Sue, you were telling me how Joey learned "It's Okay" from your efforts to reassure him when trucks went by or other loud noises occurred.

Have you ever tried to actually teach him words directly? How has that gone?

D

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Well, every bird is different. I had much more success teaching my budgies things that I specifically wanted them to say.

Joey seems to pick and choose what he wants to say. He likes to say his name, and hi, birdie, and hi, Coco. Those are things that he hears regularly, although I haven't made an effort especially to teach them. But he has also picked up expressions from company that I never use -- like 'no way' in a certain inflection that belongs to either Lisa or Bernadette. I would like him to say 'good boy,' so I repeat that a lot, but he has not yet said it. Maybe it sounds boring to him.

Coco is the same way -- he only says what he wants to say when he wants to say it. The general exception to this is the chorus of 'night nights' when the birds are settling down at night to go to sleep.

Cricket and Stickley don't talk. Well, Cricket says 'yes, girl' when I play with her and say it first, but Stickley doesn't speak English at all. He is, however, a very affectionate little guy so it doesn't matter to me if he talks or not.

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What are your favorite ways your birds use to express themselves to you?

It sounds like talking is not the primary way of communication and so you don't care that much about it.

D

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I like it when my birds cuddle with me. Joey is especially good at that, although he isn't allowed on my shoulder, But it's nice when they are affectionate and sweet. It's also fun to watch them play and beat up their toys, or play with each other. Cricket and Stickley go into each other's cages and hang out.

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Could we brighten up this place with some pictures of your other birds?

D

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The birds don't much like having their pictures taken, but next time I've got my camera out I'll see if I can take a few...

Joey's favorite color is red. If I give him a selection of bottle caps to play with he always picks the red one first.

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Give him some nice red bottle caps and maybe he'll be willing to pose for us!

D

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