Rio said HELLO!!!

[Suzanne_Oeid]

After 4 weeks of having him he said hello for the first time today!! It wasn't 100% clear but i definitely heard it and then he said it another 3 times after through out his morning screams.
I was wondering how i can get him to say it more often? Because he is usually quiet other then the usual call for when he replies to us or calls us. Do i catch him in the act of doing it and rewarding with a treat? Super excited, still cant believe it lol this is so freaking cool

[Wolf]

When I have a word or phrase that I want my bids to learn I use it a lot and I use it in context. I say it with added emphasis and volume as if I were very excited at saying it, I find excuses to say it more often and in context and I lavishly praise the bird for using the word or phrase, especially when the bird uses it in context.

[Suzanne_Oeid]

Thats what I've been doing so far but he only said it when he had his morning chatting/screaming session. Now he's just quiet and does a normal call to play. Should i just make a big deal and praise him when he says it during those time and maybe he will catch on that its something we want him to repeat?

[Wolf]

The morning flock calling period is a good time to insert the " Hello" as well as to praise lavishly when he says it. I call these time periods both in the morning and evening a screamfest which I make a point of joining in on. It does tend to make them louder as well as making the screamfest last longer. This gives me more chances to scream " Hello" and praise them when they say it. I have also used the word in answer to my birds calling for me during the day.
As I said earlier, any excuse to say it will help. I am in the room with them and I go get some coffee, I get to say " Hello" on my return. I need to go pee and say " Hello" on my return. Any opportunity to say it more often will increase the chances of the bird picking it up. As far as I know there is simply no other way to go about it as they learn to speak in much the same way that we learn to speak.

[Suzanne_Oeid]

Hahaha thats what I've been doing and my mums had enough of me saying hello so many times yeah i have noticed him doing all these weird sounds that come before a scream more often for the past few days. Do you think after he gets the hang of it the word will become clearer? I can hear a hello but its not a clear hello if that makes sense

If you dont mind me asking one more thing, randomly he will open his wings and crest up and its not a flap but his head is going crazy in all sorts of directions and he screams at times but sometimes it just the action its self. Its not always in the screamfest period could be random throughout the day

[Wolf]

have seen cockatoos use the wings and head and crest to add emphasis to the things that they are saying, or it appears that that is what they are doing. It could be that for what ever reason, the word or phrase could be hard for them to say. They often practice words in private or kind of like muttering or talking to themselves. Also their speech usually becomes much more clear when they use a word often.

[liz]

When I have a word or phrase that I want my bids to learn I use it a lot and I use it in context. I say it with added emphasis and volume as if I were very excited at saying it, I find excuses to say it more often and in context and I lavishly praise the bird for using the word or phrase, especially when the bird uses it in context.

That is what I do too. So right now they are saying a lot of "shut up".

[Pajarita]

What you describe is a display behavior. Perfectly normal. Now, the thing with teaching them to talk is not to simply repeat the same thing over and over and over. You need to say it when it's appropriate, as Wolf mentioned. I uncover the cage, I say "Good Morning!", I come into the room, I say "Hello! How are you?", I leave the room to come back immediately, I say "I'll be back!", I return, I say "Hello!" See what I mean? Repeating his name or hello over and over will not teach him cognitive speech and he will just learn to repeat things like the proverbial parrot instead of teaching him proper communication. Mind you, most of my birds do not use cognitive speech but I have a couple that do -not all the time but mostly.

[Wolf]

Mimi and Kookooloo are my best talkers, hard to imagine that from an amazon and a Grey, right? Kookooloo, my Grey is fussy in that she only talks to me and that is mostly when it is just her and me in the room, Mimi, my Amazon only speaks and doesn't use many sound effects or any bird talk to speak of, only word. Despite her having an extensive vocabulary, most of it is useless by rote words strung together with no concept of meaning. Kokooloo, when she speaks does so in context. Since her arrival here and since she has only been exposed to real conversations, she has picked up new words and phrases and is diligently working on contextual speech. at this time only a small amount of her words hold any real meaning to her, but nearly all of the new words and phrases that she has picked up are used in the proper context and at appropriate times, she really wants to communicates rationally with us and to such a degree that some of her former by rote speech is beginning to be used contextually.
Kiki, my Senegal is just starting to speak and although she only has a small vocabulary which is used sporatically, I am very pleased to note that it is always used at appropriate times and in proper context.

[Pajarita]

That's because of the way you have talked to them, Wolf. Parrots can learn cognitive speech but they need to be taught correctly. Sweetpea, my male Senegal, is my best talker and almost everything he says is in context to the point that, during dawn, he says Good Morning and, during dusk, he says NiteNite and he never ever says Good morning at dusk or Nitenite at dawn.