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Say What??

© Anne Watkins

Not all companion birds talk. You should never buy a parrot with the hopes that it will unless you are prepared to love it just as much if it never says one word. I didn't expect either one of my big boys to talk, but they chose to learn. And some of the things they've said have been amazing!

Pancho, my orange wing Amazon, speaks in a feminine voice that sounds a lot like me. Rio, my blue crown conure, has a hoarse little voice that reminds me of Donald Duck! And when he laughs, there's no mistaking who he sounds like. It's me, complete with the silly sounding little "Ahhhh" at the end.

Both birds love to share our food with us. Rio lets us know when he wants a sample of what we're having by asking, "Is it good?" over and over until we give in and let him have a taste. Pancho paces back and forth and makes unhappy little mutterings that gradually escalate into full scale screaming fits if he thinks he's been left out of the goody sharing! (Note: Chocolate and avocado are OFF LIMITS to birds--they can cause toxic reactions.)

Rio is our telephone answering machine. That thing never rings without Rio answering it! In fact, when our daughter was a teenager it didn't take him long to figure out who most of the calls were for. Whenever the phone rang, he'd say, "Hello? Lauraaaaa!"

There has always been a certain amount of sibling rivalry between Laura and Rio. She was nine years old when Rio came to live with us and, as an only child, she felt a twinge of jealousy toward her 'little brother'. He didn't mind at all. Being blessed with a strong personality and sharp little brain, it didn't take him long to figure out ways to drive her crazy!

One thing he did that aggravated her to no end was to answer for her. One night when I had put supper on the table, I yelled down the hall to tell her to come and eat. In reply, I heard, "What?" I repeated my summons, then heard, "Okay, not right now!" This was followed by "Mom, that wasn't me! That was your stupid bird!"

And I learned not to scold her when Rio was sitting on my shoulder. He would scold right along with me, in a raspy, tough little conure voice! You can bet Laura did not appreciate that. There is still a sort of love-hate relationship between the two of them, even though Laura is now 22 years old. Rio loves to nag at her, and she hates it when he does!

The copyright of the article Say What?? in Companion Birds is owned by Veronica Armstrong. Permission to republish Say What?? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.