Words, and a short history of Nell the parrot.

Along with the first steps, there are Audrey’s first words. She is all expressive intent this month, and it helps that her parents constantly—one might even say obsessively—encourage her communications. There is plenty of pointing and clapping, and a little bit of signing (“milk” and “more”). Her vocabulary is growing fastest in the Barnyard Animal sounds department, but there are also practical terms.

What does the [fill in animal] say?

• Chicken: BOK!
• Cow: Mmmmmmmmmmm
• Dog: Ooof, ooof!
• Lion: Blah! (with tongue out)
• Snake: Ssssss (hard sound when you have only five widely spaced teeth)
• Owl: Ooooooooooooooo.

Uh-oh: the original utterance is still a popular choice.
Cheese: pronounced “cheece,” also indicates keys and geese.
Audrey: pronounced "Audie" or "Ah-Dah"
Shoe: Djoo
Book: Boh
Diaper: Dia-Pah
Who’s that?: Hoe dah? (with palms upturned and eyebrows arched)

Now, about the parrot.

When Audrey is working hard to get my attention by using some of these words, I’m reminded of Nell, a neurotic but charming African grey parrot I once knew. Words seem to be much more about getting our attention than about specific meanings, which I think was how language mostly worked for Nell. (Human language anyway; who knows what she said to other parrots.) Audrey, like Nell, recognizes that her keepers do all kinds of entertaining tricks if she throws a word or two at us. For example, when Audrey wakes up from a nap I often hear her on the baby monitor saying “Uh-oh?...... Uh-oh?.....Uh-oh?”

Nell the parrot lived at the aviary in SLC where I hail from, and to get the attention of her favorite bird keeper (who was an acquaintance of mine) she would start performing portions of her bird show—like sneezing and coughing or making the sound of a ringing telephone. She particularly did this when she was stressed or excited, which was pretty near all the time. Nell was a minor celebrity at the aviary but, like many African greys, she was incredibly sensitive and had a lot of nervous breakdowns during which she lived at her keeper’s apartment so she could get herself back together. Audrey is much sturdier of constitution than poor Nell, but she seems to regard me—the resident bird keeper—in much the same way. I almost always show up when called, and I am especially alert to the command “Uh-oh!"