There are many of us who want a companion that we can talk to. We want a voice at the end of a long work day welcoming us home with, "Hello, darling, how was your day?" However, not just any talking bird will do. Some birds speak quietly, while others will scream at the top of their lungs. Here are 10 "talking" birds that will fit the bill nicely.
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10. Budgerigar
Also known as the Budgie, or Parakeet, this common little bird is capable of learning a large number of phrases and songs.
Their voice tends to be low and not always defined, and males tend to train better than females.
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9. Monk Parakeet
Also called the Quaker Parakeet, this colorful little bird is actually a small parrot. They are known for being very clever and social, developing large vocabularies of phrases and words.
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8. Blue-Fronted Amazon
If you want a companion for life, this is a good fit. The Blue-Fronted can live for up to 100 years, or more.
They have an excellent speaking voice, with a strong ability to mimic human voices.
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7. Indian Ringneck
Very clever little birds, Indian Ringnecks can develop a large vocabulary, and speak very clearly in sentences. Not so much for mimicking the pitch of a human voice, they more often speak in their own bird voices, though they can carry the mood of the phrase.
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6. Eclectus
Known for being especially gender dimorphous — the male is green and the female bright red — this parrot is able to verbalize distinctly and mimic the tone and mood of language.
While its capabilities are strong, these abilities depend entirely on training from an early age.
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5. Yellow-Crowned Amazon
Considered to be nearly as good as the Yellow-Naped, with less of a tendency to nip.
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4. Double Yellow Head Amazon
Closely following the Yellow-Naped, with an excellent ability to mimic human voices and a love for song.
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3. Hill Myna
This pretty little black bird has an amazing capacity for mimicking human voices, with a varied range of pitch and tonality.
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2. Yellow-Naped Amazon
Of the Amazon parrots, the Yellow-Naped is the best known for its speaking abilities.
They love to sing and are highly intelligent, with an uncanny ability to mimic human speech and cadence.
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1. African Grey
The African Grey is widely considered to be the smartest of the talking birds, and one of the most intelligent in the animal kingdom overall. Some experts say they approach the ability to speak and relate concepts on the level of a human toddler. Of the two standard "domesticated" species, the Timneh African Grey tends to learn to speak at a younger age than the Congo African Grey.
Top Ten 'Talking' Birds originally appeared on petMD.com
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