If you have a talking bird, they’re going to adopt whatever accent they hear most often when they’re talking to you. There are legitimately parrots out there with Australian accents, British accents, and of course, American accents.
One African Grey Parrot is mostly American… Except for when he has to apologize. As soon as he has to say “sorry,” he becomes Canadian. It’s just too funny to miss:
Gizmo the African Grey Parrot is so cute. He’s a TikTok star, too, with 1.6 million followers and nearly 50 million likes across all of his videos. Everybody is totally in love with him and how dramatic he is about everything! He’s smart and loves to name things and give advice.
In this video, he’s making a bunch of weird noises followed by him saying, “sorry!” The noises he’s making aren’t particularly ungentlemanly, but they are kind of loud. It fits with the theme. Canadians say sorry all the time!
Related: African Grey Parrot’s Wake-Up Call for Mom Is Too Funny
Gizmo isn’t always so soft-spoken and sorry, though. Like any bird, he has his moments of anger and frustration. He’s a little bit of a brat, but that’s why all of us like him so much. He’s amazing!
His favorite pastime by far is imitating the sound of bubbling water. He does it in between other sassy things he’s saying, and he’s gotten really good at it! Sometimes, he interrupts the bubbly sounds to give solid bits of life advice:
In case you missed it, he said, “don’t finance.” He wants you to pay up front for everything, apparently!
Birds Have Actual Accents
Gizmo is an American bird. He’s being raised by an American family and gets spoken to by people with American accents, so that’s how he speaks.
The type of accent your bird has will depend on what they hear a lot, and it can change occasionally. For example, if your African Grey Parrot has an American accent but is in the room while you watch a lot of British TV, they might say some words with a British accent.
Some studies suggest that wild birds have slightly different vocalizations depending on where they live, too. Regional accents help birds determine who their friends are, and who might be from out of town!
Where Gizmo picked up his Canadian accent is unclear, but it’s amazing. I wish he’d say he was “sore-y” to me!
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This story was originally published by Parade Pets on Dec 26, 2025, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add Parade Pets as a Preferred Source by clicking here.