research about greys before I got Gracie, there was some debate about whistling. Some said it delayed or prevented talking, others disagreed. For me, before Gracie started talking we would whistle a lot--we still do. I found that whistling became a form of communication and attuned her ears to listen to me and respond accordingly--this eventually led to speech. I can only speak to my specific case with Gracie--but in no way did whistling affect her language use. I think it facilitated it because she listened to me--imitated my whistles and then extended that to listening to and imitating my words. Gracie prefers words because they contain meaning. She is able to get what she wants or express herself. She gets a concrete, tangible reaction when she uses words. Whistles are fun, but they don't get things done. 90% of Gracie's vocalizations are in English--but she still likes to whistle, and we have a great time harmonizing together. Maybe it depends on the bird. All I know is that when Gracie is happy and relaxed she talks rather than whistles. I don't know if there is any hard evidence to support the notion that whistling is bad--but perhaps the research hasn't been done, or I haven't run across it. I only have one bird to "study", and she may be the exception rather than the rule, so I am not trying to advise. For some greys whistling may impede language use--I don't know. I am just sharing one individual case.

Edited April 2, 2014 by JeffNOK

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I am sharing the other! Nancy