Wish You Had Someone to Talk To? What About a Parrot?
You could be thinking that it’s time to adopt a brand new family pet. In fact, you’ve considered getting the traditional dog, cat, or guinea pig, but truth be told, nothing really seems right for your lifestyle. However, have you considered a parrot?
In the right situation, birds can be a wonderful addition to the household. Living with a bird requires having as much responsibility as a dog. They need constant care and cleaning, playtime, socialization, training, and even expensive medical care.
But some species can be quite entertaining as long as you invest enough time, attention, and training. Also, bear in mind that birds are individuals, and even if they come from a “talkative” species, they may choose to never speak. Another non-talkative bird could learn to talk up a storm. Here’s what to expect from them:
Budgerigar
Commonly known as the budgie or parakeet, this petite bird might be quite small, but he is mighty. It has an average lifespan of 5 to 8 years, and they are quite intelligent birds with amazing social capacities. They also enjoy spending time with you.
Budgies are only 6 to 8 inches long, and they weigh around an ounce. Moreover, they hold world records for the largest bird vocabulary, so you will definitely have a talking pal! Their capacity is quite impressive, as they can learn long and short phrases and even some Britney Spears songs!
They’re not as loud as other talkative birds, however. Even if they need and enjoy some quality out-of-cage time, they can also be quite content in a large cage while the family is working during the day.
Leaving your TV on can help expose them to an ever-growing vocabulary. Budgie voices can be quite garbled and gravelly, but luckily, they are also quite exuberant, and they have a wide variety of words and phrases that can make up for this. For this little bird to maximize their skills, you can look for a very young one at a rescue shelter or seek out a reputable breeder that hand-raises these birds.
Cockatiel
Cockatiels are quite popular pets, and there’s a very good reason for that: they are extremely gentle, social, and easy to care for. They also love to be caressed and snuggled, and they enjoy the company of their humans.
With the right amount of socialization and training, they can be quite talkative, learning as many as 250 words and phrases and even whistling a bunch of songs. If you are looking for a bird that knows “what to say,” you will definitely want a male cockatiel.
Fema cockatiels don’t learn speech as well as males do. Cockatiels are also larger than budgies, coming in at 12–14 inches and weighing around 2.5–4 ounces. They also live much longer, having an average lifespan of 10–14 years. Cockatiels are amazing beginner parrots and will always reward their families with years of social companionship.
Quaker Parakeet
Quaker parakeets, commonly known as monk parakeets, are considered to be quite unproblematic, and they’re excellent for beginners. However, we highly recommend you check your local regulations because they are not legal in some areas.
They are also petite, measuring only 11 to 12 inches and weighing around 3 to 5 ounces. They are quite gentle and exceptionally fast learners. As they pick up on human speech rapidly, they are easier to teach and train for someone who’s totally new to working with birds. Even if they don’t have a wide vocabulary (as budgies, for instance), quaker voices are definitely clearer, which makes it easier to understand.
They can learn 50 or more words and phrases, and they will even mimic other sounds in the household (such as barking dogs). Both younger and older birds will probably catch on quickly to the household discussions. Repeating phrases is their go-to way of exercising and learning, and it definitely helps speed up the process.
Ring-necked Parakeet
Ring-necked parakeets, commonly known as Indian Ringnecks, are a bit larger than the prior parrot on this list, coming in at 14–17 inches and 5 ounces. Their main specialty is their ability to learn longer phrases in addition to individual words.
They can repeat complicated sentences and even mimic most sounds they hear. The tone of their voice is also very clear and understandable, which makes them very fun to train and communicate with.
In some cultures, ring-necked parakeets are seen as sacred animals thanks to their ability to learn and mimic the daily prayers they hear. And since they enjoy learning longer phrases, more repetition is needed. After all, they have to make sure everything is said clearly, concisely, and in the right order. This great characteristic makes ring-necked parakeets a bit more difficult to train.
Eclectus
The eclectus parrot is a medium-sized bird that is 20 inches long and weighs around 19 ounces. They are generally quite gentle, but they do require a moderate amount of care besides socialization. They’re also not the ideal bird for beginners.
Nevertheless, Eclectus parrots are quite a decent bridge between an intermediate bird owner and the “next level” species. Makes are easier to train, even if both sexes need a lot of interaction and out-of-cage time. In time, these birds can learn a wide variety of words and phrases, and they’re not even as noisy as other birds.
Yellow-naped Amazon
Even if many of these birds in the Amazon group are seen as good talkers, the yellow-naped Amazon is considered the best one. They have impressive vocabularies and are also capable of stringing together coherent sentences.
They’re also able to understand the context, tempo, and tone as if they were part of the conversation all this time. Yellow-naped Amazons are large parrots at 27 inches and 23 ounces, and they can live to be 80 years old.
These birds are very intelligent, social, and wonderful communicators with a clear and pleasant voice. But they’re not for the faint of heart. Amazons can be quite moody and change from pleasant to biting right away.
Cockatoo
Cockatoos are wonderful birds that are very social and affectionate. Many people even consider them quite clingy, and they require hours of social time per day. They can be quite noisy, especially when they’re not getting what they want.
Cockatoos don’t rank too highly in terms of talking or mimicking, but they often pick up words and phrases, especially if it helps them get attention. Cockatoos are birds that are great for owners who are open to spending all their time with them.
They’re not advised for those who are just starting out on this parrot journey, so to speak. As for social interaction, they’re quite unparalleled in the amount of time they want to spend with their human companion.
Macaw
Everything about a macaw is big-scalled, from their large size all the way to their huge personality. But they are a force that needs to be recognized, that’s for sure. Truth be told, without consistent training, they will expect to get everything they want from you.
But they can still develop quite a nice vocabulary, as well as a wide array of squawks, whistles, and mimics. They also require a huge amount of training and will sometimes develop some weird “habits,” such as lunging toward people with a massive beak, which is one of their usual games. However, worry not, because they don’t mean to be aggressive in any way.
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