{"id":12883,"date":"2015-09-23T06:19:55","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T06:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=12883"},"modified":"2025-08-07T20:05:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T01:05:54","slug":"why-parrots-can-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/why-parrots-can-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Parrots Can Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"blue
Photo by Elizabeth R.\/Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why is it that the feathered friend who shares your home not only has his\/her repertoire of instinctual screeches, chirps and whistles but can also mimic some of your words, phrases or even beeping appliances but the birds outside your window stick to their chirps? A recent study led by Duke University researchers and supported by an international team of scientists set out to find out why certain bird species are better at imitating sounds than other birds.<\/p>\n

Until recently, the brain of the budgerigar<\/a> had been looked at in regard to mechanisms of vocal learning. The new study examined the brains of eight additional parrot species: cockatiels<\/a>, conures<\/a>, lovebirds<\/a>, two species of Amazon parrot<\/a>, an African grey parrot<\/a>, blue-and gold-macaw<\/a> and a kea. Researchers set out to find specific gene markers that are associated with specialized activity in the brains of people as well as song-learning birds. Results showed that parrot brains have unique structural differences from those of songbirds and hummingbirds, which are also vocal learners.<\/p>\n

Parrots have what researchers call \u201ccores\u201d (distinct centers in the brain that control vocal learning), and they have outer rings that are associated with vocal learning as well.<\/p>\n

In their findings, which were published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, <\/em>researchers report that the parrot brain \u201cuniquely contains a song system within a song system.\u201d The parrot \u201ccore\u201d song system is similar to the song systems of songbirds and hummingbirds, but the \u201cshell\u201d song system is unique to parrots. Moreover, researchers found that these shells are relatively bigger in species of parrots that are well known for their ability to imitate human speech.<\/p>\n

The kea, which is native to New Zealand, was included in the study because it represents the most ancient parrot species. Researchers found\u00a0that the kea has a rudimentary shell structure, which suggests that the populations of neurons in the shells likely\u00a0arose some 29 million years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis finding opens up a huge avenue of research in parrots, in trying to understand how parrots are processing the information necessary to copy novel sounds and what are the mechanisms that underlie imitation of human speech sounds,\u201d said Mukta Chakraborty, a post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Erich Jarvis, an associate professor of neurobiology at Duke and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to read the study published in Plos One<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From budgerigars to African Greys to macaws, nine parrot species in a university study reveal why certain bird species are better at imitating sounds than other birds. 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She has authored a multitude of articles covering all aspects of pet birds and their care, and has had the opportunity to interview world-renowned avian behaviorists, veterinarians, aviculturists, researchers and conservationists. Her journey in the bird world has taken her to the remote areas of Brazil to see hyacinth macaws in their native habitat, as well as on bird-watching trips to Spain, Puerto Rico and Mexico. She is especially thankful to have met so many passionate pet bird owners throughout her years at the helm of Bird Talk magazine. Her interest in pet birds started at the age of 9, when she saved up her penny collection to buy Elvis, her cockatiel companion of 22 years. 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