TEACH A BUDGIE TO TALK

Our Birdies learn from each other. We will teach a Birdie to "step
up" and the others are wonderful at "immitating" the Birdie who does
the "step up". My grandson is 6 years old and he will teach them to
come to him and "step up" onto his finger without any problems.

First born Budgie Babies will "feed" and "mentor" their siblings.
Mommy and Daddy Budgies always spend longer with the "first" born
because they know that the other siblings will be "taught" by him.
In the wild this is a means of preserving the species. Occasionally,
parents will meet with an unfortunate demise, then babies will have
an older sibling to care for them.

I use this knowledge of Wild Birdie Behavior to train my Budgies in
our Aviary. I always teach the first-born of a clutch. Then, when
this bird is able to "perform" the tricks, the other siblings
are "taught" by their older sibling. It works all the time. I spend
more time teaching a first-born Budgie. Then, when he has mastered
my "speaking" and "finger" commands he will ALWAYS "teach" his
siblings.

When I go to the Aviary to "talk" with a Birdie, I will pick a Birdie
who has already "mastered" 1 or 2 words and I will use these words
while speaking to the Bird while I maintain "eye to eye" contact
with him. The Birdie will repeat my words and will incorporate his
already "learned" word(s) into our Birdie conversation. Their desire
to "communicate" is strong.

My favorite Budgie, Joey, is the most intelligent of them all. He
has NO babies. He is the "UNCLE" that feeds and mentors all of the
others in our Aviary----Thank YOU, sweet Jesus. Because Joey is the
quickest to learn, I focus on him. This is why I love Joey so much
and I feel sad when I think about how he has such a GREAT
RESPONSIBILITY. The others are free to "breed" and "play". I have
used my little Joey's higher "intelligence" to train my other
Budgies.

Joey, will come over to me and say something e.g. "WOOK !!!"
("Look") This means that there is something that I should pay
attention to in the Aviary. Usually he is telling me that 1 of
their "toys" has fallen to the floor (They all love their little
plastic teeter totter toy and their mirrors, etc., and their toys get
quite a beating.) So, Joey will tell me "Wook !" Then, he follows
up by flying over to where he wants me to Look. He is so good. I
love him.

While Joey is "vocalizing" with me, there are usually 3 or 4 other
Baby Budgies (sometimes Finches and Cockatiels, also) who will watch
Joey while he "speaks". They will "stare" at him very intently
focusing on his neck and beak and the "muscles" that he uses to form
the words. Then, another Budgie will try it. My Budgies learn to
say "Wook !" "Yeah !!" "Yeah Right" "Woa Baby !"

My husband is not a person who likes a lot of talking in our home.
But, now he has many little voices commanding him to "Wook!" Another
phrase that my Birdies will "immitate" is "Oh Babee". I can hear
them talking up a storm to each other in their little "Budgie"
voices.

The way to get them to participate in a meaningful "conversation"
with you, is to remember "eye contact" with the Budgie while you
speak "sincerely" to him/her. Don't use exaggerated and
incongruent "Birdie talk". This is confusing to an animal who
sincerely wants to share his world with you by communicating
appropriately.

When A Budgie makes a sound that you can understand, then you should
use that sound in a meaningful way to let the Budgie know that you
understand his "communication". He will repeat the sound that you
reacted positively to. There. Now you have a Cage full of talking
Budgies.

It's very easy. Budgies love to talk. Just like I do. My husband
has learned to "talk" with our Budgies. My husband doesn't like the
Computer Internet, so I know he won't read this because he wouldn't
want anybody to know that he talks to the Birdies now. At first he
couldn't believe that I had taught our Budgies to talk. Now I can
hear him in the Bird Room "talking" to the Budgies and they
will "converse" with him just like they do with me. It's true.

Try it. It works. In fact, I believe that when you have more than 1
Birdie it is easier for them to learn anything. Remember, all Birds
are members of a "FLOCK", especially Budgies. The flock is their
teacher. No single Birdie is responsible for providing all of the
needs for the FLOCK. They each "mentor" each other. It is
wonderful. Birds never cease to AMAZE ME !!!

Budgie talk is cute and sweet.