Why Do Parrots Talk? [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Why Do Parrots Talk?

And do they know what they’re saying?

By Ashley P. Taylor
August 06, 2015


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Alex the parrot counts red and blue objects at the behest of his owner, Dr. Irene Pepperberg.
Photo: Jeff Topping for The New York Times/Redux
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Of all the creatures on Earth, only two can produce human language: humans…and birds. Of the few birds that can imitate human speech, including mynah birds, crows, and ravens, parrots are clearly the best at it—they give TED talks, speak multiple languages, and even front heavy metal bands. So why can parrots talk when our closer primate relatives cannot?

Parrots are vocal learners, meaning they grasp sounds by hearing and then imitating them. Although several other bird species can discern and repeat sounds, parrots are the pros.

Erich Jarvis, a Duke University neuroscientist and vocal learning expert, recently published a study in Plos One explaining why. Any bird that’s a vocal learner has a part of the brain devoted to this, called the ‘song system.’ But in parrots, the song system has two layers—an inner ‘core,’ common to all avian vocal learners, and an outer ‘shell,’ which is unique to parrots. Jarvis thinks that this recently discovered ‘shell’ is what allows parrots to be such expert mimickers (though he hasn’t figured out exactly how it works yet).

But why do they copy human speech? Peer pressure, it turns out. Parrots naturally try to fit in, be it among other parrots or other people.

More:
https://www.audubon.org/news/why-do-parrots-talk?utm_source=engagement&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2015-08-27_email_wingspan