Top 10 'Talking' Birds (Slideshow)

by PetMD

Some people want a pet that they can exercise and play with, and some people want a pet that will help keep them warm at night. Still other people want a companion — an animal that will be an unquestioning, faithful friend through thick and thin.

That’s all good for them, but there are those of us who want a companion that we can talk to. We want a voice at the end of a long work day welcoming us home with, “Hello, darling, how was your day?” For people who wish to have that type of companion in the form of an animal, a talking bird fits the bill very nicely.

However, not just any talking bird will do. Some birds speak quietly, while others will scream at the top of their lungs. The type of bird one chooses must be paired suitably with the environment in which one lives – house or apartment; metropolitan or suburban. Most neighbors will not want to hear a perfect imitation of a scene from a horror film. At any time of day. But, perhaps you live in the countryside and the only audio comfort that needs to be taken into consideration is your own. In that case, you will need to decide how much noise you can handle through the day.

All talking birds are great fun to have as companions, but some are better at verbalizing and enunciating their words than others. Some species have better memory than others and are able to store hundreds, even thousands of words into their little bird brains. Then there are the select few, like the African Grey, that are able to listen to people talk, discern the proper context and situation, and hold a reasonable conversation (reasonable within the context of being a bird).

There are even birds that will break out of their norm and surprise everyone with its highly capable memory and language skills. It is those extraordinary birds that are often showcased on shows like Animal Planet.

We based our choices for this list on the special abilities of species within the bird classes. Amazons, for example, are a large group, but only a handful are known for being talented with speech. And then there are some species that can talk, but they tend to be garbled, or they are known to spend more time screeching than they do speaking. These species were not included.

One word of caution: although we love talking birds here at petMD, we must stress that it is important to choose a bird as a living companion because you love birds, not because you want to impress people with your talking bird. Even at the highest level of ability, there are still some birds that will not talk, no matter what you do or how early you train. Just as there are quiet, shy people, there are quiet and shy birds. And, just as with people, some birds are smarter than others. Do your research before adopting a bird and find a breeder who can introduce you to the breeding pair, so that you at least have an idea of the capabilities of the bird you will be adopting.

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10. Budgerigar

Also known as the Budgie, or Parakeet, this common little bird is capable of learning a large number of phrases and songs. Their voice tends to be low and not always defined, and males tend to train better than females.

See Also: 15 Incredibly Beautiful Birds

Image Credit: Eric Bryan / via Flickr

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Dee H.

5:53AM PDT on Apr 8, 2013

Aww, I wanted to HEAR them

April 8
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Terry V.

6:30PM PDT on Apr 3, 2013

thanks

April 3
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Duane B.

8:11AM PST on Dec 17, 2012

Thank you for sharing.

December 17
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Kathy P.

7:36PM PDT on Jun 24, 2012

awwww. except i am ornithophobic....

June 24
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Liu W.

7:16PM PDT on May 30, 2012

The birds are mischievous . It's vivid and cheery .

May 30
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Mercedes P.

12:50PM PDT on May 26, 2012

I have a gray parrot, she is incredibly smart and talks more than me I swear, lol:) She can say a lot of things correctly (it's snowing, when it is snowing for example) and she also make up full conversations with herself with creatively made up words. Tooooo cute!!! ♥

May 26
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Carrie-Anne B.

10:30AM PDT on May 17, 2012

interesting article, thanks for sharing :)

May 17
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aj E.

1:45PM PDT on May 9, 2012

interesting.

May 9
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Debbie L.

4:52PM PDT on May 8, 2012

They all look so cute!

May 8
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Nora H.

4:28PM PDT on May 8, 2012

i have two conures that talk.. the smaller dusky conure speaks well but in a donald duck tone and the larger blue crown conure speaks extremely well and very clear and knows what she is talking about when she speaks not just rambles out words.