Pretty bird
Lisa writes: My dad likes birds. By my count, we've had 17 parakeets (never more than two at a time) and two cockatiels. He always wanted to teach one to talk. We repeated "Pretty bird! Pretty bird!" over and over, and he even put a recording on continuous loop and played it to the birds all night. Never worked.
One of the cockatiels learned to wolf-whistle. Dad thought it would be fun if it would wolf-whistle when Mom entered the room. Instead, the bird used the sound to indicate distress when left alone. (Cockatiels are very social and want to be with you 24/7.) Instead of meaning, "Hey, sexy!" it was more like a desperate, "Help! Wait! Don't leave me!" Not really the effect he was going for.
Dad's theory as to why none of these birds ever learned to talk was that we weren't getting smart enough birds. He always wanted to "upgrade" to a smarter bird, like a cockatoo or a parrot. Something that costs thousands of dollars and lives 75 years and has to be included in the will.
Dad doesn't have any birds right now. Note the expression on his face when meeting my cousin's little parrot last month.
One of the cockatiels learned to wolf-whistle. Dad thought it would be fun if it would wolf-whistle when Mom entered the room. Instead, the bird used the sound to indicate distress when left alone. (Cockatiels are very social and want to be with you 24/7.) Instead of meaning, "Hey, sexy!" it was more like a desperate, "Help! Wait! Don't leave me!" Not really the effect he was going for.
Dad's theory as to why none of these birds ever learned to talk was that we weren't getting smart enough birds. He always wanted to "upgrade" to a smarter bird, like a cockatoo or a parrot. Something that costs thousands of dollars and lives 75 years and has to be included in the will.
Dad doesn't have any birds right now. Note the expression on his face when meeting my cousin's little parrot last month.
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