Parrots are known for their ability to speak. A parrot will speak (or not) according to (i) the time and sustained training that you give to it and (ii) its individual abilities. A parrot can associate words or short sentences with a precise situation. The meaning of the verb "to parrot" is actually inaccurate. Yes, a parrot repeats, but only in an adapted situation and will not say hello when you go to bed.

That said, the parrot will speak if and only if:

- it wants to speak because speaking is a moment of communication and pleasure. It will therefore choose its moment.

- you devote some time to it. Those who wish to adopt a parrot yet cannot devote precious and regular time to it ought to drop the idea and avoid making this intelligent and hypersensitive animal unhappy (and you along with it!). Your parrot cannot give back to you what you are unable to give to it in the first place!

Journalists often call to invite us into a television studio and tell us: " your parrot absolutely must talk during the show!" We have always turned down this type of show that sensationalizes rather than tries to understand the animal. It is a mistake to reason like a human when speaking about animals — this shows our anthropomorphic bias in our relation toward nature. For example, for years, researchers tried to teach monkeys to speak … without success. In the end, they understood that primates can communicate and construct sentences through sign language. This means that if your parrot develops a significant vocabulary, that’s wonderful but it is crucial that you establish a relationship that goes beyond words and that you play with your parrot using, for example, toys designed for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years (focusing on colour and shape recognition). You will be surprised by this animal’s learning abilities.

At any rate, is this really what we expect of parrots? For ages, we have adored dolphins and yet they do not speak to us with words! In addition, isn’t the spoken and written word precisely what sets the human species apart from animals?

Lastly, unlike dogs which have been close to humankind for thousands of years and domesticated to our needs (watching over a flock, hunting game, pulling a sled, rescuing from avalanches, guiding the blind, etc.), parrots — even those born in captivity — are NOT DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. They may be tamed but they retain a part of their "wild behaviour".

To understand your parrot, you must watch how it lives, integrate it into your family life, understand its psychological needs and respond to them.

"Do not ask that a parrot becomes a human being:
To understand a parrot, you must become one yourself!!!"