11 Most Talkative Birds That You Can Have As Pets (With Audio)

Published by Joseph Calabrese on May 29, 2022May 29, 2022

Birds have the ability to mimic things they hear in their environment.

Depending on where you live, you can hear wild birds mimicking sirens, car sounds, other bird species, and their flock calls.

Pet birds on the other hand will mimic our speech and other sounds we make.

I’m sure you’ve seen some of the countless youtube videos of parrots talking.

When a pet bird considers a human as a flock member, it will attempt to mimic our sounds.

We are their flock and they want to understand and communicate as we do.

pet birds that talk — (Image Credit: PIxabay)

In this article, I’m going to be showcasing 11 different pet birds that can talk like humans.

I’m not encouraging anyone to adopt a bird simply because it can talk.

Before adopting ANY bird, you need to research their dietary needs, living arrangements, and whether or not you’re capable of meeting their companionship needs.

Know what you’re in for BEFORE adoption.

Now, let’s go through 11 pet birds that can talk.

Quick Navigation:

1) African Grey Parrot
2) Cockatoo
3) Macaw
4) Indian Ringneck
5) Quaker Parrot
6) Eclectus Parrot
7) Amazon Parrot
8) Budgerigar
9) Lorikeet
10) Mynah Bird
11) European Starling
12) Raven (NOT A PET)
Full List Of Talking Birds
Sources

1) African Grey Parrot

(Video Credit: X Rated Ruby)

African grey parrots are known to be one of the best talkers in the bird world.

These guys will mimic more than just human speech, they’ll repeat the phone ringing, toilet flushing, and can even copy different accents.

If you have the space and capability, the grey parrots can make friendly, talkative pets.

They’ll steal everyone’s attention when it’s time to talk.

Quick Facts About African Grey Parrots:

Average Lifespan: 20 – 35 Years

Personalities: Attention demanding, social, highly intelligent, vocal

Native To: African Rainforests

2) Cockatoo

(Video Credit: Gotcha The Cockatoo)

Cockatoos are well known to be loud, crazy, and highly intelligent.

They also love to squawk their owner’s ear off all day.

Cockatoos are not as clear with their speaking as African grey parrots, but they can mimic human speech clearly enough for us to understand them.

Almost all cockatoo species will sound like the video above, except for the galah who has a higher-pitched voice.

The umbrella, moluccan, sulphur-crested, and rose-breasted cockatoos are all pet birds that can talk.

Quick Facts About Cockatoos:

Average Lifespan: 40 – 70 Years

Personalities: Outgoing, crazy, affectionate, highly intelligent, very loud

Native to: Australia and nearby islands

3) Macaw

All bird lovers have considered adopting a macaw until they realized how much work they actually are.

They are big, beautiful birds who can learn phrases quite well, especially if taught from a young age.

Macaws are extremely entertaining and great companions to those who care for them properly.

Macaws are not recommended for those living in apartments or small houses, these guys need huge spaces to fly around.

The macaw’s extremely long lifespans make them an extremely long commitment, they often outlive their owners and will likely need to be rehomed at some point in their lives.

The hyacinth macaw, military macaw, blue and gold macaw, and the other 15 species of macaw are all beautiful birds that can talk.

Quick Facts About Macaws:

Average Lifespan: 50 – 70 Years

Personalities: Loyal, loving, highly intelligent, social, vocal

Native To: Tropical North & South America

4) Indian Ringneck

(Video Credit: Chantyb97 on TikTok)

Indian ringnecks are very similar to African greys in terms of their amazing speaking ability.

There are plenty of youtube videos displaying their talking ability.

One superstar is hamlet, from the TikTok creator “chantyb97”, famous for his “what doing?” personality.

Although they can be funny and entertaining, they won’t show any of this unless they’re properly cared for.

Indian ringnecks require lots of attention from companions.

They are even known to get aggressive if they don’t receive the attention they want.

Quick Facts About Indian Ringnecks:

Average Lifespan: 30 – 35 Years

Personalities: Time demanding, highly social, friendly, flock birds

Native To: Ceylon but found throughout India and Pakistan

5) Quaker Parrot

(Video Credit: Susansflock)

Also known as the Monk parakeet, the quaker parrot is a highly affectionate bird that talks with a deeper tone than most other birds.

Their deep voices make them easier to understand.

Quaker parrots have a very unique wild behavior.

Not only do they build nests with their partners, but they also build structures for a small flock of quakers.

They build multiple nesting holes in one structure for other mating pairs.

This structure could accurately be described as a “bird hotel”.

As pets, quaker parrots are relatively low-maintenance birds.

Quick Facts About Quaker Parrots:

Average Lifespan: 20 – 30 Years

Personalities: Affectionate, highly active, loud, flock birds

Native To: Argentina (but have been introduced to urban areas of America)

6) Eclectus Parrot

(Video Credit: Life Of A Parrot)

The eclectus parrot’s ability to mimic human speech is often overlooked when compared to other birds like the African grey parrot.

Eclectus parrots can, in fact, repeat words and phrases, especially when taught from a young age.

They may have a higher pitches voice than most other talking birds, but that doesn’t stop them from chatting up a storm.

Quick Facts About Eclectus Parrots:

Average Lifespan: 20 – 30 Years

Personalities: Affectionate, vocal, friendly

Native To: Solomon islands, New guinea and other nearby islands.

7) Amazon Parrot

(Video Credit: WingsNPaws)

Amazons are yet another parrot that loves to talk.

They have a pretty good talking ability and they can also imitate sirens, whistles, and other sounds they hear.

Amazon parrots have even been recording singing opera vocals.

There are 35 species of amazon parrots that can all talk.

However, experts believe the best human speech imitators are the blue-fronted, yellow-naped, and double yellow-headed amazon parrots.

Quick Facts About Amazon Parrots:

Average Lifespan: 40 – 60 Years

Personalities: Playful, affectionate, social, intelligent

Native To: Different amazon species originate from different areas which include: Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean.

8) Budgerigar

(Video Credit: Kiwi & Pixel The Parakeets)

Budgies are one of the most popular pet birds that can talk.

They are known for their excitable, active, and playful personalities.

Budgies love to talk to their human companions and can pick up a large vocabulary of words and sounds.

The Guinness book of world records currently holds a budgie named Puck as the bird with the largest vocabulary of 1728 words.

These relatively low-maintenance little birds make great pets, they can entertain/annoy you with their chatter for hours.

Quick Facts About Budgies:

Average Lifespan: 5 – 9 Years

Personalities: Fun, high energy, social, affectionate, friendly

Native To: Australia

9) Lorikeet

(Video Credit: Janswordrealtor)

Lorikeets barely made it to this list of talking birds due to how unclear they are when trying to speak.

However, they deserve a spot here because you can somewhat interpret what they’re saying.

In my opinion, lorikeets are rather difficult to look after compared to other parrots.

Lorikeets have a specialized diet that consists of pollen, fruits, and nectar instead of the usual pet bird diet of seeds, pellets, and vegetables.

On top of that, lorikeets also have liquid poops which are fairly difficult to clean.

Lorikeets are decently skilled talkers and make affectionate companions, but they’re very different in terms of care requirements compared to most parrots.

Quick Facts About Rainbow Lorikeets:

Average Lifespan: 6 – 9 Years

Personalities: Highly social, active, flock birds, vocal

Native To: Australia

10) Mynah Bird

(Video Credit: The Collectors Zone)

When it comes to pet birds that talk, not a lot of attention is drawn to the mynah bird.

As you can hear from the video, mynah birds are actually very clear talkers.

They’re not a common pet choice as most people adopt parrots for their talking ability, but the mynah bird is just as good or even better than some of the parrots on this list.

Mynah birds are able to adjust tone and accent based on who taught them to talk.

Although they’re small, their natural sounds are extremely loud screeches.

Mynah birds make great pets if living in smaller settings.

Quick Facts About Mynah Birds:

Average Lifespan: 12 – 25 Years

Personalities: Loud, outgoing, vocal, social, highly intelligent

Native To: Africa, India, Asia, and Indonesia

11) European Starling

(Video Credit: Dogs, Cats & Birds. Oh My!)

The European starling is another bird whos talking ability often gets overlooked.

These birds, along with the mynah birds, are considered to be an invasive species due to their large growing populations in areas they aren’t native to.

Despite their wild situation, starlings make excellent and affectionate talking pet birds for those who don’t want a parrot species.

As with all birds, they require lots of work and attention to them keep happy.

Quick Facts About The European Starling

Average Lifespan: 2 – 3 Years (In the wild), Up to 20 Years (As pets)

Personalities: Calm, can be loud, vocal, affectionate, highly social

Native To: Europe, Asia, (but are now a worldwide invasive species)

12) Ravens (NOT A PET)

(Video Credit: Pens)

Although ravens and other corvid birds are not kept as pets, they do have an amazing ability to mimic things in their environment, including human speech.

Ravens are typically only kept in captivity if they’re disabled or for rehabilitation, they aren’t kept in cages inside peoples homes.

You definitely couldn’t find one in a pet store.

The speaking ability of the raven is arguably better than the African grey parrots.

Although they aren’t pets, they deserve a solid spot on this list of talking birds.

Quick Facts About Ravens:

Average Lifespan: 10 – 15 Years

Personalities: Highly intelligent, social, calm, inquisitive

Native To: Currently resides in western and northern American forests

Full List Of Talking Birds

African grey parrot
Cockatoo
Macaw
Indian ringneck
Quaker parrot
Eclectus parrot
Amazon parrot
Budgie
Lorikeet
Mynah
European starling
Ravens (Not pets)

Also, while you’re here…

Why not check out this list of 16 birds you can have as pets.

This list features some of the birds featured on this list, but you may want to give it a read if you’re still deciding on what bird to adopt.

11 Most Talkative Birds That You Can Have As Pets (With Audio)