# Teaching baby birds to talk



## questionare (Jul 9, 2012)

Hi there,

I have a baby male bird who is 28 days old. I have been handling this baby since day 7, and now it steps on my finger, and I do preen him, and whistle to him.

My question is how I can teach this baby to sing and talk, I know it maybe early for him to have such capability, however, I would like to do what can help me achieve this target in the future.

Thanks,


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Sing and talk to him now, with frequent repetitions of things that you want him to learn. It will be several months before he has the capability or desire to sing, and I don't know how much he will learn by listening to you right now, but it can't hurt.


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## Scribbles (Jun 28, 2012)

When we got Monte he did the odd cheep and chirp. All I did was repeat stuff to him 4-5 times a day when I had him near me, or if I went over to his cage and repeated it. It took quite a few weeks before we heard even an odd woof whistle. More weeks passed, and then he started to woof whistle more, and then we thought we heard a "pretty bird". I would just keep repeating 4-5 times a day (and doing it 4-5 times each of those times so guess it would be 25 individual times!!), and if you look a the video I posted today, he's very vocal. He went from some birdie chatting and whistling a couple of times a day but not in front of us, to on and off all day now. And he'll do it on your shoulder, and near you, and in front of a mirror, and in his cage....geez he won't shut up (and I love it that way!). And he goes on for ages and ages. We've had him 9 weeks yesterday. So it took a couple of months to get to this stage. Just keep repeating stuff lots of times a day for 10 minutes and he'll get it. Be consistent...I was. Even when you think it's a pain, keep doing it every day. You'll get a wonderful reward from hearing your birdie chat.

PS. I don't know how old Monte is as we got him as a hand raised bird from a pet store. He had been there less than a week, so perhaps he was 3 or so months old before I got him. But perhaps if we had had him from younger he might of started earlier.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

Ama started kind of early at 3 months so start talking to him.


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## Bird Junky (Jul 24, 2012)

*Hello Is this what your looking for?

B.J's. TEACHING YOUR BIRD TO TALK

It's a one size fits all, as it has to be, to cover the maximum number of birds. This program applies to both 
sexes but I shall refer to him to make writing easier. 
The talk training treat I would select would be one I could share with the bird, like, cake, biscuit, currants, 
nuts etc, etc. & a cup of coffee, (not for sharing.) 
Keep the bird in its cage, this helps him to focus & makes the feeding of the treat food easier. For instance 
the cage bars help prevent him taking a big bite. 
The smaller the reward piece the more eager he will be for more. 
Don't worry about him gaining weight. A fly around the room will soon burn off any excess fat.
My training session lasted no longer than 20 min approx, with a max of around 4 sessions per day. If you want to go on for longer just be aware that the attention span of birds can be quite short if they get bored. 
Sit by his cage & show him the reward & let him have a little taste. 
Say 'hello' & take a bite yourself, make it a small one, your teaching him to talk, not to mumble through a mouthful of cake...The bird seeing you reward yourself after saying a word, would be encouraged to try his 
luck, for a share of the goodies.
Repeat the 'hello' slowly about 10 times & pretend to take a little bite each time. 
Pause after the 10th time & give him just a little peck of the treat to keep him interested & focused. 
Sometimes you will get his interpretation of hello, which you should reward immediately with a peck at the 
cake. 
Work on him till the word is as good as it is going to get before moving on. 
Each step (lesson) takes as long as it takes.
In lesson. 
(1) Teach him to say, 'Hello'. Once he's got it, move on to the next.
(2) Teach him to say, 'Hello how'. Having mastered the two words together. 
(3) Teach him to say, 'How are you'. 
You will be surprised how quick some words are picked up. 
Don't be in a hurry, just remember how long it took you to learn to talk..
It might be a good idea to teach your bird your phone number.....B.J.
*


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

just do not give the bird the same treat out of your mouth or one you have eaten, because human saliva has some bacteria in it thats not good for birds. 

i have found tsuka picks words up at random, ones i say to him that he really likes. he normally picks up positive words and ones said on a daily basis. so my advice, just keep saying things, use a positive tone to your voice and you might be surprised  you will know he likes the word when he looks at you and moves his beak when you talk, or if his crest moves and he moves closer to you to hear it better. at least this is what tsuka does when he is interested in a word


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## rebeldavy1 (Oct 30, 2021)

questionare said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I have a baby male bird who is 28 days old. I have been handling this baby since day 7, and now it steps on my finger, and I do preen him, and whistle to him.
> 
> ...


i have a bird whistling cd. When i leave the house ill repeat one track the whole time Im gone. My male has learnt about 6 of the tunes in the past 2 months.


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