How Do Parrots Talk?

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How Do Parrots Talk?

Their talking ability is a big part of the attractiveness of many parrot species. It’s both hilarious and adorable when a parrot imitates your voice, learns to say silly phrases and whistles well-known songs. But how do parrots talk? What makes them able to do it, even though most other birds aren’t?

Below, let’s find out all about talking parrots and the mechanisms behind this amazing vocal mimicry.

Curious African grey parrot | How do parrots talk?

Why do parrots talk?

Before we get into how it’s possible – anatomically speaking – for a parrot to learn how to talk, it’s important to pay a little attention to why they do it. What makes these birds so motivated to imitate human speech or songs, even though they seemingly get nothing out of it?

As discussed in the full post on why parrots talk, which you can check out to learn about all the ins and outs of this concept, mimicry is actually a vital part of parrot social structure. Flocks, and even bonded pairs, develop their own vocalizations in order to help them recognize each other and fit in.

Because for domestic parrots, humans actually form part of the flock, it’s not surprising they try to learn to speak our language. Combine that with the praise (and maybe even treats) they receive from us whenever they successfully learn a phrase or whistle, and you’ve got a bird that’s highly motivated to use its talking abilities!

Fluffed up lovebird (Agapornis sp.) perched on a branch.
Even parrots that aren’t very adept at talking, like lovebirds, are not beyond hope. Teaching a lovebird to speak some words can be possible with lot of patience!

How do parrots talk?

Talking parrots: the brain part

The fact that parrots and songbirds (including such species as crows) can learn to imitate sounds, while other birds can’t, has actually been traced all the way back to the brain.

According to Chakraborty et al. (2015), all these vocal learners have a special “song system” in their brains. This means that part of their brain is specifically dedicated to learning sounds and repeating them.

Parrots have “a song system within a song system”, making theirs unique. This might be the explanation for why there are differences in the way they vocalize and how well they learn to do it compared to other species.

Talking parrots: the voice part

Parrots don’t have lips, teeth, or a palate. In fact, they don’t even have vocal cords. How do parrots talk almost like humans do without possessing the tools that we use to form our words? They adapt very well.

Rather than using vocal cords located in the larynx to speak, like humans do, birds have a separate organ called the syrinx. This syrinx is located right where the windpipe (trachea) meets the lungs and it has vocal folds just like our larynxes do.

The reason parrots can imitate sounds that we need our lips or teeth to form is that their syrinx is much more flexible than our larynx. The two sides of the syrinx can actually be vibrated separately (Nottebohm, 1976), allowing them to accurately copy pitch, volume and word formation down to a point where some can even reproduce different human accents.

It’s also been suggested that the parrot’s tongue plays a role in vocalization (Beckers, Nelson & Suthers, 2004). The authors discovered this by taking a bunch of quaker parrots and replacing their syrinx with a speaker that emitted a tone. They found that the parrots’ tongue movements did cause changes in the sound.

Yellow cockatiel sitting on cage wires against brown background.
Cockatiels are not the strongest talkers but they can learn to say some phrases and whistle some tunes. Some do get quite good at it and teaching your cockatiel to talk is a fun bonding exercise.

Why are some parrots better at talking?

The difference between parrot species in terms of how good they are at vocalizations might have something to do with the difference in their syrinxes.

For example, Warren, Patterson & Pepperberg (1996) suggested that African gray parrot syringeal cartilage is positioned differently than that of other parrots, possibly giving it increased control of the syrinx opening. The above might contribute to African grays’ amazing ability to imitate human speech.

Do parrots understand what they’re saying?

It’s important to keep in mind that usually, parrots don’t actually understand what they’re saying. They don’t use speech in order to express themselves. Instead, as we discussed earlier, they mostly do so to fit in and in the hopes of receiving praise.

A lot of the time, though, it seems almost like our parrots do actually understand what they’re saying. This is because they apply speech in such an appropriate manner. They’re just very good at learning context; whether it can ever go further than that is a hotly debated subject.

For example, if you always say “do you want some apple?” before giving your bird some apple, it’s smart enough to understand that hearing “do you want some apple” has something to do with the sudden appearance of apple. As such, it might start saying “do you want some apple” too, when it receives food.

This all being said, it does appear to be possible for a parrot to learn abstract concepts that suggest it understands meaning. With training, for example, some can actually tell foods apart.

If you point at an apple and your parrot says “apple”, but it doesn’t say it when you point at a pear, that suggests it actually knows what the word apple refers to this specific fruit. Take a look at the video below and see what you think!

Apollo just keeps getting smarter

Did you know? Probably the most famous talking parrot was Alex the African grey. His owner, Irene Pepperberg, proved that parrots are able to learn to understand abstract concepts like the meaning of words, numbers (including zero), location and size. It was previously thought this ability was limited to larger animals like great apes and dolphins.

A Thinking Bird or Just Another Birdbrain?

Parrots that can talk

The birds below are some examples of parrots that have mastered the art of speaking!

If you’d like to read more on which species of parrots are the best talkers, have a look at the article on what parrots talk.

Einstein parrot: Master of mass feathered communication!
Indian Ringneck Brothers - Fabio and Gabriel love each other?
Stuff my 50 year old parrot says. Warning- a little salty at the end! Instagram @babybirby
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If you have any questions about how parrots talk and why or if you want to share your own experiences with talking parrots, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

Beckers, G. J., Nelson, B. S., & Suthers, R. A. (2004). Vocal-tract filtering by lingual articulation in a parrot. Current Biology, 14(17), 1592-1597.

Nottebohm, F. (1976). Phonation in the orange-winged Amazon parrot, Amazona amazonica. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 108(2), 157-170.

Warren, D. K., Patterson, D. K., & Pepperberg, I. M. (1996). Mechanisms of American English vowel production in a grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus). The Auk113(1), 41-58.

  • Marijke Puts

    Marijke is a full-time niche blogger and pop science writer, founder of Psittacology, and overly enthusiastic bird mom. Originally from The Netherlands but living in sunny Spain, she spends her time wrangling cockatiels, writing about parrots, cooking, diving and hiking. About me

6 thoughts on “How Do Parrots Talk?”

  1. My sun conure, Edgar, soon to be 15 years old, said his first words at 7 months. He said hi baby. This is not something that I tried to teach him, he just picked it up. He has never learned any words that I tried to teach him,but learned about 10 to 15 words or phrases on his own. One of his words is “yes”pronounced “yeth.” So when I say “Edgar no!” He responds ” Yeth” Obviously he understands what he is saying and is arguing with me. “No” is not part of his vocabulary but he certainly understands it.

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  2. Do parrots talk on an exhale, inhale, or both? My mother-in-law has a 38 year old African Grey that my wife says she speaks on the inhale and screeches (for volume) on an exhale. Are there any studies that have taken into account the direction of airflow in the sounds produced?

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    • Hey! They make sounds on exhale, just like humans. Their syrinx doesn’t work very differently from our larynx in the sense that it vibrates air as it passes out from the lungs. I kind of feel like I know what you’re talking about though. African greys have insane control over their syrinx and sometimes it does look/sound like they’re producing sound on inhale. Pretty cool!

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