All of the parrot species have the anatomy required to imitate human speech, or “talk.” This is one of the attributes that makes parrots alluring to people and certainly sets them apart from other companion animal species. While all the parrots can talk in theory, some are better mimics than others and some species are more likely to talk. Some of our parrots have an “accent” or talk in mechanical, especially fast or barely intelligible speech. If you have a female cockatiel or budgie, it’s very unlikely your bird will talk at all.
**For the full article, pick up the 2010 issue of Birds USA or click here to buy the issue.**