Is there research that says anything about birds being able to pronounce some letters/combinations better than other letters? Cecil could say his name really well and another friend of mine has Chico and he says his name very well. I have to wonder if C's are easy to say for birds.
Baby has never said her name that I have heard. The previous owner said that she could, but she's been with us since July 4th and has never said her name.
I'm gonna rename her CHARO! LOL. Seriously considering renaming her. She doesn't do anything on cue to her name and she has NEVER looked liked a "baby".
Just wondering about those letters/combos.
Thanks,
Mark

My grey, Jello, says "Hi, baby" to me all the time so I think your 'zon could say Baby if she wanted to. Maybe she's just trying to show you that she does not really like her name. Based on my amazon, Stella, I would say "baby" is not a label I'd stick to her either -- 'zons are usually such feisty, spicy things -- although there are exceptions. I think Charo is a great name! Cuchi-cuchi!!! LOL

Thanks, I'm hoping SHE will talk more at some point. I may regret that wish. LOL.
But what she says is incredibly clear..She says HI!!! In a very definate voice with a flirty "lift" to it. hard to describe. But it's a definate word.
I dunno, she's just not "baby".
Cleo?
hmmm....I"ll have to talk to her about that when I get home. She'll just say HIIIIIIII though. She said HIIII to the 3 spaghetti noodles the other nite
Mark

I don't know about any research that's been done. But I have also noticed that my bird does not say the word baby. One of my phrases that I say a lot is, "Whatcha doin' Baby" He'll say "Whatcha doin" but never has repeated the Baby part.

Yes there are some letters they can say better but I dont have anything handy on it.

I have to say though that all my talking birds in my pet store always said Baby amost first thing since it's something I say alot. Even a Senegal at about 10 weeks old. So I always thought the "BUH" sound of a hard B or P was easier but that was in my imagination.

You can read about Alex the Grey on their Foundation website for in depth discussion of the words he used. They review the words he had trouble with and how he replaced the sounds with easier ones. I do think that an "ESS" sound was one of the difficult ones. And I cant say I remember any talking birds of mine saying alot with ESSes......Possibly CH is easier than ESS I dont know............CH is more like a spitting sound a hard sound like a B or P I think.....hard meaning in letters not in difficulty...

My vet DID tell me though, that whistling is something to avoid since whistling is an easier physical thing than actually talking so if they learn to whistle they may whistle more than talking. Not an issue for me since I dont whistle but thought you'd want to know....

My U2 is named Izzy and that is one the one name that Stella took the longest to learn to say. I always felt kind of bad for Izzy when every morning, Stella would go through her vocabulary and say "hi" by name to each of my other birds (that is, before I got the caiques -- she does not say their names yet) -- "hi Jello", "hi Gabby", "hi Cooper", "hi Charley" and, of course, "hi Stella" but NEVER "hi Izzy". But now, after nearly 4 years, Stella will say Izzy's name. She does not say it often but she will do it. I think the "z" sound is just hard for her to mimic.

She may never be a good talker. Dunno. I know that she is still a young bird at 4 or so. I've noticed that lately she is getting more blue above her nares.

I'm really leanin towards Cleo.

Cleo is a really cute name, it rolls off the tongue really nicely. No, she may never be a good talker, but I know most birds continue to learn new words their entire lives. It's still definitely possible!

Ollie can make the S sound really well. "Step Up" is one of her favorite things to say, and she really puts a lot of emphasis on the S in Step. "SStep UP!" She also says "That's Naughty", and does the s in the middle really well. B's and P's are definitely very easy for her. I haven't noticed a sound that's difficult for her to make yet. I would think that a SH sound would be hard, but she even says "shake, shake" very well.

Jerry LOVES "b" words - birdie, budgie, b!tchy, boy. He can also say "sh" words, he loves to say "shopping." And he can do "s" sounds, like when he makes words plural, like "toys." And "j" words are easy for him too, he says his name all the time. I'm surprised at how easy some sounds are for him. Like Camille, I haven't noticed any sounds that are difficult for him. He can make "L" and "W" sounds too - sometimes he says Wittle instead of Little, but that's cause I say that too. He has no problem saying Winston either. But he can say Little and Love plain as day too.

She might get the "b" at some point. I still want to call her something other than baby. Last nite, she was out, hanging upside down from her toy hanger on the playtop, cuttin up,making roundy noises and doing that snake thing with her head. She plays a LOT>>> I looked at my wife and said:
"see..that just don't look like 'Baby' "
I'm gonna play around with using the name Cleo for awhile and see how it feels.