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Talking Birds / Intelligent Tests


Frankenstein

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Talking birds are birds that can mimic the spoken language of humans. There is debate within the scientific community over whether some talking parrots also have some cognitive understanding of the language. Birds have varying degrees of talking ability: some, like the corvids, are able to mimic only a few words and phrases, while some budgerigars have been observed to have a vocabulary of almost 2,000 words. The hill myna, a common pet, is well known for its talking ability and its relative, the European starling, is also adept at mimicry.[1] Wild cockatoos in Australia have been reported to have learned human speech by cultural transmission from ex-captive birds that have integrated into the flock.[2]

The earliest reference to a talking bird comes from Ctesias in the 5th century BC. The bird which he called Bittacus,[3] may have been a plum-headed parakeet.[4]

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All wild birds learn to mimic their parents and adults of their species early in life. Some can even mimic the sounds of other wild birds. Most known for this behavior are myna birds, the Australian Lyrebird, and the mockingbird.

 

A bird's ability to understand or speak another bird's language can be very valuable in the wild. But what about those birds who learn to mimic human speech? Although mimicry may have survival benefits in the wild, in the safety and shelter of our homes, a pet bird learns to mimic our voice primarily because the sound is interesting to him - and it gets attention.

 

This is why yelling at a screaming parrot will do more harm than good - you are giving him exactly the attention he seeks. Fortunately, you can direct this natural attention-seeking behavior by purposefully teaching your bird to speak

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