Do any of you live alone and have a grey that speaks?

[girly]

It's been brought to my attention that the parrots copy what they hear us saying to each other, rather than what we say directly to the bird. I'm concerned because I live alone and spend a great deal of time talking to Jezebel, my bird, instead of another person. Of course the exception is when I have company, but that's not a constant thing. Maybe she'll never speak.

I'm wondering if anyone on this board has the opposite situation-that their bird does talk if you live alone?

[Vilas]

I live alone and have a speaking Grey, but he doesn't do it alot. In fact, he hasn't been talking as much as he was. My friend had him since he was just a chick and she had two kids that grew up with him. So when she rehomed him to me, she said that he has tons of words even the naughty ones. He's never spoken a naughty word and I have no idea what happen to his vast vocabulary. I speak to him like he's a child at times and at other times, we are adults. Does that make sense? I talk to him when I'm in the kitchen as he is in the dining area, and he can see me (holding that knife). I have my craft table in the front room, directly across from his cage and so is the couch. I speak to him from the bedroom, as the vent is between the bedroom and the front room, and I hear him in the morning calling for me. My apartment is not very big, so I can talk to him from any room.

I sit at the table next to his cage and we have conversations. Granted he's not saying much, if anything but I know he's listening. The tilt of the head, the eyes refocusing and the head down asking for a favor. I bought him CD's on how to talk--the phrases, the songs, the sing like a canary-which he can.
I found something out this week, that he likes opera type music. I had Charlotte Church on the cd player along with some big band music. Well he did pick up a couple of tunes and sings like a bird. I try to encourage this with him, and also keep trying other music too.

My neighbors stop by the window to talk to him. They all love him and he either gives them a kiss or says hello to them. He's picked up the sound of water running, as the manager cleans the patio by the pool; he learned the whistle I use to use for my dog a long time ago and now barks like a dog, from that "Babble Ball" toy (i LOVE THAT!). He's learned different phone rings because everyone has a cell phone. He's like a little kid to me, because when a plane flies over I say "airplane", hoping that he will make the connection and say it later. His treat is called a "cookie" but he's never said that, yet.

Do I wish he would talk more? Oh yeah. Even one of my neighbors mentioned that to me today. He said "he doesn't talk much anymore", to which I replied "he doesn't like men"...lol. He will in due time, I guess. I would love to get another parrot to keep him company during the day...maybe one that does talk more, then I won't be able to get them to stop!!

Sandra

[girly]

thanks Sandra. Your story sounds like what I'm afraid of. He was talking more when he heard the other family talking to each other.

Oh well. My baby is picking up sounds she hears, but no words yet. and as you said, I know full well she's listening to me when I speak to her, taking it all in. I love that. She stares right at me intently when I speak to her. She cocks her head, just adorable.

I leave an opera cd on whenever I go out. so far she hasn't started singing. I, like you, talk to her all day long.

We cuddle at night-I love that the most. I know she loves me very much, and I love her, but I'm disappointed at the prospect of her not speaking. :-(

[wildirish]

Try cartoon channels or radio when you leave instead of opera, they will pick up words and sounds from TV as well, LOL! Ours have learned some cute sound effects LOL!

[girly]

good idea, I'll try that today!

[girly]

I'm not going to give up all hope yet. I just realized that all the sounds she does make are things I've said directly to her, and not with another person around. It's the whistling, kissing and snorting that I do all day to her!

[sodakat]

This is really interesting and I think you are on to something.

Our first talking bird was a grey that spent her first 5 years with a couple who had a dog and eventually a baby, which led to rehoming her (for various reasons). She was a tremendous talker. The first day she arrived at my house she said "put on your shoes and we'll go outside". She rang the phone, answered it (using the man's name that she had lived with) and had a long, one-sided conversations that consisted mostly of "yep, nope, uh-huh, yeah, okay". Her previous owner had worked from home a lot and spent time on the phone going over job assignments. Much of her speaking consisted of her asking questions, such as "want some watermellon?", "you like yogurt?" , "you want your breakfast?", plus all the "what does a dog (chicken, monkey, cow pig) say" phrases. When there was a siren on the television, she would yell, "Misty, stop that!". I learned that the previous owner's dog's name was Misty and whenever a siren was heard near their house, Misty would howl.

Over the years she lived with us, she added to her vocabulary some, much of it things she overheard, rather than things said directly to her, now that I think about it. She also was a great foley artist and imitated all phones, microwaves, doorbells, burps, farts, sighs, coughs, sneezes she heard on a regular basis.

We now have a male eclectus that talks, although not nearly as much as Maui, described above. He loves the doggy in the window song and barks when I sing it, at the right point in the song. He can sing "how much is..." but gets so excited to bark at the right point that he messes up. Actually, he adds barking to almost any song we sing. If our female eclectus starts screaming, he'll say "stop that", and often says "look at that" or "look at that, birdie". He calls the dog, and loudly, sternly says "Mae, come HERE!" Once in a while he'll say, "don't bite". So, although my husband and I carry on normal conversations around him, he doesn't pick up on mundane stuff, but instead goes for either the rowdy or excited phrases he hears, as well as the stern reprimands to the dogs.

I'll be interested to hear more on this subject!

[girly]

Me too, and thanks for your story.

What bothers me is that Jezebel seems pretty bright, and mimics sounds pretty well, so I figured at this point she should be saying words. I guess each bird is different and only time will tell.

I'll keep you posted, and I do hope we get other responses on this subject~

[Newticus]

By the date written next to Jezebel's pic in your sig I can't figure out when she was born, I'm assuming dec or Sep of 2008. Either way she is still really young. One of the greys I worked with was about 8-9 months when she finally found a home. It still took a month or so, but after that her vocabulary took off. I know this as the gentleman who bought her came back to talk to me about her. So have patience.
On the flip side not all birds talk, whether in a home with many people or with only one person. It's not a reflection of you as her parront.
The first few words my parrot, Chester learned were the one I spoke directly to him. It was only later that he has started to learn words and phrases I say to my dogs or my girlfriend.

Melanie

[chapala]

How old is Jezebel?