Can You Teach a Three Year Old Quaker Parrot to Talk?

Quaker parrots are small, friendly birds with a body size of about 11 to 13 inches. Quakers range in colors but are most typically bright green or blue with a touch of gray and white. These parrots are capable of the same amusing behaviors as large parrots but require only a fraction of the living space. One of the quaker parrot's amusing behaviors is its ability to learn to talk and sing.

  1. Talking Age

    • Some species of parrots may take years before they even attempt to talk. The quaker parrot is an enthusiastic talker from an early age, even as young as six months. Most young, hand-fed quakers learn to speak at least one word by the time they are one year old. Younger quakers are eager to learn and more apt to mimic the sounds they hear. With a life expectancy of up to 30 years, a three-year-old quaker parrot is still considered young and, with proper interaction and training, may learn to speak as well as any other young quaker.

    Hand-Feeding

    • If you want a talking quaker, the best results often come from birds that were hand-fed. This process removes quaker chicks from the care of their avian parents and replaces that care and feeding with a human caregiver. The young parrots then "imprint" or associate humans as being flock members and try to learn the human sounds and words the young birds hear. Even at three years old, a hand-fed quaker parrot stands a better chance of becoming a talker than one that was raised by parrots.

    Teaching to Talk

    • Immersion and training sessions are the best methods of teaching quaker parrots to speak. Speak to the birds often, as you pass their cage, play with them or change their food and water each day. Train the birds by holding them in front of a mirror and repeating words you want them to learn. Reward the quaker when it attempts to make a sound or properly says a word you want it to learn. Audio and video recordings of other parrots saying words and phrases and singing songs are available. These should be played continuously for the quaker when you are away at work or the grocery store as a means of reinforcing the training sessions.

    Other Information

    • Regardless of age, some quakers just will not speak. Not every parrot is a talking parrot, even amongst the species noted for their vocalizations. If a quaker has reached an age of three years, has undergone serious attempts at training, has been hand-fed and has lived in a safe and loving home but still refuses to speak there is a chance that it never will. Though the quaker has a huge capacity for a large vocabulary, even using some words in context, the bird's speaking may be difficult to understand. Patience and hard work are key to training a quaker to talk but you must be prepared to live with and love your quaker whether it speaks or not.