Stories- ringneck, quaker, and gcc

[Wolf]

There is some conjecture about birds learning to talk. Some people say that some birds learn to say words in their attempt to communicate with their owner who does not listen to them otherwise. I am not sure of that, but can't rule it out either. I think that most of them are learning what they live and that if the see and hear a lot of talking that they will more easily learn to speak and speak in context.

[Pajarita]

I believe that they learn human language in order to communicate for the simple reason that they communicate in their own language with members of their own species -meaning the need to communicate is hard-wired in them and this, added to the capacity to reproduce sounds and their high intelligence gives us parrots that actually speak human language in context. I do not think they do it because the owner does not listen to them, per se, but I do think that the higher the need, the more effort they put into it. Whether this 'higher' need comes into play because they are mildly neglected, spend too much time in their cage, they have no other bird to communicate with or because some of them are just natural born chatterboxes, it's irrelevant. The fact is that some birds will talk while others will not and some will just say a single word while others will have a large vocabulary. But whether they speak in context or not depends on how we talk to them and I think that Fajr might not understand that 'sojao' means sleep but he does know that when he wakes up in the middle of the night, this is what he is told so he says it himself - and that IS speaking in context! I have a bird that says "Eat it!" but I don't think that, to him, this phrase actually means the command to eat, I think it means a sound that he associates with 'food'.

[shiraartain]

I think perhaps the "come here" command could be what both our cockatiel and Fajr picked up to get us to listen to them. Other things they learned because they heard them frequently and some of them could be used as a means of communication.

I agree, Parjarita, that he doesn't know exactly what the sojao comment means.

Today I put him to bed and went back in hours later to find the light on and Fajr outside of his cage and dozing perched on top of the door. Could have been a bad situation if someone walking by had closed the door without opening it. Time to start locking his door at night again.

[Wolf]

Just to be on the safe side of things, I would remind everyone to start looking up on top of doors before opening and closing them, reminding them that your birds fly and like to spend time on top of things like doors.

[Pajarita]

Yes, indeed they do! Thank you, Wolf, for the reminder. My Isis always perches on the edge of an opened door. Always!

[Kakariki]

For sure, a danger. Unfortunately, about a year ago My daughter was leaving the house and AS she was going out and closing the door, her cockatiel landed on the top. Her leg was broken just about the ankle. She was put in a cast and the vet clipped her wings believing it would help. However, she tried anyway and her landings were terribly hard so we kept her caged for a while, only taking her out at times, supervised, and then putting her back. Poor thing. Thankfully she seems perfectly fine now.

[Wolf]

Simply shows us that the quick glance we like to give on a normal basis is not enough that it takes watching it until the possibility of a mishap is past.

[Kakariki]

It is sad, yes. accidents will happen and now we are so very vigilant about doors, and toilet seats, and never leaving anything soaking in the sink unless it has a tight fitting lid. we tell everyone who visits the rules and risks, but still check if anyone uses the bathroom, and we close the door from the inside when they leave.

It is also sad that London, ON has only 2 vets listed as avian vets. The do other animals as well though.

[Wolf]

Be happy London, ON has two more avian vets than where I live. The closest one to me is a solid two hours away from me, just under 100 miles.

[Pajarita]

There are vets that might not be certified in Avian medicine but who do exotics and, sometimes, they are better than the certified ones!

You have tiels, too? You did not list them...