Too old to learn?

[Dinodeb]

I bought Charlie a week ago, he is 5 years old, he came from a family with young children, he does sometimes shout ( and I mean shout) Mum or Mummy and then cries like a child lol, I've heard him say Hello and good boy, but never heard him say his name or anything else. Is he too old to learn now or will he still pick up new words ?. He is quiet but I'm expecting him to get loud once he settles in more

 

[Birdman666]

FIVE? for an amazon, he's still practically a baby!

I've had a sixty year old foster DYH still picking up new words and phrases...

It's more a "do they want to" question, than can they... I've got a 43 year old lilac crowned that hasn't spoken a word in almost five years. She just has never been fascinated by human speech. (That would be my CAG.)

I lost my BFA to a tumor when she was 38 years old. She was probably the sweetest bird I ever owned, and she was one of my best talkers, and easily my best singer ever...

 

[Dinodeb]

Thank you Birdman, sounds like you have some amazing "old" birds �� I'm sure Charlie will come out of his shell soon

 

[henpecked]

Have you cranked up the vacuum cleaner near him yet? That usually sets my flock off.

 

[Birdman666]

Have you cranked up the vacuum cleaner near him yet? That usually sets my flock off.

She wants him to talk, not take a bath!

 

[Dinodeb]

Haha..he does not like the Hoover , gives a good ole scream lol

 

[cnyguy]

My YCA George lived to be roughly 70 years old, and never stopped learning new things. It's certainly possible for your 5-year-old Amazon to learn new words and phrases for a long time to come.

 

[Kiwibird]

Have you cranked up the vacuum cleaner near him yet? That usually sets my flock off.

Or brought him in the shower? Kiwi doesn't have a large vocabulary or range of noises, but the vacuum and shower seem to be the 2 things that encourage him to make every sound/word he knows! But not every bird is a talker or even a squawker.

My amazon is only 16, and we adopted him when he was 10. He has not picked up ANY new words or noises since we got him. We don't encourage speech, if he wants to talk, he will, if not, that's ok too. He mainly makes a goose honk, high pitched "weeeet" noise and owl hoot along with the standard amazon screech and alarm call. He will say "hello" in a deep mans voice (usually when he wants something), "hi" in a little girls voice and the first half of the wolf whistle (and he expects you to make the second half back to him:54. He thankfully, seems to have 'forgotten' the curse word he knew how to say (in context) and now makes a garbled parrot noise instead (though he still makes that noise "in context" :31. He was clearly told that more than a few times by someone! My mom has a 43 y/o green cheek amazon who screeches when you mention a favored food, squeals like a pig when you bother him and occasionally flock calls his mate, but is otherwise totally silent. The 45+ y/o DYH makes a full range of countless (beautiful and pleasant) 'wild' parrot noises, but has never spoken human words.

Just an opinion, but I would go with the flow on the talking. If Charlie is a talker, he will naturally pick things up. If he isn't and you sit there and repeat a word or noise a thousand times until he does pick it up, well, he's going to repeat that same thing right on back to you until it drives you up the wall (I know people with a bird who says the same thing over and over and over and it just drives you crazy after a while). The natural talkers I hear don't just repeat like ones who have been "taught". They interject words (often in context) into their normal vocalization patterns, which is adorable and not annoying.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

My OWA said a few human words in the first couple months after getting her, but in the last couple months hasn't said a single human word. She is pretty quiet most of the time, she chatters to the radio, or calls for me when she wants my attention, and has just started to call to the wild birds outside in the afternoons. I figure if she wants to talk in human language she will and if she doesn't I have to learn Amazon!