Conure and Senegal Qs

Question
Hello...

Senegal- My senegal is trying to regurgitate its food to me. He actually got something up one time. I know its normally to show affection but I've heard its not good. How do i stop him?  (he is a definite male)

Sun Conure- I have a sun conure that is 7 months old. I dont know the gender. I want to teach it to talk. I talk to him but he has never tried to repeat anything. Also, i have 7 other budgies that he absolutely loves. He seems to be more interested in them and not what Im trying to teach him. How can I train him to talk and do other things with out him being interested in the budgies? I feel really terrible when I totally bann him from them. He plays with them and I just couldnt take him away.

Answer
hi. thanks for your question.

i know it can be kind of gross and somewhat disturbing when a parrot regurgitates food for you.  i have seen on several occasions what the regurgitated 'stuff' looks like myself as well and it was not pretty.  you are right...he is showing you affection by giving you the highest "birdie compliment" possible, bringing up some of his own nourishment to share with you.  
as far as it not being "good" for him...i have not found this to be true. i mean, physically, he is not making himself sick or causing physical damage to himself by doing it to you.  behavior-wise, he may have selected you as his "mate" and is doing this to show his affection and bond with you. unfortunately, this is inevitable. birds are flock animals and select a lifetime mate. therefore, in the absence of another bird, a solitary parrot will no doubt choose a human "mate" to which he regurgitates food to and the like.  some people find this to be troublesome as they fear that the bird will become aggressive toward everyone else once it has bonded with one person. however, it seems unfair to punish a bird for showing affection toward you and following instinct. additionally, i have had birds that regurgitate their food for several household members and not just the one person...i think it may be something reserved for flock members as opposed to their mate only in the wild.  i would not be concerned with it for the time being.  
as far as your sun conure's talking goes...i would be lying to you if i said that sun conures were good talkers. in fact, i have a sun conure that is 15 years old and has only ever said one word.  in general, conures are not known for their talking abilities and more for their clownish antics and behaviors.  thus, i don't think that it is the budgies "distracting" him from your training but more so the fact that he may simply not be a "talker".  additionally, talking abilities vary from bird to bird...that is, even in the best talkers (such as African Greys) there may be some that are better 'talkers' while some choose simply to mimic sounds.  that being said, there are many wonderful things about conure ownership that i think outweigh their lack of talking abilities.
if you still want to continue talk training your bird and feel that the budgies are a distraction, i suggest you do your training in a room separate from the budgies.  perhaps take him out of the area where the budgies are for 15 minutes or so several times a day to do some one-on-one training.  birds do have limited attention span so it is good to do your training in a room free of any distractions (TV, radio, budgies, etc.). this may help in keeping him focused on what you are teaching him. since he is still young, he should still be able to learn a few words or at least mimic sounds...like i said, keep your training time short and the room quiet so as to minimize frustration and distraction.
good luck and i hope that this helps! alicia