The first thing that people ask me when they find out I have a parrot is "Can he talk?". Sadly for me the answer is no. I am the proud owner of a Sun Conure Parrot and even though he's beautiful, playful, and loving, he is certainly no talker. To be totally honest his lack of parrot talking skills is probably a good thing. I build websites for a living and all day long he's right there with me on my shoulder. When the internet crashes or when I lose unsaved work, some things come out of my mouth that aren't worth repeating.
So if you want a parrot that talks then what kind of parrot should you get? First off I'd like to point out that parrots are a huge responsibility and that if you simply want something that repeats what you say I suggest you go out and buy a digital voice recorder instead. They are cheaper, easier to take care of, and guaranteed to talk or your money back. For those of you who are dedicated to the idea of actually having a parrot, I have a few species suggestions for you here.
Keep in mind that not all parrots, even if they are from a talking species, will ever learn to talk. A bird must be highly socialized, personally interested in talking, and totally comfortable with you and its surroundings before it will begin to learn.
The following are my three favorite talking parrots:
The Budgie Parakeet
Budgie Parakeets are those little green birds that you always see at pet stores. Some of them are blue or yellow too. Most people look right past them when hunting for the best talking parrot but in fact these little guys are the world's best talkers when it comes to vocabulary. A budgie named Puck won the Genus Book of World Records for the most words ever spoken by one bird. He has a recorded vocabulary of over 1,720 words!
Budgie parakeets have wonderful parrot talking skills but they do tend to be a little difficult to understand at times. The big plus is that these birds are small and easy to handle. They also do well with kids as long as the children have careful adult supervision with the pets. The parrot talking ability is stronger with males than with females.
The Eclectus Parrot
This species of parrot is not as common in the pet trade as budgies are. They are much larger and they carry a much higher price. They also don't have a vocabulary that is nearly as large as a well trained budgie but they make up for it with clarity of speech that many of them have.
The Eclectus parrot talking skills seem to be equally as strong in males and females.
African Grey Parrots
The Congo African Grey and Timneh African Grey seem to both have equal parrot talking powers. Some say the Timneh is better and some say the Congo is better but in my experience they are pretty close to the same.
These birds are well known for their ability to talk, they are the ones that scientist always use for testing when trying to see if parrots can actually learn meaning to the words they say. These birds are considered to be the smartest parrots that exist. Unfortunately their shyness can sometimes get the best of them.
African Grey parrots don't do well in captivity. In the wild they fly in flocks that can be over 100 strong and they will fly more than 10 miles a day in search of food. Their social and emotional needs are great and can be very difficult to meet in captivity. Because of this, many pet African Greys will shut down in a sort of depression when held in captivity. They will refuse to learn to speak and some will pluck out feathers or even rip up their skin from mental illness.
African Greys can make wonderful pets and display incredible parrot talking abilities but they must have their needs met first. It takes a determined parrot owner to provide this species with the attention that it needs.
Chose your parrot wisely
Getting a parrot is a life long commitment and a life changing decision. Before you go get your talking parrot today, make sure you study up and know what you're getting yourself into.
Jon Perry
Learn more about parrots on my website at http://www.FeatherMe.com.
I also have a section of my website dedicated to parrot talking behavior which includes videos and a variety of parrots talking for the camera so you can see for your self which ones you like best.
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