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Post by aaron on Jan 12, 2015 14:31:44 GMT -5
Cupcake, our 3.5 year old female Quaker, for whatever reason, is not a talker.
Honestly, this doesn't bother us (sometimes it's a relief...). But there are certainly times where I wish she spoke simply because it would give her more options in how she communicates with us.
She makes lots of different noises, and she laughs quite enthusiastically and with appropriate timing. And particularly when she is in the shower on her shower perch, it really sounds like she's trying to talk... but distinct words never come out. She will even make little buzzing noises in time with our speech, like she's participating in the conversation.
Truly, I would be perfectly content if she never spoke a word. I know some birds just don't talk, and that's fine... but I'm always pondering why, because she often seems like a bird that wants to talk.
We got her when she was 9 months old, from a pet store (we didn't know any better at the time). While I think they did give her decent attention and step-up practice (she's very good with hands), I am guessing she didn't get a ton of exposure to clear speech at that impressionable time of her life.
I know there is the occasional story of birds starting to talk late in their lives, but it seems really uncommon. Has this happened to anyone here? Anyone else have a quaker that doesn't talk?
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Post by biteybird on Jan 12, 2015 17:36:16 GMT -5
Hi Aaron, I'd be really surprised if Cupcake doesn't start to talk at some point. As you've said, she has probably not had much individual time spent with her. I would just give her time. You never know, she might be just absorbing sounds and words for awhile, then it could all come out at once!
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Post by cnyguy on Jan 12, 2015 20:56:36 GMT -5
Ralph knows a lot of words, but he's not a very talkative Quaker. He doesn't use his words all that often. He's relatively quiet in general. He does like to whisper words along with me when I say them, and he learns new ones from time to time. It helps to talk to a parrot a lot-- not only repeating words or phrases you'd like them to say, but just make conversation with the parrot. The more human speech they hear, the more likely they are to try to repeat some of it. So don't give up-- keep talking to Cupcake. Obviously, she can and will imitate certain sounds, so she may learn to say a few more words too. There are parrots (of all kinds-- not just Quakers) who never do imitate human speech. Some only speak their native parrot language, and some prefer imitating various sounds. Parrots are also capable of learning new things even as they grow older. I've heard of parrots who didn't speak a word until they were 5 or 6 years old. Cupcake may be one of those parrots who waits until she feels ready and confident before saying anything.  |
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Post by easttex on Jan 13, 2015 4:39:27 GMT -5
Peppy Q is not a big talker, and most of what he says is hard to decipher. He tends to talk most when he is wound up about something, like when I change something in his cage. I always suspect he is cussing me out.  At his age, I don't expect him to pick up much more. My CAG, Allie, came to me at age seven, from a situation of benign neglect. While a great maker of all kinds of whistles, beeps, wild bird calls, and various mechanical and electronic sounds, she had only one phrase I recognized as words. I've had her six years, and she's picked up a couple things from my husband, but nothing that I say. He speaks louder and with more emphasis and drama, so that may be why. I think it likely that if she had been raised with more interest she'd be more of a talker now, and it is hard to overcome the early experience. Not impossible, but it isn't something that matters to me. |
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Post by aaron on Jan 13, 2015 12:56:39 GMT -5
Perhaps another part of it is the fact that while Cupcake gets tons of attention from us collectively, she hears different words and different ways of speaking from each of the three adults in the house. While she is probably most closely bonded to me, it isn't totally clear, and she spends a relatively equal amount of time with each of us, so that doesn't provide the kind of consistency I would imagine best to encourage speaking in parrots.
I just figured with all of the stories I read about Quakers talking so easily and so early in their lifespan, after having Cupcake for nearly three years, she probably isn't going to start now, but you never know! We will, of course, continue to talk to her extensively as this is what we do normally. I don't foresee us trying to tune the way we talk to her to encourage her to speak though-- it really isn't that important to us. I figure if she wants to do it she will figure it out. I just want her to be a happy girl.
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Post by Sharyn and Mr P on Jan 13, 2015 13:59:24 GMT -5
Mr P is not a big talker either. He has learned the phrases that are really important to him, his favorites, and the ones he says most often are "yummy", "yum" and "Do you want a yummy?" (his full name is Mr Piggy) He also says "HEY" when he wants my attention and a handful of other things but he has not learned anything new in quite some time. He is definitely not as talkative as a lot of the other QPs I read about, but then again, I'm not a real talkative person either. I would suggest though, that you actually associate words with what you are doing. Even if they never say them, they sure as heck understand them, and you never know, one day they may surprise you with using a word in context. I never set out to teach Mr P the phrase "do you want a yummy?" but it was SO IMPORTANT to him to get that point across to me, he just picked it up |
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Post by cnyguy on Jan 13, 2015 21:08:20 GMT -5
Since you have so many people to interact with Cupcake, you might want to try the "model/rival" method of teaching a parrot to imitate speech. It was used with much success by Dr. Irene Pepperberg in teaching her famous CAG Alex, and the other Greys she's worked with. Here on Birdchannel.com is an article about Dr. Pepperberg and the "model/rival" technique. Using words in context is also a good idea. Ralph has learned a lot that way. Even if he doesn't repeat some of the words I've used in context, he does understand what they mean. |
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Post by aaron on Jan 14, 2015 11:45:36 GMT -5
Thanks for all of the great responses everyone. Appreciate it! We definitely use words in context and she understands quite a few of them... She knows "treat", "water", "bedtime", "storytime" (when we read with my stepdaughter.. Cupcake loves that), "shower"/"bath", "come here", "good bird" etc. And she does know that she can convey different moods with different noises. Particularly if she is complaining about something-- i definitely know her "grumpy" noise well, and she knows we understand when she does it. We will keep it up with the word association, at any rate. Model/rival does sound effective. If we decide we want to try to train her I will definitely consider this approach. |
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Post by cnyguy on Jan 14, 2015 20:37:45 GMT -5
And she does know that she can convey different moods with different noises. Particularly if she is complaining about something-- i definitely know her "grumpy" noise well, and she knows we understand when she does it. It amazes me how many different meanings Ralph can put into a simple aaaccckkk! or graaaccckk! Over the nearly 5 years he's been with me, I've become pretty adept at interpreting them too. |
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Post by aaron on Jan 15, 2015 13:18:39 GMT -5
Agreed -- and I feel like there's even more meaning that I'm not picking up yet. Will just keep paying attention!
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At his age, I don't expect him to pick up much more.