 Hello my fellow Snippers, my name is Marlene McCohen and this is Vinnie. Who else would I invite to a really pink setup but a really pink bird, right Vinnie? Vinnie and I want to welcome you to Parent Tip Tuesday. We're really excited about today's Parent Tip Tuesday because we're going to talk about the six best talking birds. This is always fun information to know so I thought that I would share it with you. Now although Vinnie talks a lot, he is not on the list. Yes I know, total spoiler alert. I mean he talks so much. But yeah you talk, yes you do. But you also kind of sound like R2-D2. So yeah you didn't make the list but you made the video because you're such a little star. What do you think about that? Yeah okay good. Before we get started I want to point the obvious out that the walls are now green and although it may look like I am now done with this studio that I've been talking and talking about I might be echoing really bad because there's no furniture in here. The room was being painted. If you follow me on Instagram you know that. Vinnie just lets because he thinks that things are in the room that are not. I'm surrounded by walls that are painted and still have the painters tape on them. Yeah but the beauty of this frame, things are looking pretty good. Yeah Vinnie and I are kind of enjoying making this list for you for Parent Tip Tuesday. You know what? It really feeds my obsessive compulsive disorder. Now before I go on with the list I must preface this video by saying same thing I always say you never want to buy a bird because you want a talking bird. You know why? Because there's no guarantee that your bird is going to talk. You've heard me say that a million times so without further ado you're gonna move on to the six best talking birds. Number one. The first bird I want to mention is the African Grey. It's no secret that the African Grey is an excellent talker. So many African Grey's are famous for their expensive vocabulary. If you guys have watched my story time Sunday you'll hear so many different stories about my African Grey George and how he was able to replace words with other words to finish sentences. African Grey's are known to be one of the smartest animals in the entire world. They have the human intelligence of a four to five year old child and of course the emotional intelligence of a two year old as you guys with birds know that that part of them will never grow up. But if you've done any research on African Grey's you may have come across Alex the African Grey. Alex was known for being able to differentiate between things that are larger and smaller. So for example you could say to Alex which key is bigger and he could tell you the green one. You could show Alex a plate of blocks and the blocks may have been many different shapes and many different colors. And if you asked him how many blue squares he was able to tell you for which is an excellent process of deduction. Imagine he had to figure out how many of those were squares and how many of those were blue. Just knowing that African Grey's have this capability is amazing but it doesn't mean that all birds don't have this capability. It just means that Alex was able to display this through Dr. Irene Pepperberg's work and research. You should really check out Alex's videos on YouTube. Here are the great things about African Grey's that make them excellent talking parrots and on top of my list. The first thing you should know about a talking African Grey is that they have the ability to sound exactly like you. Some birds talk and sound like birds and then some birds talk and sound like you. Where if George said something my sister might think that I had said it. Or if he wants to imitate my dad you hear my dad. African Grey's can be like recording a piece of history. So whoever they interact with they carry a piece of them forever. It's actually quite amazing. So as far as mimicry and as far as tone African Grey's are outstanding. They also have an ability to apply moods to their words. So for me what that means is if I said bye to George and he was mad at me or he had just gotten in trouble because he did something bad. He wouldn't say bye. Like he normally did. He'd be like bye. He would put these emotions onto the words. Whether he learned that this is the time for that specific emotion or not. He was able to do it and it was always fascinating and it would give me such a kick and such a pleasure. It felt like having a little human speaking to me. Another fun thing about the African Grey is their ability to mimic computers and all sorts of different noises. Noises that a human being could never do. I mean I don't know. There's some talented people out there. But we've talked about it before from hammering to computer messages to your text messages to the kettle boiling. The possibilities are endless. I'm not kidding you alarm clocks. Babies crying. I mean who can imitate a baby crying except for a baby crying. These are things that you will find videos of African Grey's doing. Let's face it. Learning a beeping noise of some sort can be very complicated but not for an African Grey. So these things can be exceptionally entertaining. Let me just tell you. African Grey's can have an extensive vocabulary. They can speak many many words and many different phrases. One thing that I love about African Grey's is the feeling that they're listening and responding to you. So you can ask your bird a question and a lot of the times he can answer it or he can ask you a question and you feel like he's satisfied with your answer. The conversation can continue. It's very interesting speaking with an African Grey because you literally feel like you just had a conversation. Sometimes I actually felt like me and my birds solved something together. I don't know what that's about but I'm just telling you African Grey's will give you that feeling and on top of that both the males and females are known to have extensive vocabulary. So it won't really matter if you get a male or a female. Both of them are great talkers. I would say on a scale of one to ten your chances of an African Grey speaking are probably about an eight. Your chances of them whistling and imitating and making other noises in the house would be a 9.5. I'm not kidding you. That's almost guaranteed. The clarity in which an African Grey speaks is top notch. Most of the time you will totally understand what your bird is saying which really ties back to them being able to imitate and mimic your voice perfectly. That's one really exciting thing about an African Grey and one of the most fun things in my opinion. But of course, remember you can never count on your parrot talking. One way to guarantee a talking bird is to adopt a talking bird. There's lots of birds that do need homes. And if you really are obsessed with the idea of having a talking parrot, look into adoption. It's always a great way to save a little bird's soul and an even better way to guarantee yourself a little talking bird. And on that note, let's move on to the next talking bird. And that is Amazons. Amazons are outstanding talkers. Now what's amazing about an Amazon specifically that the African Grey doesn't necessarily have is that Amazons are social talkers. So if you'll notice you'll see a lot of Amazons appearing on talk shows and game shows and things like that. And that's because they're regulated to be able to speak in front of people. African Grays tend to get a little bit shy. So my bird can talk all day long. And then someone comes to the house and I'm like, I swear he talks and the bird doesn't say a word. Amazons are a little bit different. They love to talk socially. It's how they engage. Amazons are really great at responding to cues for that exact reason. That's why they're really good on shows. They'll almost never let you down if you train them correctly and to speak on command. I think they're some of the best birds to do that with. Now another great thing that I always noticed about Amazons is that they're amazing singers. All birds that talk can be great singers. My bird George love to sing opera all the time because I sang it in the house. But Amazon specifically enjoy music. It's almost as if you type in singing bird. Most of the time, you're gonna see an Amazon that does a really great rendition of pop music. It's pretty impressive. I'm not sure if it's something that just kind of comes easily to them. But they really do enjoy music and they're great singers. I'm not kidding you. Amazons also like the African Grays have a great ability to display a lot of moods and emotions when they speak. Now although they're excellent talkers, I think they have a tiny bit more of a bird twang when they speak. You know exactly who they're imitating, but I still think they have a tiny bit of a sound of a bird in there with their clarity. So I would give them a little less on clarity than the African Great, but still outstanding speakers. They're great at mimicking and they have an excellent sense of humor. That's one thing that I really like about Amazons. I think they really like to have a good time because they are such social talkers. So I think an Amazon is really high up there on my list of talking words. And both male and females tend to have equal talking abilities. And in terms of guaranteeing that your bird would talk, I would give the Amazon maybe a seven. I actually had an Amazon myself that didn't talk at all. He was a rescue. I loved him so much, but he did not say one word, not much of anything. That brings us to the next talking parrot that I think is amazing. And that is the eclectus. Let's not forget about the eclectus. I put them so high up on my list of best talking parrots. My favorite thing about the eclectus is their sense of humor when talking. I know any bird can have a sense of humor, but I feel like there is a sense of humor very specific to the eclectus. The eclectus also has good clarity when they talk. They do have a tiny bit of that bird twang that I was talking about. And they're very responsive. Another thing that I really enjoy about talking with an eclectus. I know sometimes this can sound really funny. It's like, yeah, I had a chat with an eclectus today and it was a great conversation. The listening and responding went very well. But really, that's what this is like the clarity in his voice. These birds have their own sense of humor and they also can apply moods and emotions to their speech. They like to whistle and they can have quite a large vocabulary themselves. Male and female are both equal in talking capabilities. So do not prefer one over the other. And I would put them pretty high up on the list of probability to talk. I would give an eclectus about a seven. The next bird on my list, I feel like you either have heard about or have not heard about. And this is the minor bird. Some people would argue that the minor bird is the best talking bird of all time. Some people even say that their ability to mimic is better than the African gray. When I say mimic, I mean in terms of clarity and vocal range. Because as you guys know, I believe that birds don't just mimic they understand. In fact, I know they do just from having them and you probably know they do just from watching my videos. Minor birds are from the Starling family. And let me tell you, when you see a minor bird talk, it's like the cutest little thing. Minor birds are extremely responsive. Go check out videos of minor birds, you will not be disappointed. Growing up, my dad always told me about him and his roommates minor bird. And I was just like, wow, this bird thing really has been in our family for a long time. Both the male and female minor birds can be great talkers. And minor birds can have a great range in vocabulary. So if you're interested in a bird that's a little bit different than all of the parents that I have been mentioning, take a look at minor birds, do some research, watch some videos, you will be amazed. The next word on my list is the Indian ring neck parakeet. They're not known as the most famous talkers, but believe me, a lot of these birds can talk. And when they talk, it has got to be a number 10 on the cutest list. It seems like when these birds are good talkers, they talk with such an excitement about life that it will make anybody's heart melt. It literally seems like they're an excited toddler. Some Indian ring neck parakeets can speak up to 250 words. Their tone and clarity is more that of a bird. You totally understand what they're saying. But it doesn't sound like the human being themselves. It sounds like the cutest little bird in the world, talking to you. Now with these birds, there's absolutely no guarantee that they would talk. So on the probability of them talking scale, I would give them more like a four or five. They're more likely to talk than they are to do imitation noises of other things. But if you're looking for a smaller little bird, that's a great companion. And you're hopeful that your bird may talk but not relying on it, then check out these sweet little birds. That brings us to our next bird and last bird, the budgie. You guys have heard me speak about budgies in my last three videos so far, I kid you not. Budgies are the type of little friend that you probably do not get because you want a speaking bird. However, I think the bird with the most vocabulary recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records is actually a budgie who could speak almost 2000 words. What I like about budgies, if they can speak, is that they literally can copy you right then and there. They have such a flock mentality that their imitation skills if they want to imitate you are outstanding. Remember a lot of birds talk because in the wild, it's how they include themselves in the flock. They actually have their own names for each other that they speak out when they're addressing one another. That's what they've discovered in the parrot world. So when we talk in front of our domesticated parrots, they learn how to integrate within our flock by speaking to us. Budgies are no different. And for whatever reason, when a budgie can talk, their capabilities are outstanding. I know I've told you guys this like three times in three weeks, but I still had to mention budgies because they are not to be forgotten. Now on the probability scale of talking, I'd give a budgie maybe like a four or a five. But again, it's one of those magical things that if they do talk, it can be quite outstanding. Now that concludes my list of best talking parrots, but I'm gonna mention a bird that you probably have never seen speak, but I want you to look it up. Check out videos of Ravens talking. Their clarity and ability to mimic is outstanding. I didn't put it on my list because it just didn't feel like a bird that you would run out and try to get and it just didn't seem like the best idea to get you in the mood to own a raven than being very wild and all. But if you want to enjoy yourself, go watch videos of Ravens talking. He will not be disappointed. It is almost mind blowing. I would go so far as to say that now that officially concludes our list with the Raven Vinny is also not a bad talker but definitely one on the clarity because sometimes I really just don't know what he is saying. Sometimes you guys know what he is saying and yeah, you left. Is it because I said you weren't great at speaking? That is it? Okay. Yeah. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this video. Thank you guys so much for joining in. Please like, comment, share and subscribe to my channel if you want more awesome videos like this or if you enjoyed this video. Follow me on social media at Marlene McClain. If you want to watch the little lives of my feathered friends, you can watch my story time on Instagram. I happen to think they're quite entertaining. And if you haven't checked out the jersey, the donut merch or my sniffer shirt merch, the links will be below. I hope you guys have a wonderful day. I had so much fun making this video in such a good time talking to you guys. Lots of new things to come. I can't wait to see you guys next time. Bye. You guys have heard me say that. No, come here. Jenna's not here. You know. Now that I got Vinnie a box, we can move on to the six best talking birds. We enjoy a talking eclectus. I'm sorry. Vinnie is banging on the wall right now. Are you trying to let somebody in?