Chirpie Bird

Our beautiful, charming, hilarious, sweet, social and sometimes loud cockatiel "Chirp" has now earned another way to be described....talking bird! Yes....he finally said his first word, which turned out to be 2 words! He's not quite 1 1/2 yrs old yet and I've been inadvertantly teaching him to say his own name! Everytime I pick him up and hold him on my finger, I talk to him and say "Chirpie Bird" over and over again, not intending to teach him to speak, but rather as a way of making simple conversation with him! On Friday April 27, I came home from work and was playing outside with Harrison and hadn't even gone into the house yet, when Ian came flying out the door asking me if I'd heard the bird talk yet. What? Our bird talk?! I thought he'd lost his mind and started laughing, and asked (quite sarcastically!) exactly what the bird was saying! "He's in there saying 'Chirpie Bird' over and over again, the way you say it to him. He sounds just like you!" Is that a compliment?!

Indeed it's true! At first you really had to listen to get "Chirpie Bird" out of it, as it was mired in a bit of a whistle. However, with practice, it's quite clearly "Chirpie Bird" and Harrison is so proud, and so thrilled that his bird talks, he asked if he could take him to preschool for Show and Tell! Chirp will only talk when he's being ignored, which makes it really hard to catch on video! So we ignored him for a good long while from in the kitchen, and once he started to talk, I had to slyly stick the camera around the corner and record him without being seen! Most of the coos and whistles he makes he gets from household noises, and will whistle back the way we whistle to him, no melodies like a songbird. I am not sure what sound he's mimicking at the beginning of the video, sounds like a squeaky toy, but if you listen carefully, you will hear his famous first words "Chirpie Bird" a couple of times, along with Harrison and I trying to coax him into it! He uses it to get our attention, like when he's out of food or needs fresh water, or like I said, is being ignored! I will soon be sick of those words, and wonder what else he is learning that I'm not aware of! I guess I'll just have to keep listening!




Any guesses on what his next words or sentence might be? What do you suggest we try to teach him? I'm working on "I love you"....we'll see!