talking

[tmeilicke]

I am aowner of an 11 month old timenah african grey what age do they usually start talking? Are there signs to look for that they will start soon? I do realize that not all talk. I would also like suggestions on how to entertain/play with them. Any help is appreciated I am new at this. Thank you

[Talon]

The ages does vary somewhat. Some greys talk at 4 months, others a year old. As you stated, not all will talk, but most do. I spent a lot of time talking directly to Talon many times through out the day. She talked at 4 months. Before that, she made many different sounds, whistles etc. The important thing is to talk directly to them, carry conversations on with them, and be very patient. They are taking it all in, and will one day surprise you with a word when you least expect it!!:woohoo:

[judygram]

My Josey did not start talking until she was about 1 year old, before that she mumbled and did jibberish which didn't make much sense but you could tell she was playing around with her tongue.

 

She did the wolf whistle and of course all the mimicing of sounds she heard in the household, microwave beeping, timer going off and such and if yours is doing this then talking is not far off.

 

Not all greys will talk but most of them do, it just varies with each individual bird as to when they will do it.

[Jane08]

To help ours to talk we have routines. So when we go to bed we say the exact same thing to them every night. Then suddenly one day our male bird started to say good night, sleep well. When I get up in the morning I always say good morning and then one day he started to say it back. We also ask our female grey (who is not talking yet) questions and then someone else answers them....usually our male grey yells out the answer. I can now hear her trying to get out the words and practising.

 

When our birds are also very excited when playing they pick up words as well. So we play ball with our male grey and associate words to the game. Silly me though when we taught him to step up I would say c'mon up...now he has picked that up and he sits on his perch and waves his foot at me and says c'mon up...his way to tell me I need to come and get him. The lazy bird is fully flighted, so I swear he does it just to wind me up. Of course it works I walk over and pick him up.

[tmeilicke]

Thanks for the reply everyone.

[siobha9]

Jane08 wrote:

When I get up in the morning I always say good morning and then one day he started to say it back.

 

I have said Good morning to my birds every morning since the day I brought them home. And Liath my eldest still doesnt say it. But yet she says things I know I didnt "Teach" her. She didnt say anything other than Hello until she was 13months old, and now there is no stopping her. My younger grey is 11 months now, and he has a few words, but he is learning from her and not from us!

[Toni]

I have to agree w/Jane.Its a routine they get use to.Must be repetitive.Almost like children learning when they are babies singing Row, Row,Row Your Boat just so your children will learn it. So a repettive action for your fid is exactly the same.Just look out for bad words.Just like children they will pick it up. Fortunantly none of those words spoken here.

[danmcq]

So far, my experience wit Dayo our 1 year old Grey, has been that pure word repition does not work with him. We have said "Good Morning" every morning for 8 months, Dayo does not. We also ask "Want out?" every morning, he does not. We say "Step-Up" everytime we have him do so, he does not, he simply lefts his foot.

 

He says "Are you ok?". We only say that if some odd crash and burn happens or when something we walk by with in our hands causes him to scream. :-)

 

He says "Hello", but very rarely, we say it everytime we enter the room. He rarely says "What are you doing", I ask him this constantly.

 

He seems to pick and chose what "He" thinks must be verbalized for some snister, ulterior motive, I believe, and refuses the remaining words he hears constantly just to spite us. ;-) B)

[Christina]

Finnigan just turned a year old and only says...Wheedle Whee. Which was just a silly game we played. Our Blue and Gold says Hello constantly and she won't say it to save her butt and if she ever learned a word, that would be it. I'm with Dan, I say the same things over and over and she doesn't seem to care. That being said, in the last month, she has picked up her verbalization allot. She whistles and beeps and says wheedle whee every day about 100 times a day. I believe that if we keep up talking to her, it won't be long and she will start popping out with words and sayings. Even if she doesn't it, its okay...her laser sounds and whistles are still the most beautiful sounds and she communicates her mood quite well with all of them.

[lovemyGreys]

Here is a thread regarding playing ....

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-nursery/73105-teaching-your-baby-to-play.html