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Pet Forum / Birds / Birds / December 2003Cockatoos Talking?
Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking English. She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We think she says things like "I love you" "Step up" "Pretty Bird" "Hi Glacie" "What cha doin?" but they're still in the "too" language. My question is this....Will she ever talk? Or is she too old? A person told us yesterday that if they aren't talking by the age of two, they won't ever talk. Is this correct? Our friend has Glacie's sister (Pearl) and she started talking at about three months old. She lived in the breeders home a lot longer than Glacie did. This breeder had lots of talking birds and we think Pearl picked it up from them. If Glacie never talks, that's ok. We'll love her just the same but if she isn't going to talk, then we'll quit driving her crazy with the same sentences over and over. Your thoughts on this are appreciated. Toni Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking English. She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We think she says things like "I love you" "Step up" "Pretty Bird" "Hi Glacie" "What cha doin?" but they're still in the "too" language. My question is this....Will she ever talk? Or is she too old? A person told us yesterday that if they aren't talking by the age of two, they won't ever talk. Is this correct? Our friend has Glacie's sister (Pearl) and she started talking at about three months old. She lived in the breeders home a lot longer than Glacie did. This breeder had lots of talking birds and we think Pearl picked it up from them. If Glacie never talks, that's ok. We'll love her just the same but if she isn't going to talk, then we'll quit driving her crazy with the same sentences over and over. Your thoughts on this are appreciated. I don't believe cockatoos are the best talkers. I have an umbrella cockatoo who says "hello", and "hello Pandora" or "hello Pandoo" and that is it. She is 15 years old. > Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking English. > She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We think she [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > who says "hello", and "hello Pandora" or "hello Pandoo" and that is it. She > is 15 years old. I have a Goffin's. She says "Freya Freya Freya, Freya birrrrrddddd, MAAAACCCCCCC!!!! (my dad's nick name)" some odd sort of babbling also. She also crows like a rooster and clucks like a hen that just laid an egg as she spent the first 3 or 4 weeks with me flying around the neighborhood and hanging out eating grain off the ground with my chicken flock. :-) That is how I got her, she was a "stray". Took me some effort to catch her and I still have the scars. <G> She also meaows like a cat so well that company can't tell the difference! I can. :-) She also makes kissy sounds, imitating me when we play kissy bird. <G> Seems that she learns what SHE wants to learn! I can repeat sentences until I'm blue and it seems to do no good. There are teaching tapes. Freya is about 6 or so now and she seems to pick up one word or noise now and then as she wants to. K. >^,,^< Cats-haven Hobby Farm >^,,^< Katra@centurytel.net >^,,^< "There are millions of intelligent species in the universe, and they are all owned by cats" -- Asimov Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=katra > I have a Goffin's. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > got her, she was a "stray". Took me some effort to catch her and I still > have the scars. <G> Ooooh. I've always heard that strays make the best pets. :) > She also meaows like a cat so well that company can't tell the > difference! I can. :-) Glacie can bark like our little dog > She also makes kissy sounds, imitating me when we play kissy bird. <G> I think Glacie says kiss kiss followed by the kissy sound > Seems that she learns what SHE wants to learn! I can repeat sentences > until I'm blue and it seems to do no good. Typical of children, whether feathered or human :) Glacie repeats strings of "words" that we take for certain sentences. I guess we need a Cockatoo/English dictionary. > There are teaching tapes. We haven't found any yet. > I don't believe cockatoos are the best talkers. I have an umbrella cockatoo > who says "hello", and "hello Pandora" or "hello Pandoo" and that is it. She > is 15 years old. I wonder if the species of 'too matters. I have a friend with a U2 and one with a MSC2. The U2 is like yours - he mostly says "Hi Coco" and a few other rare phrases. But my other friend's MSC2 would rival some Greys. He has a huge vocabulary and usually speaks in the correct context of the situation. He is 19 and still learning new phrases all the time. This is just a sample of two, though. Janet Levy > > I don't believe cockatoos are the best talkers. I have an umbrella cockatoo > > who says "hello", and "hello Pandora" or "hello Pandoo" and that is it. She [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > learning new phrases all the time. This is just a sample of two, > though. Possibly you are correct. My friend has a moluccan who has a bigger vocab' than Pandora. The bird is in a room with an AG. When the M2 starts screaming, the AG shouts "shut up". My friend (an elderly chap) inadvertantly encouraged his too to scream. When visitors come to the house, the M2 starts the most godawful noise, and my friend will say "quickly, go and say hello to him and that will shut him up" which of course it doesn't. This summer when I walked in and the bird started, I simply stood in the room with my back to him and was silent. At the first pause in the screams, I turned around and went over to him to tickle and kiss. It took a few weeks, but now, if I come through the door, he sits there silent and waiting as he knows I won't pay him any attention until he is quiet. He still screams with other people though and my friend still says "quickly, go and say hello to him and that will shut him up" (shrug) I have a bare eye and he talks his butt off and mostly in context. > > > I don't believe cockatoos are the best talkers. I have an umbrella > cockatoo [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > still says "quickly, go and say hello to him and that will shut him up" > (shrug) ><(((*> I have a bare eye and he talks his butt off and mostly in context. Jester is a bare-eye 'too too. He often talks in context, uses his small vocabulary to express an amazing range of things. One thing he does is use intonation to add meaning to his phrases. For example, when I'm eating something, he'll say "C'est pas bon?" (with the question mark, this means "Is it not good?") You can tell it's a question by the way he raises his vocal tone at the end of the phrase. This is how he asks for a taste, by implying that I haven't offered it to him because it isn't good. But if he tastes it and doesn't like it, he uses exactly the same words, "C'est pas bon!" (with the exclamation mark it means "It is *not* good!") Again, he uses vocal tone to make it sound like a statement. When he likes what he tastes, he says "C'est bon!" (meaning "It *is* good!") He also tells me, when I offer him a treat either "C'est bon!" to indicate that yes, he wants it or "C'est pas bon!" to warn me that he won't eat it. Most times the "pas bon" treats get tossed right away to the floor of his cage while he will pig out on the "bon" ones. What kind of things does your 'too say? Tara J. Ballance Montreal, Canada > What kind of things does your 'too say? > > Tara J. Ballance > Montreal, Canada My Bare eye Guy says lots of things with great conviction, He has a few sounds that are meaningful also like vvvvvvt that is what he says when you have something he would like to see, He does a great deal of dancing and singing I love billy I love the bird, He makes a phone ringer noise and uses two specific phone voices he says something to the effect of this Hello Hello Billy willy willy willy Hi Billy I love you I love you to Ok bye bye Then he makes a very loud kissing noise He will hang up and do it all over again till he feels he can stop. If he wants food he says I wanna bite or just Bite Water, water,water My food This morning the cat jumped on the bed and billy started talking to him he says wanna play come here come over here hello baby Meeeeeeeow About this time my two large dogs came in the room and bumped the cage and got in between the bird and cat so the bird got his mean look And growled "GO LAY DOWN" it used to bother my one dog but he dont listen anymore His old people, were old people so he has a fake caugh that sounds like the final straw for a very old smoker. He knows a few cuss words but only uses they in context when he is upset. I could go on and on like this but you get the picture he is very smart. To get out of the cage he says wanna come out When startled he screams like a little girl. Your bird sounds really smart also Im looking to network with bare eyed people as I dont see many of them. Mine is very well behaved and sexually mature he does love the ladys and they make him act up a little but I have the same problem See ya > > What kind of things does your 'too say? > > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > like vvvvvvt that is what he says when you have something he would like to > see, You're bird sounds so cool! I hope one day, Glacie will begin talking like that. The only thing she says right now with any conviction is "I Love You!" when she knows she's on her way to bed. It's like if she says it BIG enough she'll get to stay up a little longer. She still has phrases that we know what she's saying, even though they are still in Cockatoo. Since Glacie goes to college and isn't here except the weekends, I've been teaching her "I want my Nana" "I want to go home". She's got the syllables, but the words aren't there yet. Maybe one day???? The college term has been over since December 9 so Glacie has been here since then. She will leave again January 12 and I'm already dreading the day. Not only will I miss my daughter, I'll miss our little clown even more. Jenny(our daughter) is concerned that I'm bonding too much with Glacie and Glacie won't be content going back to school. I don't think this will be a problem since Glacie was here for a year before she went to school. She's a year and a half now and has made the traveling transition very well. Hopefully this will continue. Sorry I got so long winded. I just love this group, and this place to learn and hear about birds. Merry Christmas all. Toni >My question is this....Will she ever talk? You'll probably never get her to shut up. It is just you that needs to learn 'too speak. <G> ><(((*> If Glacie never talks, that's ok. We'll love her just the same but if she isn't going to talk, then we'll quit driving her crazy with the same sentences over and over. My bare-eyed 'too has a modest vocabulary of exxpressions he repeats clearly, and constantly. Jester also has what I think of as his comedy routine, which is "too talk" that we think he learned while in the pet store. We can almost, but not quite, make out what he's saying. But it sure sounds like the kind of things that store employees say in the course of a day's work. We *do* constantly repeat certain phrases to him, but he decides what he will pick up, and most of our phrases don't fall into that category. That being said, I think Jesse enjoys the repetition. He responds in relatively predictable ways to specific phrases, "go home" for instance. (I say it whenever it's time for him to go to his cage for the night. I keep hoping that he will start to say "go home" when *he* wants to go to bed, but that hasn't happened yet!) Jesse learned new words regularly up to the age of about three, then his vocabulary appeared to stabilize. He's five now. But he still pays attention to the things we say, and sometimes he mumbles as if he's trying a word out for size. I'd say, don't give up on Glacie. She's a member of a bright species, and she's young. She may well pick up more words as time goes by. I hope you'll continue to tell us about her; she sounds like a wonderful companion. I promise to swap Jester stories for Glacie stories. Tara J. Ballance Montreal, Canada I hope you'll continue to tell us about her; she sounds like a wonderful companion. I promise to swap Jester stories for Glacie stories. Thanks! We've got some cute Glacie stories. She has TV as a companion when we aren't home. She's learned to chuckle like the audience in the sitcoms. And she loves to play "throw the toy". She'll throw a plastic ring as long as we hand it back. We usually end up quitting before she does. She'll even try to fake us off and pretend like she's going to throw it to the left and then throw it to the right. It's more fun for her if we don't catch it. For some reason she thinks it's funny when we have to bend over and pick it up off the floor. ><(((*> Thanks! We've got some cute Glacie stories. She has TV as a companion when ><(((*> we aren't home. She's learned to chuckle like the audience in the sitcoms. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] ><(((*> For some reason she thinks it's funny when we have to bend over and pick it ><(((*> up off the floor. LOL I think Glacie & Jester might be double yolks separated at birth. Jesse watches TV too, and he laughs along with the audience. In fact I think he's learned to read body language and vocal inflections, because he often chuckles when something funny happens even without the cue of the laugh track. And throw the toy is one of his favourite games too. I put him on the dining room table and he runs back & forth throwing things off. (I love the funny little clicking noise his toenails make.) Before our little dog died, Jester used to call him, then start barking. Chopin just ignored him, but the rest of us thought it was funny. Tara J. Ballance Montreal, Canada My friend's bird used to call the cat: "Here, kitty, kitty. Time for dinner!" When he cat would come barreling down the hallway, the bird would say "Tsk, stupid cat!" ~Kimberlee : ><(((*> Thanks! We've got some cute Glacie stories. She has TV as a companion when : ><(((*> we aren't home. She's learned to chuckle like the audience in the sitcoms. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] : Tara J. Ballance : Montreal, Canada > My friend's bird used to call the cat: "Here, kitty, kitty. Time for > dinner!" > When he cat would come barreling down the hallway, the bird would say > "Tsk, stupid cat!" > ~Kimberlee So the owner taught it to say that by teasing the cat? How mean. I have a very clear picture in my head of the Too saying "here kitty kitty", the cat barrelling in, and the owner, sitting there watching the whole scene, saying "stupid cat". My bet is that's the way it started..... still laughung...... Kays > > My friend's bird used to call the cat: "Here, kitty, kitty. Time for > > dinner!" [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > > So the owner taught it to say that by teasing the cat? How mean. If I remember correctly, it was my friend who would call kitty for dinner...and the boyfriend, who didn't care too much for cats but was tolerant of my friend's pension for bringing home anything that needed a home (ahem! including him), being the one who would say "stupid cat." I'm thinking more along the lines of Kays in that's probably how the bird learned to say what he did. ~Kimberlee : > My friend's bird used to call the cat: "Here, kitty, kitty. Time for : > dinner!" [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] : > : So the owner taught it to say that by teasing the cat? How mean. > If I remember correctly, it was my friend who would call kitty for > dinner...and the boyfriend, who didn't care too much for cats but was > tolerant of my friend's pension Do you mean 'penchant' or am I totally confused now, wondering what a pensioner has got to do with anything? Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking English. She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We think she says things like "I love you" "Step up" "Pretty Bird" "Hi Glacie" "What cha doin?" but they're still in the "too" language. My question is this....Will she ever talk? Or is she too old? A person told us yesterday that if they aren't talking by the age of two, they won't ever talk. Is this correct? <snip> ----------------------------------------- Well, if this is correct someone forgot to tell my Goffins. In March my male will be 5 yo and my female will be 6. Both just started talking within the past 8 months or so.  SignatureMama ~^~^~^~ Visit Mamabird's Nest: <http://iluvbirds.tripod.com/> And My Photo Albums at: <http://photos.yahoo.com/iluvbirdz> "Chocolate makes your clothes shrink." ~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~ Forgot to mention.... my 20yo Umbrella has never said a word. He does make cute kissy sounds though. :) > Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking > English. She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > male will be 5 yo and my female will be 6. Both just started talking within > the past 8 months or so. >Our Cockatoo is 18 months old now and still hasn't started speaking English. She says a lot of phrases with the same syllables each time. We think she says things like "I love you" "Step up" "Pretty Bird" "Hi Glacie" "What cha doin?" but they're still in the "too" language. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Toni Some do, some don't. I had a mail GSC for 20+ years, he never spoke a work, but he had plenty of other ways to communicate. Just keep trying... > Prater wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > person told us yesterday that if they aren't talking by the age of > two, they won't ever talk. Is this correct? No. Parrots learn throughout their lives. And your bird is way young given that cockatoos can live a good 50+ years. Our friend has > Glacie's sister (Pearl) and she started talking at about three > months old. She lived in the breeders home a lot longer than [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > but if she isn't going to talk, then we'll quit driving her crazy > with the same sentences over and over. Heh--g! Parrots say phrases and sounds they are interested in more often than not. Keep repeating different sayings and see what takes. C. ** > > Prater wrote: > > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > C. > ** The birds seem to repeat things that get a reaction from you also. Our birds will talk up a storm if they are happy, and we are reacting to them when they do. Our Macaw has got real good at this. When I catch him chewing or about to chew something he is not supposed to have and yell in panic he looks at you and say's "HI", in this voice that is so cute I have to laugh, which then makes him laugh. Signature"What a wonderful world it is that has girls in it!" [Lazarus Long] |
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