How To Train Your Bird To Talk

Once you’ve narrowed your choices to a talkative breed, focus your attention on choosing a bird that seems alert and interested in what’s going on around him. These are clues that he’ll make a good talker.

Get a young bird. Like the proverbial old dog who can’t learn new tricks, an older bird is going to have more trouble picking up speech.

Give the bird a name that is no more than two syllables. A longer name reduces the chances that he will learn to say his own name.

If you’re married and/or have children, pick one person to teach the bird. If several people are trying to instruct the bird, it will only confuse it.

Start training at the optimal time. For smaller birds, that’s at four to six months. For bigger birds, wait until they’re six to twelve months.

Start training by saying a few simple words to Tweety, always using them under the same circumstances. For example, you could say “Good morning” every day when you first rise, and you could reserve “Bye” for when the bird can see you walk out the door.

Repeat the words several times in each instance. You want the bird to start associating the sound you are making with the context.

Give Tweety a treat every time he repeats something you are teaching him.

If Tweety has picked up a bad word, washing his mouth out with soap won’t work. But ignoring him when he repeats the word will, because getting your attention is his main incentive.

Now enjoy chatting with your fine-feathered friend!