Study in Vocal Mimicry of the African Grey

Abstract

INTRODUCTION TO VOCAL BEHAVIOR

Although African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) have been kept in captivity for centuries, little has been written about their vocal behavior in the wild state or the aviary. Forshaw (1973) and Bannerman (1953) note that they call "loudly" while in flight. MackworthPraed and Grant (1962) observed this calling while the birds were feeding, and describes the calls as a combination of "chattering, screaming and whistling" notes.

THE GREY AS A VOCAL MIMIC

There are several reasons the grey parrot has obtained a reputation as an excellent talking bird. Greys often learn to mimic quickly. Mowrer (1950) describes a grey which was talking within two weeks of purchase. Todt (1975b) notes that most of his five grey parrots learned new words within three days. The grey's ability to indefinitely learn new words is suggested by Nottebohm (1970), whose grey, at 20 years of age uttered one hundred different words within a period of a year, and was still adding new words. From casual observations it is my belief a parrot retains most of what he learns for some time.

TRAINING PUCK THE PARROT Developing a Training Method

When obtained, Puck was approximately six months of age. He was very quiet, compared to current behavior, uttering only a growl, a crunching sound, a squeal or a shriek several times a day. Within a few days he was willing to take food from my fingers. I rewarded any sound I heard him make by rushing to his cage and handing him a sunflower seed. He was soon willing to make a crunching sound any time a sunflower seed was offered to him. I repeatedly said "Time to Eat" each time I handed him a sunflower seed, and made a repeating tape of this phrase which was played to him several hours a day. A repeating tape of "Preen" was later used. I continued these techniques for four months without noting any change in Puck's repertoire.

It was at this time, May 1977, that I read an article by Gramza (1970) which suggested that captive birds are encouraged to mimic in captivity when their environment is stimulus-poor. I put Puck in a closet where he got a minimal amount of light, and could stick his head out of the door. In that greys have been reported flying till late in the evening, and are "shy" as compared to other parrots (Mackworth-Praed and Grant, 1962), this darkened environment may have been more secure to Puck.

Regardless of cause, the effect was almost immediate. Within two days Puck was producing a number of different noises. These included the noises previously mentioned as well as a clicking sound, an och sound, a tch sound, an ahah-ah sound, a yuk-yuk sound and a yaya-ya sound, as well as a one syllable whistle. Some of these sounds were repeated in long sequences, whereas others, such as the shriek, were always emitted singly. Sessions of vocalizing lasted up to 50 minutes. I found that by saying "Hello" when Puck said "ah-ah", this sound began to gradually approximate hello. Within a week he was saying "Ha wow", and the L sound was soon appropriately added.

Teaching Puck Words

By this time I had completely given up on the tape recorder as a tool for teaching Puck to "talk". I found that Puck picked up a number of sounds on his own, and that these could be shaped into words, as I had shaped "ah-ah" into "hello". New sounds could also be introduced by repetition. I found that most words I made in the morning, if repeated over and over, and spoke them before I had any physical contact with Puck on a given day, would begin appearing in his repertoire within a week. Once a new sound appeared, I reacted to his uttering it without fail until he was producing it to my satisfaction. Being at the beck-andcall of a parrot can be tiring, so I adopted a strategy of going into another room where I couldn't "hear" Puck when I had had enough. After about a month Puck was moved from his closet to the main part of the room without any noticeable effect on his verbal behavior.

Teaching Puck Verbal Discriminations

The first association I taught Puck was the word "Eat", which he was to utter when a sunflower seed was presented. The seed was held just out of Puck's reach and the word "Eat" was said in an emphatic, drawn out, fashion. Puck will often attempt to join in and complete a word or phrase when it is drawn out. He was soon willing to say "Eat" without prompting. I repeated "Eat" each time he said it, to emphasize pronunciation. "Preen", "Come here", "Water", "Peanut", and "Toy" were subsequently taught by this same manner. As Puck was encouraged for some time to say "Eat" when he wanted to chew on a nonedible object, "Eat" is still often used where "Toy", his most recent acquisition, would be appropriate.