A Journey Into the Mind of A Talking Parrot
www.parrotresearch.com
Victor the Budgie
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Introduction
My name is Ryan Reynolds and I have a one-of a kind parrot story that I would like to share with you. It is about a budgerigar named Victor who was the first parrot in the world to prove beyond a doubt that he could speak in conversational language. Victor was only about 8 weeks old when I brought him home from the pet shop. From the beginning he was an extraordinary learner. He could say the alphabet all the way through and repeat many nursery rhymes and verses at less than one year old. Towards two years, his talking capabilities were so good, I started a website and began posting his recordings. After a while I noticed that he was not just mimicking, but talking in context. Late in 2000, I began to keep a weekly journal which updated people who came to his site on his progress. I wanted to prove to the world that parrots could communicate and talk in context. I believed Victor's recordings would do that. Due to the time I spent trying to understand him better, and his willingness to learn and be recorded, his communication developed at an extremely fast pace. He proved that he could not only talk in context but was talented in other areas as well. Sadly, Victor became ill and died in March of 2001. After his death I have spent many hours analyzing his remaining recordings and improving the site in the hope that the scientific community will not ignore this case study and recognize it as valuable research.
Some people may not believe this is possible so I have presented this information in the most reliable way I know; audio and video. Victor's sites consist of four other sites, with several hundred pages of text and audio files. Each one of his recordings has something different in it to discover about parrot intelligence. After Victor died, I continued working with his mate and three other budgies. They have also shown similar aptitudes for using context. Victor had passed on much of his knowledge to his mate Betty. She in turn passed some of it on to her new companions. I have also posted many recordings on a separate site just for them. Although their recordings are not as clear and remarkable as Victor's, they show they are using conversational language as well.
Most people find Victor's recordings easier to understand as they adapt to his budgie accent. Budgies are not like most parrots. They seldom sound like their trainers. They can talk exceptionally fast and their voices are so small they usually have to be made louder to hear all of what they are saying. When you are listening to them, you may have to play them several times, section by section to understand them. However, I believe it to be well worth your time as you will be surprised at how intelligent they are.
Thank you for visiting his site and I hope you enjoy it.
Ryan Reynolds
Copyright © April, 2001, 2002 Ryan Reynolds
Over 30 Budgies Talking in Context
