How to Teach an African Grey Bird Phrases

African Grey parrots have a reputation for being quick learners and they can learn to talk at any age. Young or old, these curious birds can learn to speak and some have large vocabularies. They are also good at mimicking sounds they hear around the house. Some can associate words with objects and meanings, according to avianweb.com. With the right approach, your Grey will be speaking in no time.

Instructions

    • 1

      Work with your parrot in a quiet room. You should always begin a session by showing your parrot you love it, suggests avianweb.com. A little scratch on the head is a love signal and it is a starting point for teaching your bird to speak. You can scratch your bird on the head and say, "I love you."

    • 2

      Schedule a time of day to work with your parrot and stick with it. Most parrots enjoy talking in the morning and this would be a good time to teach your parrot to say "Good morning." Parrots also enjoy talking in the evening. The important idea is staying with a certain routine.

    • 3

      Repeat the phrase. It's a good idea to begin with something simple, recommends webvet.com. Words with the letters "p" and "b" are easy for parrots to learn. An easy phrase, therefore, would be "pretty bird." Hold your parrot on your finger if you like and speak clearly, slowly and with enthusiasm, recommends the birdchannel.com.

    • 4

      Work with your bird in sessions for about 15 minutes. After this amount of time, some parrots may become bored or disinterested.

    • 5

      Speak with your bird throughout the day. You don't have to have talking sessions all the time, but you can invite opportunities for your parrot to learn. When you're washing dishes or surfing on the computer, you can speak to your parrot and introduce it to different phrases.

    • 6

      Limit the amount of new phrases or words you teach your parrot at one time. Parrots can learn more than one phrase or word at a time but, while there is no set limit on how much African Greys can learn, it's important to limit new phrases until your parrot masters each one.