What Age Do Parrots Start Talking? Understanding Parrot Talk

When you have birds like the parrot, they have a syrinx, and this feathered friend talks if they get an ideal training session. Among the world of parrot species, some of them prefer to mimic sounds or love to communicate, but a few of them avoid speaking.

Whether you have Quaker, Macaw, African Grey, or Eclectus, at what age do parrots start talking? The talker parrot, among 350 species, can start talking or imitating words within the age of three months to one year. And Best communicator African Grey can begin mimicking within three to six months.

Bird’s way of talking and learning time will depend on your bonding, training level, species, age, personality, and even gender. And this article will let out explore when your bird will talk and how you can teach them to talk as a bonus point.

Understanding the Parrot’s Vocal Mechanism

Before exploring the age-related aspects of parrot vocalization, it’s crucial to grasp the mechanics behind their sound production. Parrots possess a distinct vocal structure known as the syrinx, situated at the trachea’s foundation. This structure empowers them to generate an array of sounds, ranging from basic tweets to intricate human-like utterances.

In their natural habitat, parrots employ their vocal abilities for diverse reasons, including alerting their group, attracting partners, and interacting with fellow avians.

At What Age Do Parrots Start Talking – Months Or Years?

The sooner you start talking to your pet friend, the less time you have to learn to communicate. So, teaching will eventually enable the feathered buddy to speak with you!

There is no exact age when the bird usually starts talking. Some parrots will start communicating at baby age, around three months or some of them even after a year.

It’s not about the parrot’s age; rather, based on the species, gender, personality, training, and bonding with your bird will let you identify when the bird will talk. Keep reading this article to uncover some crucial facts that impact the parrot’s learning of phrases to communicate.

Parrot Species	Time Of Talking
At what age does an African grey start talking:	Have the ability to repeat words or phrases after listening to them once or twice. Between three months to one year is the time they will develop themselves to speak.
At what age do Eclectus parrots start talking:	Some of them can speak crystal clearly within three to four months, while others require a little longer. Rarely, a few Eclectus never talk.
At what age do Amazon parrots start talking:	Within one year at most, amazon parrots can gather human word vocabulary and can sing with their sweet voice.
At what age do Quaker parrots start talking:	When mimicking or natural calls, Quakers are chatterboxes. They may take six weeks or six months to talk with their owner.

What Age Do Birds Start Talking – Several Facts To Know

It’s confirmed that there is no fixed age for having a talking parrot. It might take months or years to teach them to communicate. Even though Quaker is known as a talking bird, we discovered from a Reddit site that an eight months parrot only mimics whistling or kissing sounds.

Therefore, the owner must search for information and tips to make the bird replicate human voices. But what are the facts that make a change? The next section will discuss this more clearly.

Species Of Parrots

There are over 350 species of parrots, and some of them are considered masters of mimicry. Unfortunately, they’ll never talk if you overlook teaching them to talk. If you ask why is my African grey parrot not talking, the answer will be no teaching, no talking! However, let’s discover which parrots are the best species as talkative friends.

• African grey parrots are renowned as the best talkative feather friend and may begin a conversation within four months.
• Eclectus or Indian Ringnecks can start talking in four months as well.
• Bugdies usually start attempting to mimic human speaking within three to four months.
• Cockatiels or grey parrots can be the best chatter.
• When the birds are macaw, cockatoos, or quaker, they’ll need extra time to learn communication.

Parrot’s Age

Age is a key factor that greatly influences the parrot’s talk. Younger birds typically make the best bonding with the owner to communicate.

Before they begin to imitate noises, parrots will hear and catch the sounds first. We discovered from some forum sites that parrot species can talk within 4, 7, 11, or even 15 months for whistling or copying noises.

Good Bonding With the Owner

Bonding is the first thing that will cheer the avian up! Do you have a good bonding with your parrot? If not, try to love and spend a lot of time being friendly with your little bird fried. Due to their belief that the human owner is their companion, they prefer to be friendly with humans and make strong bonds. 

Personality Of Feather Friend

Different species have unique personalities and behaviors that determine how talkative and friendly the bird is. Some species may speak more quickly than other birds, some feel shy, and some only enjoy whistling or mumbling. However, adore them due to their way of imitating voices.

Parrots are the most gentle, soft-spoken bird among the entire bird species. And with proper training daily, your feather friend will communicate someday to bring you enjoyment in any circumstance.

Regular Training

Consider owning an Eclectus parrot and wanting it to influence you to talk. As a result, you can follow the advice to make the bird a good listener and talker.

• Your parrot can become an intelligent, smart, and talkative bird with regular training and consistent verbal communication.
• A one-hour training is enough to teach your feather friend how to talk at the right age.
• You can use a clicker or give treats as a reward for imitating or learning your phrases by mimicking them several times.
• Repeating the same words several times is a good way to let the bird catch the words.
• In every training session, say the same words not more than five or six times.
• You can also take a five to ten minutes break to let your parrot relax inside the cage.
• And never yell at your bird while training because it might make them demotivated to speak.

Gender Plays A Great Role

Another fact that affects whether your bird will talk is gender. Usually, male parrots are more likely to talk or communicate than female parrots.

Male birds engage in attracting behavior to tempt females into breeding. However, if you can give more attention to female parrot species like Cockatiels or Budgies, they will likely pick words or talk. But gender differences do not impact African Grey, Macaws, or Amazon parrots.

How Long Does It Take For A Parrot To Learn A Word?

Learning a phrase or word requires a few weeks for your parrot. But on average, a few months or a year is enough to teach the bird how to interact with the owner.

For example, someone with four cockatoos can communicate, whether it gives a greeting or saying “Thank you.” Even one of the cockatoos turned to the owner and said, I’m tired of vegetables, and the bird also said what he wanted for lunch.

Some birds, however, would prefer to remain silent. Instead, they whistle and attempt to imitate but fail to talk. Therefore, be continuous, affectionate, and kind toward the avian to teach them to be friendly.

Which Parrot Is Best For Talking?

A few species of parrots can become mimic masters or good talker friends. Among all, the best species of birds are

Parrots Species	Scientific Name
The African Grey	Psittacus erithacus
Amazon Parrots	Amazona
Ring-Necked Parakeet	Psittacula krameri
Cockatoo	Cacatuidae
Quakers	Myiopsitta monachus
Eclectus	Eclectus roratus
Macaw	Ara
Budgies	Melopsittacus undulatus
Cockatiels	Nymphicus hollandicus
Alexandrines	Psittacula eupatria

Do Male Or Female Parrots Talk Better?

If you notice male vs female parrot behavior, you won’t find any difference between their talking ability. However, male budgies or Cockatiels are well-recognized for having much superior communication skills than their female counterparts. Additionally, male parrots are louder, engage in courtship behavior, and have better interaction abilities than female parrots.

How Do Parrots Learn To Talk?

Parrots are a language-learning animal species with the physiology to make almost exact sounds like spoken language by humans. By observing the surroundings, your newly arrived feather friend can learn to talk. 

The vital part is giving proper attention and training to practice how they should imitate your words. However, your parrot will learn by following some ways, such as

• Parrot’s language and imitation start from babble production.
• The hearing template must understand how to get the way sounds reflect ideas and accept the concept that communication is how thoughts are expressed.
• Gradually they start to say “ello” or “ioveu” within three to four months of age.
• They usually mimic their owners, other socially skilled birds in the flock, or dominant birds to interact vocally.
• Parrots often imitate their nearby noises, such as doorbells or telephone rings.

Do Parrots Understand What You’re Saying?

Yes, they can catch the human language to communicate with them. Avian mimics human speech and other noises since they are intelligent creatures.

They can pick up on specific terms and phrases and try to imitate them. Even though they can almost mimic human words, they don’t understand the language.

Your parrot friend recognizes and responds to the words. They usually make a new code of their language and express it in front of their owner, For example, someone who expects the bird perched on their arm. If the owner says “up”, the parrot will jump onto the arm, or if they say “jump,” it will do that by climbing onto the perch.

So what do you think? Do they understand or respond without understanding? According to our experience, they understand what humans are trying to say but at the level when they regularly interact with their parents. However, the section will be much more engaging in understanding the concept of parrots talking and understanding language.

Parrots Follow The Context

Your feather friend usually speaks in whatever language is relevant, whether English, Arabic, Japanese, or any other language they hear. So, the context has a great impact on the parrot’s talking. 

For example, if you ask, how are you? The parrot may reply I’m doing great. But you never taught it the word “great.” They will imitate the way you talk and the words you use.

Interacting Through Body Language

Body language is another main factor in letting the parrot express their feelings. Therefore, learn the meaning of the parrot’s body language for interacting with them. To understand their body language check a few things:

• Parrot is in comfort when they seem soft and has fluffy plumage.
• The bird is watchful and aggressive if its posture is upright.
• Noticing extremely tight bodies indicates whether they are concerned or violent.

Parrots Can Exchange Words

Exchanging words by parrot seems like a myth, but parrots can learn by themselves and use different words while communicating. They habitually copy the surrounding noises, so they catch words from everywhere.

How Many Words Can A Parrot Memorize?

Recent studies show that parrots can remember up to 60 words, whereas the University of Pittsburgh study claims that birds can mimic human words and learn dozens of phrases.

They can even comprehend up to 250 words with practice and interaction with their owner within four months. Exceptionally, African Grey parrots can achieve a vocabulary of 1,000 words and more.

How To Train A Parrot To Talk – 5 Tips To Learn

If you aspire for your parrot to echo human words, a structured training approach is indispensable .Teaching your parrot to talk will require a lot of endurance. But following our tips will help you to catch your bird’s attention for communicating.

• Initiate with Basics: Embark on this journey with elementary words. Starting phrases could be greetings like “hi” or “good day.”
• Embrace Repetition: A parrot’s learning curve thrives on repetition. Ensure you vocalize the chosen word or phrase consistently throughout their active hours.
• Celebrate Their Achievements: Every time your parrot successfully imitates a sound, reward them. Whether it’s their favorite snack or a gentle pat, positive reinforcement boosts their motivation to vocalize.
• Maintain a Routine: Like humans, parrots benefit from a routine. Dedicate a specific time slot daily for their training, ensuring they are alert and receptive.
• Engage Through Multimedia: To enrich their auditory experience, introduce them to varied sounds and voices. Utilizing videos or sound clips can be an effective way to familiarize them with diverse vocal nuances.

FAQ

If you expect to know more about the bird’s time of talking or how they talk, the Q&A section will help you get more information about talker parrot species.

Closing The Cage Of Article

Are you ready to teach your parrot to communicate like humans? Ensure you understand at what age do parrots start talking and things that attract the parrot to become talkative. So, whenever the parrot gets the proper training, it’ll be able to talk within four months to, at best, one year. But if they avoid talking even after one year, encourage them to be active throughout the day to try mimicking.

Besides that, we think of getting a male parrot as they are more excited to talk. And make sure you understand the way species, age, gender, personality, training, and bonding play a role in making them interact regularly.