by k9shrink » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:45 am
I have one parrot, Clover, a CAG. We won the 2011 Kaytee Best Talking Parrot contest in the "pro" division. She knew 350 words at time I recorded the video, and most of our video was 4 min. of non-stop talking using many different phrases. At the time I filmed that, she had been talking for less than a year and a half.
I work from home, and spend at least 8 hours a day within a few feet of Clover. I've tried saying words over and over, but she never learns those. She only learns useful stuff picked up in context. I usually say things the same way, like "wanna come out?" or "want an apple?" and she learns these. In the morning, she says "want some breakfast? want kibble? want a banana?" And in the morning, she says "want dinner?"--without any prompting on my part. She just knows breakfast is the first meal and dinner is the last meal because that's what I said every day for a year or so. She also names (begs for!) foods like yogurt, various fruits, nuts, ice cream and chips. So most stuff she knows is regarding stuff she wants from me.
One exception is "dog training words." I train my dogs for performances, and Clover watches me doing this. She has learned all the commands, as well as timing of praise. While I'm training, she'll watch. When the dog does the desired behavior, she says "good boy!" If the dog doesn't do it, she'll say "ahh ahh!" She can also keep up a constant stream of "sit! down! crawl! spin! good boy!"
She learned lots of whistles and environmental sounds on her own. Our cat often yowls loudly for food (despite us ignoring him), and Clover does a perfect imitation of that. When out on her balcony aviary all summer, local shopkeepers all point her out to their customers as the source of the cat yowling or car alarm noises.
After I filmed the video that won the prize, she slowed way down in learning new words, though her lifestyle is the same. Now she only uses the ones that earn her attention, coming out of the cage, or food. It's very rare that she learns a new word now. In the past year, the only ones I can think of off-hand are: want ice cream? want a chip? wanna snuggle? fly... you can fly.
Last edited by
k9shrink on Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.