Teaching a Parakeet to Speak

Training a parakeet to talk is all about personality, bonding and repetition.

I received my first parakeet as a Christmas gift when I was 17 years old. He was just old enough to be on his own so he bonded well and learned his first word very quickly. He meowed. I had a cat that wanted to "bond" with my bird, too. That is why I hung his cage from my ceiling -- to keep the cat from "bonding".

Therefore, she would sit under the cage or right outside the window and meow... for hours and hours. She would sit there regardless of putting food in her dish. She would sit there in spite of being chased away dozens of times throughout the day. She would just sit there and "meow". I had to lock her in the bathroom when I took Baby out of his cage. I would repeat phrases and hold him to my cheek. I would carry him around on my shoulder and talk to him.

"Hello, Baby!" I would repeat.

"Meow,” was the response.

"Want a treat!" I would say, holding a piece of apple in front of him.

"Meow."

It took him one week to learn to meow. It took him five more weeks to say, "Hello Baby!"

Why was that? My cat was a better trainer than I was, I suppose.

Within a year, Baby was the unfortunate victim of a pet sitter who did not have a clue what she was doing.

It took seven more years before I felt confident enough to get another bird. This one was a young female. I carried her home in her little box and put her directly into the huge cage my husband had put together for her. By this time, we had three small children and we all took part in bonding and training her to speak. Of course, the first phrase Marilyn popped out with was from my husband.

"Sexy bird!" She would declare and then make kissing noises.

Years later, she had a HUGE vocabulary and not all of the words she learned came from us trying to teach her. She would surprise us at least once a week with a new phrase.

"The timer went off!" She declared when the oven would buzz.

"Take a shower and brush your teeth!" she would remind the children when they came downstairs in the morning.

"Excuse me!" she would shout when someone belched.

She loved people who were afraid of birds. We kept her cage open most of the time and when we had unexpected company, she absolutely refused to go inside. She would perch on heads and declare her love instead and the more afraid they were, the more she "loved" them.

The keys to training a parakeet to speak:

1. Buy one when it is very young.

2. Do not get two birds. They will bond with each other and not with you. Of course, if you are gone most of the time, loneliness can be helped by getting another parakeet, but don’t expect them to communicate with you.

3. Encourage bonding right away by offering a hand and then a shoulder to sit upon.

4. Repeat phrases consistently.

Do not use a recording unless your purpose is only to hear them speak and not to teach them how to communicate. Communicative birds are much more interesting than birds that don't have a clue what they are saying.

Marilyn worked off triggers. She would run back and forth on her perch and say, "Wanna come out!" when she wanted out of her cage. She would say, "Are you hungry?" when her dish was empty.

She would repeat phrases to her friend in the mirror: “Zippity doo daaaa, sexy bird!“ and get especially vocal in the mornings (she related to robins and whippoorwills).

One more tip: If you want a friendly bird that you can show off to everyone, do not use offensive language around your bird. EVER.