Speech and Vocabulary Development in a Green-wing Macaw

She was 14 weeks old when she spoke her first words. They were followed by some pretty authentic sounding laughter. "Hi, Gee," she said just as clearly as if she had practiced it a thousand times. The greeting was for her cage neighbor, a 2 year old Blue and Gold Macaw, McGee. I had been having terrific success teaching the Blue and Gold to talk, so I assume the baby Greenwing learned the greeting and laughter from her. She certainly said it a lot more often each day than I did.

Once I realized this young creature had verbal potential I began including her in my efforts to increase the birds' vocabularies. It was not long before she had mastered greetings for all family members: "Hi Ron," "Hi Rozzie," "Hi Doc," "Hi gee."

She had some problems with my name, though. None of my birds ca produce the J sound in Jan. At first I was "Yan," the I was "Ann." At least they are trying, I thought. So I tried teaching them "Chan" to see what would happen, and that turned out to be the closest. It is not the clearest of the family greetings, but at least I know it is for me.

But, Murdock, the Greenwing, is not convinced my name is really Jan. She prefers to call me "Who!" It all came about one day when the birds were reciting various greetings. I was repeating them back to them in my usual manner when Murdock said "Hi," followed by something garbled. "Hi Who?" I asked. It only took once. From that day on she always includes "Hi Who" in the string of salutations that triggered by a human entering the room. She has even said it to me when I've approached her cage. I have often wondered why I have to repeat some words or phrases hundreds of times before they repeat them, whereas others they learn easily after my saying them only a few times.

For almost two years, the only talking Murdock did consisted of the greetings and some laughter. She did not talk every day, either. That was fine with me, however, since I had not expected even this much from a Greenwing. I did not choose here for her talking ability, but for her sweet, snuggly nature. But then something happened. She began to chatter while the vacuum cleaner was running. Listening carefully, I heard her practicing phrases that had been a part of McGee's vocabulary for a long time. Whether she was taking lessons from me while I coached the Blue and Gold, or learned from her when I was not looking, I do not think I will ever know.

She practiced her garbled interpretation of the phrases while the vacuum cleaner was running as if she knew her speech was not clear and she needed a cover-up. The bird sounded as if she had mashed potatoes in her mouth. Gradually, however, "horrar roo" became "How are you?" "I ruv roo" became "I love you," and so on. As her words became clearer, her chatter became more frequent. Soon she was enjoying the same daily talking marathons that were typical of the other birds: Having found a comfortable perch, each bird picks a time to repeat everything they know, over and over, without stopping for periods of time ranging from 15 minutes to an hour.

It was our second summer together when I noticed a real burst in Murdock's vocabulary. My effort involved either lessening or eliminating audible distractions such a s the stereo or TV. She was learning new things in record time, and of course, I was having a great time teaching her. We were on a roll. I always wait for an apt time to repeat the new sounds. I never try to teach a bird to talk when it is busy preening, eating, resting or involved with a toy. So, I pick the times when Murdock is most attentive to me. When she has good eye contact I know I have her attention. I use a clear , sharp voice and enunciate distinctly.

Recently, I got the idea to try teaching her to sing, and was rewarded with almost instant success. Her attempts to copy my sounds encouraged me to go on. I even enjoyed singing at the top of my lungs as kind of catharsis. (The neighbors have come to understand!) She did well with a couple of bars opera and learned to hum. She began to make tunes to La La La La as she went along, probably because that is what I was doing. He has an enviable mellow vibrato. One foot tucked up and feathers puffed, I have observed her hum, hummm, hummmmmmm herself to sleep!

Next I taught her to sneeze. It was not deliberate. Our Blue-masked Lovebird had learned sneezes from our Peached-faced Lovebird, and I was trying to reinforce it. The lovebird's little body thrust forward when he does the "Chooooo!" What fun. It seemed as though the sky was the limit with this incredible Greenwing. I was busy thinking about what I could teach Murdock next. She had gotten ahead of me. I was searching for new ideas. "I'm a good Parrot." That is a nice thing for a bird to say. I was pleased with my choice, and so I began. I repeated the phrase clearly in the quiet of the family room: "I'm a gooood parrot!"

The response I got has become one of my favorite stories to tell. I shouldn't have been surprised since Murdock still had not gotten over the thrill of the sneeze.

"Ahh-Ahhhh-Ahhhhhhh-Parrot!" Oops! Too much. Too fast. Too soon. Back to the drawing board.

I let a few days go by before I started again. I let Murdock get more Ahh-Choo practice out of her system. At first it was "I'm a..." Then I heard "Good Parrot." In fact, she was stuck on "good parrot" quite a while. I remember thinking I'd be satisfied with that. Then it was "I'm a good..." Over and over again she practiced the parts while I continued to repeat the whole phrase.

It took about two weeks for her to perfect the new phrase. Giving it some thought, I realized that it was the first five-syllable phrase any of my birds have learned. Four syllables had been the record. Just within the last few days she has been a good, good parrot. That makes the record, six syllables and the Greenwing the most accomplished talker in the household. (The Blue and Gold has a larger, but less complicated proficiency.)

It has not taken Murdock too long to begin having fun with her new accomplishment. I had emphasized the word "good" in the phrase, but the new inflections I am now hearing are a product of her own creativity. One time she says it like she is surprised. The next time it is with tremendous pride.

She is mixing and matching her words, as well. I have heard "I'm a goood girl!" and "I'm a good girl parrot." Her two favorite words are water and parrot. When she puts them together they do not make any sense. I am currently working on changing that combination into "What a parrot."

I can only guess what new surprises this bird has in store for me, but I will bet I get one before anyone reads these words. From now on remember Murdock and do not let anyone tell you that Greenwings do not talk!