truth or myth??

[Emma]

This lady with birds from Johns work keeps telling John to tell me not to whistle to Milo...our 6 month old Cag. She says if we whistle that he'll not need to learn to talk. whistling will be enough for him to communicate...or something like that.

Does anyone agree??
Personally, I love whistling with him... and its the way we communicate when i'm in another room so I cant just stop doing that like John is trying to get me to do!!!
He has just started saying hello in the last few days over and over....on some days when I'm out of sight I have heard him say Hello Milo Pretty Pretty....and especially in the last week when he thinks noone is paying attention he has said some very clear words in between his songs.

So can you guys settle this well.... tiff... i guess is what it is... between John and I cause I am gettin real tired of bein told to stop whistling every freakin night!!!!

Thanks, Emma

[Lisa B]

Hi Emma...my guys both whistle and Talk...(3 cags) One came to me whistling....he lived with my dad. My dad was always whisting, and now Stirling does it. Stirling has tought Sydney and Emma to whistle.....
They are still young..and really dont have much of a vocabulary. Both are just about 2 and half...Stirling is about 20.
I can tell you when I has only one Cag,Sampson,,and he was a baby, we did not whistle and he was an amazing talker by the time he as a bit over 2....
now can I say for sure it was because we didnt whistle to him....NO...
Was it because he was an only grey and was constantly talked to like a human..... I belive that was more like it...
Try singing to your baby...and you might be pleasntly surprized...((Let us know what the hubby says though!!!!))).**LOL** doesnt matter how good your vocal ablilites are....your baby wont mind one bit an dwill probably LOVE it!!! :icon_smil

[The Outlaw]

That's just plain silly. All of my greys do both and seem to like to imitate any and all sounds. In fact, in the wild, they've actually been heard mimicking the sounds of chainsaws that are cutting down their jungles. Its a sad truth.

THE OUTLAW

[Emma]

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

That's just plain silly. All of my greys do both and seem to like to imitate any and all sounds. In fact, in the wild, they've actually been heard mimicking the sounds of chainsaws that are cutting down their jungles. Its a sad truth.

THE OUTLAW

mimicked the chain saws, eh??? alrighty then, I'll be sure and take Milo to another room before I WHACK my husband tonight!!!

[willowbirdy218]

I always whistle to my cag. She started whistling when she was quite young, and started talking when she was only about 5 months. I think it is fun to whistle to my birds and I would say that if you already hear your bird talking and you like to whistle to your bird then don't stop doing so. Willow uses both whistles and words to communicate with me when I'm not in the room. It is up to you. If you want your bird to whistle then keep whistling to Milo, but I think he will probably still be a talker.

[Vankarhi]

Originally Posted by Emma

mimicked the chain saws, eh??? alrighty then, I'll be sure and take Milo to another room before I WHACK my husband tonight!!!

LOL Emma, you have a wicked sense of humour. I have owned many birds and most of them whistled. The two best talkers were a male budgie I had about 20 years ago and my skye (eclectus). They both talk/ed and whistled. It is a myth. I found that cockatiels made better whistlers than talkers though, but they still did do both. Not all birds will talk very well if at all, but most will say at least a few words.

Do be gentle on your hubby though - he is only a mere male

[yehudasf]

BS"D

Parrot use their syrinx (think larnyx on steroids) for all vocalisations. Whistling is just another vocalisation to a parrot. Unlike humans, parrots do not use a different portion of the vocal tract (lips) to whistle, and the syrinx to "talk". It is all one set of behaviours, utilising exactly the same structures. Whistling is in no way deleterious to the ability (or likelyhood) of a parrot to speak. Conversely, speaking is in no way likely to inhibit a parrots ability to mimic a whistle. The syrinx is located at the conjunction of the main bronchi, and its range of sounds is as far beyond human, as a ferrari's performance is beyond that of the cutting edge of Serbo-Croation automotive technology, the Yugo.

[dyeman]

For what its worth, according to Mattie Sue Athan in The African Grey Handbook, Dr. Pepperberg does not allow people who interact with Alex, the famous Grey to whistle to him. They feel this interfers with his desire to use human words to interact, because they are more difficult to form then a whistle.

However, Athan describes how Alex will attempt to "trick" newcomers into whistling with him by making an incorrect wolf whistle or the first half of one and then waiting for a response.

I thought it was a cute story, but unless you are interested in a 2000 word vocabulary for your Grey and have the time to work that hard with him, I doubt that it will seriously interfer with his talking. Greys I have known in the past barked, meowed, imitated a car alarm as well as whistled and talked.

[MsSmurfy]

My Ducorps began vocalizing in sentences not one words like 'Hello' etc... I always whistled to TIKI & spoke afterwards. In fact, I would whistle & say "whistle' Tiki! So TIKI would always say the word "whistle" followed by the whistles & then call the birdies the same way! "Whistle"-(wooHoo)- Come on pretty birdies!" So whistling & talking combined is what my Ducorps has done since 7 months of age. And now TIKI has taught our lil Goffin the same but he started both at 4months of age & he will be a year this month & has suddenly picked up all the 'sound effects' our Angel_Boy does! Angel_Boy has only been with us since this past Thanksgiving '04. Angel_Boy is excellent at sound effects~ he does a car crash sound then follows it with a 'Siren'! He is funny, sounds as if he was in a Video_game arcade environment!

[Lisa B]

**LMAO***Emma!!!

yehudasf
Thanks for the insite of How they talk..I'll be sure to save that for future reference!!!!