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FAQ About the Hiking Cockatoos

Chapter 6 Does he talk?

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Mozart a handsome Triton Cockatoo Do they Talk?

To anticipate a common question; Yes, Mozart did talk. If you met him on the trail you probably already know this, because he liked to greet people on the trail. Unless, that is, unless you encountered him late in the day when it was past his nap time (Cockatoos like small children, seem to need a nap several times a day.) When he was tired he did not vocalize very much. He had an extensive vocabulary with many phrases and two different voices. One was raspy voice, that could be very loud. The other is a high pitched voice, like a teenaged girl. Rita, my mother-in-law describes it as "mellifluous." Although he often uses words appropriately, and will (sometimes) obey verbal commands, he does not understand English. Kaipo and Amadeus are still very young, but they have already begun to talk. It appears that they will match Mozart in the ability to talk, but that remains to be seen.


Mozart learned human greetings very quickly. He did not imitate sounds like some parrots such as African Greys. He picked up on human expressions very quickly when he was younger. We were always very careful not to use bad language around him. He managed to learn one bad word for excrement in one afternoon while visiting the Vet Office, but we suppressed that word by ignoring it. Some of the words and phrases he used on a regular basis are:

He also sang "arias" that defy description. His sounds were barks, laughs, coughs, sneezes, shrieks, cackles and roars. He screamed a sound that is similar to a jet engine (and just as loud.) He literally used his voice as a weapon, it had the affect of making large predators (humans, dogs and cats) jump backwards to escape. He was quiet most of the time, but periodically announces his presence to the universe at large. Most of his talking and singing is when his "buddies" were out of sight. If you live in an apartment and own a Cockatoo, then you probably have already received an eviction notice.


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