Songs & Services
Photo by Patricia Dalton
Service - How may we help you?
This page will provide more information in the future.
Look for information here about:
- arranging a presentation-talk at your organization
- purchasing books about Arielle's speech
- transcription service for talking bird speech
- cups & T-shirts featuring Arielle's likeness
- audio electronics hardware and consulting services
What animal speaks using coherent language that is understandable by man? A talking bird called Arielle does. The interspecies barrier broke when Arielle began to communicate by volunteering information through English statements. She is a beautiful, now 21-year-old, tropical bird that has expressed herself spontaneously using more than 6000 English words, phrases, and sentences. Her verbal progress compares to that of a young child.
The Beatles tune, "Got to get you into my life," presented a nagging riddle. The puzzle resolved after years of walking down a road with my macaw, Arielle. The cryptic lyric, "… find another kind of mind there," inspired me to describe my linguistic adventure with a talking bird.
Arielle has the ability to communicate across species using human speech when she wishes to do so. Those who know Arielle and listen carefully to recordings of her voluntarily spoken private monologues discover that her speech reveals her thoughts. Readers understand Arielle's speech by considering her statements with the provided background information.
Transcriptions of Arielle's voluntary speech reveal meaningful messages that form the core of Another Kind of Mind. An unanticipated statement by Arielle reveals that she listens to what people say and that she is capable of attributing speech to an individual by name. Many of her statements provide concrete examples that a talking bird can learn to communicate ideas through human language.
Another Kind of Mind traces a bird's speech development. The book provides details about how Arielle can:
- vocalize in a previously little recognized purr-like voice,
- construct a monologue or dialogue about a topic,
- reveal her sensory impressions about the environment,
- substitutes nouns and personal pronouns correctly,
- rhyme, express emotion, and construct verbal jokes,
- apply logic in her speech and speak using proper syntax,
- organize thoughts using phrases and sequences of statements.
Another Kind of Mind guides readers toward understanding Arielle's English words, phrases, and sentences, as her expressions provide insight into her mind, personality, and thoughts. Her meaningful speech communicates something never before evident from utterances made by a bird. Arielle is a conscious being.
SONGS SONGS
Many years ago, I wrote my first song; I figured out the melody by picking out each note on a guitar. I don't play an instrument now and I don't have a great singing voice. My interest in parrots has brought me to write about them; I have others in the concept stage.
My interest is the birds, so I am motivated to put together a basic song. At a local writers' group, I met my co-writer, Steve Keteltas. Steve is talented; he is a poet, sings, and plays the guitar. Together we have put together two parody songs, which are songs set to a familiar tune with original lyrics.
The first song will be posted to YouTube. This is a song about my macaw Arielle, and her capacity to learn English. I explain about her abilities to learn language, not merely repeat things, in my book Another Kind of Mind. So listen to the song called Pretty Parrot by clicking on the link below.
Pretty Parrot
This is an effort to present pictures representing the joy of owning a large bird. It takes a great deal of work to care properly for a macaw and the bird should not be taken lightly.
Because macaws are highly intelligent, as are most parrots, owners must be willing to spend considerable time with the parrot. A portion of the time should be aimed at educating the bird. That means teaching it the meaning of words. If done well, parrots are one of the few animals capable of communicating using our languages.
That is what Arielle does. Communicate. She on occasion speaks directly to me; we have had conversations with up to four turns. Most frequently, she volunteers speech when no one is present. She creates statements that are original and she presents novel ideas from her viewpoint as an educated bird. This does not she is a human being, but she is a creature with her own mind and thoughts. That is the reason for the book about her ability to use language called Another Kind of Mind: A Talking Bird Masters English. Enjoy the song about her!
Blue & Gold Macaws
There are many beautiful birds. Parrots are like people because different species and individuals within the species have interesting personalities. Arielle has a remarkable ability, which made me consider what the world might be like if all the talking birds, mainly parrots, had wide-ranging vocabularies and were capable of extended talking sessions. That is the thematic basis behind the second song reproduced on this site; I had most of the stereotypical characteristics of four species of large parrots in mind when I formulated this song.
The song mentions several types of parrots, Cockatoos, African Grey parrots, Amazon parrots, and macaws, with an emphasis on Blue & Gold macaws. I have a great fondness for macaws because of Arielle.
After working with Arielle for many years, I found my preference for macaws have increased dramatically, especially since a reknown ornithologist, Dr. Alexander Skutch, had suggested that ‘someone’ ought to investigate of speech capabilities of the Blue & Gold macaw. As I walked with Arielle along beighbor streets, I heard myself humming a tune as if to test it. “Yes,” I thought, “the number of syllables fits,” giving rise to this song. A couple of days later the concept had germinated enough to bring in my song-writing partner, Steve Keteltas. He collaborated and after brief debate, we had a song. A friend, Angelo Giambra had worked on the “Pretty Parrot” song, and Angie must have liked the song, because he undertook the main voice, the harmonies, and production of what you hear. The result, if I say so myself, is remarkable. All that singing—one man! Enjoy “Blue & Gold Macaws.”
To contact us about any of the above matters, simply send an e-mail to
mike@ParrotSpeech.org