Gotta watch what you say!

[neoow]

Alfie isn't a big talker. He much prefers sounds and whistles to words. However, he does pick up the odd word/phrase and uses it with gusto for a while. He seems to prefer male voices over females voices (which sucks for me as he rarely learns anything I try and teach him!). A while back, my housemate taught him to say "you're a birb!" which sounds very cute when Alfie says it. He goes through phases of saying this and started again recently.

However, he has now learned to say "you're a butt!" which is what my housemate and I say to each other when we're joking around. Unfortunately we've obviously said it often enough that Alfie has picked it up and now says it with gusto multiple times a day.

It could be a lot worse, of course... and it's quite funny to hear him say it... but it goes to show that even with birds who aren't big talkers, you do have to watch what you say! 😂

[Timbersmom]

Timber doesn't seem to have a male/female voice preference. He has picked up phrases and words from both. Funny about Alfie's new "choices." It is always so exciting when they come out with something new.

[neoow]

Alfie has always seemed to pick up male voices easier than female voices. My dad taught him a few words/phrases when he was young. Anything my mum, sister or I tried to teach him was mostly ignored. If my housemate (male) tries to teach Alfie new words/phrases Alfie will often listen and pick them up. I have to work a LOT harder to get Alfie to repeat things that I say. He does say things in my voice, like hello, see you later, bye and night night. He also learned how to say 'what noise' in my voice because I am trying to get him to respond to questions like 'what noise does a duck make' or 'what noise does a chicken make'. So he does listen and can learn female spoken words/phrases... but he always seems to prefer male voices and pick up more words from males than females. He listens a lot more intently to males as well. Whereas with me he will quite often shake his head as if it's a noise he doesn't like. If I lower my voice so it's a bit deeper and say the same phrase/words then he won't shake his head. 😆

[Timbersmom]

Uh huh, not doing it. I can see him shaking his head! Ha.

 

[Breezy2013]

Breezy picks up words and Phrases from both me and my husband.  He is a very good talker and often repeats things after hearing them only once.

 

[Timbersmom]

Timber said his name in my voice for the first time the other night. He says his name often (I may have mentioned that he's a bit of an egomaniac) but this was a first for my voice. He also said my name the other day, which was a first. For the most part he calls me "Jamie" (his previous owner) which I think he associates with the service industry, like he's summoning the waiter in the restaurant. When he hears me getting up, he will say a drawn out Jaaamie like he's impatiently waiting for the housekeeper to get busy.