tags: Riley, talking parrot, Eclectus roratus, parrots, behavior, streaming video
This video shows a conversation with a pet eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus, named Riley. He is very talented, with a large and varied repertoire as well as a nice "voice." I also live with an eclectus, a female Solomon Islands eclectus named Elektra, and I can attest to their talent as talkers. This species of parrot is color-coded by gender: males are emerald green while females are scarlet red [4:33]

GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
























Comments
Talking parrot links still interest me, even though I live with some!
I swear I live with the talkingest green-cheeked conure in the world. He belongs to my roommate and lives in a room with a Senegal parrot with a large vocabulary. They learn from each other--more often than not the Senegal scream is made by the conure, and the angry conure shriek comes from the Senegal. The conure has learned the Senegal's phrases, including, "Meow" and "Cute!" But he still hasn't mastered my favorite phrase of the Senegal's, which is "You're so weird."
My own lineolated parakeet has a very clear and distinct voice, and has learned to use "Good morning!" as a generalized greeting, so I get it whenever I enter the room or when he wants my attention. We also play a whistle game. He learned a three-tone whistle, and if I whistle the first two tones, he whistles the last one right in time. Then he whistles the first two notes and expects me to fill in the last one.
Parrots are amazing. :)
Posted by: Selasphorus | October 30, 2008 4:06 PM
Hi I'm getting a female from someone around here and she's under a yr old according to the woman. She can only say hello but will she learn to say more? She's a female solomon island eclectus. Riley is very cute and smart and I hope to teach her(pez is her name) some new words even if her vocab isn't huge.
thanks
Posted by: rachel | November 9, 2009 1:46 AM