How to Teach Your Yellow-Band Amazon Bird to Talk

Although no bird is called the yellow-band Amazon, the yellow-naped Amazon may be referred to by this name due to the band of yellow plumage on his neck. These intelligent birds can live for more than 60 years if well looked after. Yellow-naped Amazon parrots tend to be good talkers and have surprisingly human-like voices. However, not all parrots will talk, so appreciate yours for his other great qualities, too.

  1. Start Early

    • Although it's unlikely that your yellow-naped Amazon will start to talk until he's around 4 months old, it's never too early to start talking to him. While he won't have the capacity to talk back to you, he'll be listening to every word you say and remembering them for later. The more you talk to your parrot while he's still young, the more likely it is he'll have a large vocabulary and a good talking ability. If you have an older parrot, you can still teach him to talk, but he may be slower to learn and pick up a smaller amount of words.

    Build a Relationship

    • Before you actively start to teach your yellow-naped Amazon to talk, it's important you build a good relationship with him. If your bird is afraid of you or doesn't trust you, he'll prefer to hide away and stay quiet rather than repeating what you say to him. Spend as much time as possible with your parrot, and he'll soon learn to enjoy your company. As extremely social creatures, parrots love to hang out with their human families, even if you're just watching TV or using the computer.

    Repetition, Repetition, Repetition

    • Yellow-naped Amazon parrots learn to talk through mimicry, so repetition is key when you're teaching your bird to talk. Start off with a simple word or phrase -- of no more than two or three syllables -- and repeat it to him over and over again. If you speak slowly and enthusiastically, he's more likely to repeat it back to you. Keep training sessions short, but regular to avoid either you or your feathered friend getting bored or frustrated.

    Positive Reinforcement

    • Your yellow-naped Amazon is more likely to talk if he gets rewarded for doing so. Each time he repeats a word you're trying to teach him -- or even just attempts to repeat it -- give him a treat so he knows he's doing well. While this can be a food reward, you can also treat him by petting him or playing with one of his favorite toys. Never get mad with your parrot for not learning a word, or he'll start to distrust you. If you feel yourself becoming frustrated, finish the training session and move on to playtime or have some bird snuggles instead.