Getting a Parrot to Repeat Phrases on Command

[jd1054]

Hi.
I hope I am posting this in the right spot.
I have an Alexandrine Parrot who spends most of the day repeating all of the phrases and whistles he has picked up from me and his surroundings. I would like to teach him to repeat the things he already knows after me on command, but he does not associate when I say the phrases with what he says throughout the day.
How can I encourage him to repeat the things he already knows on command?

Thanks

[Pajarita]

Well, the trick is to give him a clue and, when he says what he is supposed to say, reward. For example, every single time you uncover its cage right when dawn is starting, you say "Good morning" and, when the bird starts saying "Good morning" to you as soon as you uncover the cage, you reward. But, of course, this is not so easy when you have a bird that simply 'repeats like a parrot' so the 'beginning' of this training is to teach the bird to speak cognitively - meaning, the bird knows and understands what he is saying. This is achieved by ONLY doing or saying the clue when you are supposed - following the same example, you ONLY say Good morning when you uncover the cage and not again during the day thereby teaching the parrot that this is a phrase you only use early in the morning. Parrots are highly intelligent and learn very quickly to make the connection between a word, phrase or action with a certain consequence - which doesn't necessarily have to be a food reward per se but could also be getting something he wants -like to come out of its cage. I have a couple of parrots that, if I don't open their cages as soon as there is the tiniest amount of light, they start saying 'Good morning". They are not really saying Good Morning to me, they are actually asking me to open their cages... questioning why it has not been done even though it's time to do it.

It's actually much harder for a human to teach cognitive speech than for a parrot to learn it because teaching it implies not only spending all day long with the bird, interacting and observing the different reactions but also understanding how parrots speak to each other - which they do! I'll give you an example. Lots and lots of parrots don't react to their own names. Why? Because people did not teach them their names correctly. If, when you come in from the street, you say something like: "Hello" to the bird, the bird will believe that your name is Hello. Why? Because parrots use their name (as in third person) to 'announce' themselves - kind of like saying: "John here" so, when the first thing that comes out of your mouth is Hello almost every time you first see the bird, you are teaching the bird that your name is Hello (I have a cockatoo that thinks that people are Hello).

The easiest thing to teach a bird to say is the word for something he likes. All my birds know the words 'Pan' (bread), 'Cookie' and 'Peanut' (although this doesn't really mean peanuts which they hardly ever get but nuts, as in walnuts, pistachios, etc). So start by reserving the bird's high value item for this training and, after breakfast (which, of course, should not be seeds or nuts or pellets), offer him the item after repeating several times the word for it. The bird will eventually start asking for its treat by name and, when you give it to him, it will be his reward as well as a reinforcement of the knowledge. Step up is also another easy one - I use 'Come on' instead and a couple of mine actually use it to ask me to pick them up - Javi Caique does it all the time because he was clipped as a baby and never did learn to fly properly (he can do horizontal flight but uplift is almost impossible for him to do) so whenever he is on the floor and wants me to pick him up he goes "Come on come on come on" (always three times in a row as if making sure I understand the urgency of the request ).

Another way of teaching them is to do the clue after the action. For example, the bird randomly says something like "Come on" so you immediately drop what you are doing and put your hand to it, repeating the Come on and, after he steps up, you reward. Or he says "Peanut" and you immediately walk up to the bird and repeating Peanut, you offer the reward. Eventually, the bird makes the connection between the word he said and the reward he got and starts saying it to get it.

Another thing that is easy to teach is noises... For example, you say 'How does the cat go"? And you go "MEOOWWW". You do this several times a day for a number of days and the bird will start meowing - not necessarily when you ask but, most likely, when he is by himself (because they like to practice on their own) and, when he does, you stop what you are doing and walking over to the bird, you ask "How does the cat go" and you answer "MEOOOOWWW" and reward. Eventually, he will meoww when you ask the question and, when he does, you praise praise praise and reward.

But, I have to tell you that teaching parrots to repeat words without any context and for the only purpose of showing off the trick does not really respect their intelligence.... it kind of demeans it. They are much smarter than that and capable of actual communication.