Teaching a Senegal to talk ?

[Tonya]

Hi All

I just got my baby 2 weeks ago so he is 4 months now. Settled into his new home and cage very well. He seems to really like me. He is generaly quiet until I speak to him. They say to speak to your bird when you have his attention but what I am unclear on is when I do my 5 or 6 times a day of a couple minutes of saying Hello to him, he gets very excited and focused on me but he starts out peeping and chattering and then starts to screech and tries to do it in time to my voice saying hello. When I am quiet he is quiet but as soon as I get to Hel ... he peeps or screeches. So my question is : Do you think he is paying attention and trying to learn or am I just encouraging him to screech when I talk to him ? Any advice would help as this is my first parrot.
PS: I am well aware that he may never speak but it doesnt hurt to try.

[RMSacha]

Tonya,

Senegals can talk and they usually respond quite well to female voices. He is young yet so be patient, try "Hello" and build up. Ours imitates sounds more than speach, ie., the sound of my cell when it has a voicemail, the sound of the smoke detector, "raspberries", whistles, BUT she does say "pretty bird" and has learned to yell "shut-up" when our dogs bark. Olive, our Sennie, was two years old when we got her, she was a rescue and since coming to live with us, she has learned to love bathing, playing with obnoxious but fun toys, and speaking... They are great little birds! Our even tries to bully our macaw! Patience and repetition will get your little boy to talk!

Enjoy your boy!

[galaxee]

i just take casper around with me when i do things around the house and narrate what i'm doing.

she's been with us a couple of months and is 7 months old on tuesday. she can say quite a few things clearly, but she still does mumble sometimes. she learned the routine and will participate in the conversation as i go about my day. she also has learned a few things that will get her a reward (saying please, for example) and things like that.

good luck :D senegals are great little birds.

[tielmama]

I think I know what you mean about your sennie screeching along with your words. I don't know why they do that, maybe just participating. Keep talking to her/him. It didn't take my female long at all to start saying things we would say to her. She says pretty, birdy and Lukey, (her name) in many different orders. Pretty pretty pretty Lukey birdy bird. She does a great canary song, and beeps like a smoke alarm that needs batteries, and she laughs like me, and I think I heard her calling one of our dogs the other morning. She said, "Abby Abby! Abby! just like we do. I've tried to teach her I love you, and she has said it to me, but only once. I forgot that she says, "What choo do?" all the time! She is the cutest little monkey bird I've ever seen.

[LMPego]

I agree about the narration. I talk to the birds all the time. If they are with me, I narrate everything I'm doing, or if I pass them I always say "hi" or "how are you" or something. Our Cory just turned 4 on New Year's Day and has a small vocabulary but has recently been using her words in context more and more. She'll pick up on something, though, and say it a few times and then you never hear it again. She mostly says "night night", "Cory", "pet Cory", and "pet me". Last week I asked her if she wanted pets as she was climbing up my shirt and she said "no" and kept climbing to the couch to get a toy. This morning I asked her if I should wear grey or black pants and she said "back". Most things I've heard is that Senegals tend to talk later in life, but I don't know how true that is. I would just always talk to your Sennie and if it answers back some day, great! If not, the microwave beeping is charming, too.

[tielmama]

Laura, I laughed out loud when I read Cory's answer to "do you want a pet?" and the color choice was so cute too. Boy, you can really tell when they don't want to do what you suggest, even if they don't say, "no". This is a very cool parrot. Lukey said "Hi." in my voice with the same intonation today. I got all excited. It's her most clear word so far.

[Nehocmom]

Our Senegal is a rescue and we have no idea how old he is. He loves to talk. He likes to talk in complete sentences and tells me "gonzo is a good boy" and asks "what are you doing?" and "are you talking to me?". When he gets very excited he mixes them all together.

[tielmama]

How cute! Yeah, Lukey says, "What choo do?" real fast over and over. It sounds like it's his natural call. If I hold my new U2 in front of her, she says everything she knows, as fast as she can. She must think if she sounds way better than that big white bird, maybe I'll put him back and come get her.

[Heathcliff2903]

I have a baby Senegal. I read a book about them and it suggested the towel game. It is a game in which you cover the bird in a towel and wait until they find their way out. I always call the birds name and say "Where's Mango?" When she finds her way out I say "Peek a boo! Good Girl" She has started saying Peek a boo all the time. It is so cute. I am also considering changing her name to Houdini as she has now figure out how to get out of all doors in every cage I have for her. I can't believe how smart she is! After I had put locks on her doors she even tried to remove her food dish so she could get out that way! She is amazing!

[Lindann]

My Sennie Max is 17 months old and is developing a vocabulary and a library of sound effects. We play the towel game with him and a "peek-a-bird" game where we put him on our bed and he bends and stretches to look through the footboard slats to find us. So now he shouts "Peek-a-bird!" when he wants his cage uncovered in the morning or when he just wants to play the game. He says, "Hey there. pretty birdie!" "Pretty bird!" and makes kissy noises when he wants to cuddle. He also does an evil laugh, "Heh-heh-heh-heh!" and talks like Donald Duck, which is basically unintelligible but a scream to listen to. He does the microwave beep, the cat, a duck, a chicken clucking, a space gun, a siren and a bomb dropping. Most of this he has learned because of repetition--a LOT of it! He seems to be most attentive in the mornings after he's had his poop, a nut and a scritch. I sit at the computer and check my email and just keep talking to him the whole time, about whatever I'm doing. I notice that he clacks his beak whenever I pause, like he's trying to respond. Sometimes we hear him nattering to himself when he's in his cage or on his playtop. Soooo.. I think all it takes is some time and patience. We were told when we got him that Senegals weren't major talkers but max is coming right along and he' still young, so I have no doubt he'll continue to pick up noises and vocabulary as he matures,