Too Cute

[Enko_chan]

Kokoro's verbal ability is really coming along. At first his words were very unclear, but you could tell by the pitch and cadence the gist of what he was saying... plus if you repeated it back to him he got super excited and repeated it twenty five more times!

Benny's been jealous of the attention Koko gets from speaking. I'm sure it doesn't scan in these words exactly, but Benny has quite the vocabulary and even some grammar skills of his own to boot- so why does Koko get so much attention for things like:

love you!
what's up?
hi baby!
what's that?
and
sweetheart!

So, Benny has learned every word and phrase that Koko's learned. He says sweetheart in a very cute, high voice.

Now, Freyja says about five words and has a few oddities in terms of sounds she enjoys mimicking, but Odinn never spoke a word before today.

This morning, Koko and Benny are yelling "Sweetheart!" back and forth, and Chris and I are egging them on- it was very adorable.

Freyja and Odinn were using Chris and I as human bird gyms at the time, and all of a sudden Freyja starts yelling "Sweetheart! Sweetheart!" clear as can be, over and over. Then Odinn chimes in, when Freyja says "Sweet!" Odinn says "Heart!" Of course Chris and I were in hysterics and seeing how much attention they got, kept on doing it. :rofl:

I don't care whether they're hen&cock cock&cock or hen&hen, they're the cutest things that ever were. They've been so darned loving toward us lately. They do go through stages where they want nothing to do with either of us, and Freyja acts very much like an aggressive hen during these times. Lately, though, she's been downright sweet.

[CompassionAk]

You must have just the right tone of voice to get those guys to talk because I swear as much as I have tried with every bird I have ever had I've never had one repeat a single word or sound =( I'm kinda jealous... do you do house calls? :rofl:

[Enko_chan]

Freyja's only spoken when really riled up, like yesterday! I've never had a lovebird talk before Freyja. Even though she goes through periods of birdie hormones, she was raised by human hands from the first day of life, and sometimes I swear she's darned near human in that fuzzy little head of hers.

She already said "Sweet" before, which she picked up from Benny. Benny can also say their names. Seeing a pattern here? It isn't my voice they're picking up on, it's Ben's! Benny already had a large vocab when he came to me at 10 months old. He picks up everything, we don't even have to practice.

Koko on the other hand, is my little miracle. He started repeating his name back when he wasn't quite 3 months old yet, when he was here only 2 weeks. I know the owners of two other quakers aside from myself and my mother from that clutch, and all of them spoke before they were 4 months old! The breeder is astonished. She told me she usually gets e-mails from people telling her they've started talking between 6 mo and a year, but this must be a clutch of geniuses. Koko is particularly sweet and sensitive. He's the most gentle bird I've ever had. He communicates so well for such a young bird, mostly with body language- I don't think he has any clue what the words he's repeating actually mean.

I don't think its me. I've had a GCC talk in the past, and my mother's U2, a couple cockatiels that said a few words and whistled tunes, but we just happened to get some talented fids this time around! Freyja only says 7 different words (really only six, since one is "sweet" and the other "sweetheart", so five plus "sweet" and "sweetheart", and she mimics 2 distinct sounds- the tree frog and the honking car. Yesterday was the only time I've ever heard Odinn mimic and it was only after the other birds and even Freyja had been going on and on!

[wilkiecoco]

Kristi - you need to walk around - ALL THE TIME - with a video camera, so you can record this talkfest going on. :whistle::whistle: ;) It must be so adorable to listen to them talk. I have tried repeatedly, and when I say repeatedly i mean my family wants to disown me, to teach Kiwi to talk. I spent one day saying pretty bird over and over and over! Nada - Zip - Ziltch -nothing!! :rofl::rofl:

[Enko_chan]

I have hundreds of photos on my phone cam. I don't have a video cam or anything that records sound right now, but you're right!

I need to order new software to get my photos from my blackberry onto the computer. Something happened to it when we backed up the software and wiped the computer to start fresh.

Benny won't say a word around anyone except me, Chris and my grandmother. Anyone else comes in the room and he shuts right up. I NEED to get a recording!