I’ve cared for parrots for several years now. There’s many things that are normal to me that might seem novel and exciting to someone that doesn’t share their home with tiny, colorful dinosaurs. For example, I can sit in a room with one or two birds loudly protesting about the mailman walking up or screaming at each other over who gets to stand on the higher part of the cage top and not be affected. But, when I have family over, they ask me how I can stand all the noise. There’s a lot of unique aspects of parrot households that we don’t usually think about. However, there’s one thing I’ve noticed that has consistently amazed people about my birds regardless of who they are - and that’s how some of them can talk. It is also one of the most commonly asked questions I’ve seen when someone has taken in a bird or is considering it - “Can they learn to talk?” But why are people so fascinated by it? 

If It Looks Like Us and Sounds Like Us - We Relate To It More

Animal intelligence is usually measured by those that haven’t spent a lot of time studying it by how similar they are to us. For a very long time, birds were seen mostly as automatons even within the scientific community. We now know that many birds, especially Corvids and Parrots, are some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. But it’s hard for the average human to relate to birds or feel a connection to them. This is likely because they seem so much different than we are. We’ve lived alongside dogs for many, many generations, but keeping parrots is pretty new in mainstream society. It is easier for us to relate to animals like dogs because they express love and affection in similar ways to us. We've long enjoyed snuggling up with our dog on the couch and petting them to show our love for them. We also tend to engage in similar activities like running and playing by chasing and pretend wrestling, etc. 

But birds are different from mammals in many ways. They can be loud, they often nip or bite, and they have a strong sense of independence if they are raised in a healthy environment. Close, physical affection like petting and cuddling can lead to behavior problems and confusion for the bird. It's easy to miss their communication with us unless we have a strong understanding of them - which can take some time to grasp. But when people noticed parrots and other birds copying the sounds we make, they were fascinated. They were acting like us! For some, this was an entertaining trick and for others in very old cultures it was a spiritual or mystical phenomenon, leading to their veneration as sacred beings or messengers of the divine. People were, and still are, fascinated by talking parrots.

Why Do They Mimic Us?

When a parrot mimics human language, it is doing so largely because it wants and needs to belong to our “flock”. But they’ve also demonstrated an understanding of concepts like shape, color, and also association between our language and our behavior and routines. Dr. Irene Pepperberg, Research Professor at Boston University, has studied African Grey parrots for many years. She has concluded that when they are taught appropriately, parrots can grasp these concepts and even use our language within the appropriate contexts. Of course, those that have talking parrots likely already know this. For example, one of our Sun conures repeatedly says “go ninight” every evening when she wants to go to bed before going into her cage to be covered. My little Green-cheeked conure will consistently ask “what’re you doin?” when I bring a new object into the room or move his cage over, etc. I believe that he’s learned the context of the phrase though us asking him what he’s doing when he is playing, moving locations, or upon us entering the room. I believe that he’s recognized  that it’s a phrase that is used when something new is happening. 

It’s important for parrots to learn and express flock language. Doing so means that they integrate with the rest of the group. In the wild, being accepted into a flock is vitally important. Survival is largely reliant on cooperation between birds in a group. Birds in a domestic setting see humans as a part of their flock. Not only are we a part of it, but we are very important members of it. We provide them with food, enrichment, and socialization. We tend to dictate how a day will unfold. It’s understandable, then, that a parrot will want to integrate itself into our lives.

Talking Parrots Are Fascinating - But It’s Not a Good Reason to Get One

Just like getting a new game or even a new car, the excitement and novelty of something new inevitably wears off. When a person gets a bird only because it wants one that talks, and they become accustomed to the talking, they are no longer as enchanted by them. Not to mention it is never a guarantee that a bird will talk. Some birds will mimic our language with great ease and enthusiasm, but others may prefer to mimic noises or not vocalize much at all. This often leads to the bird being rehomed, or worse, being neglected when novelty wears off or they never talk at all. But what many people don’t see, because the behaviors don’t look precisely like ours, is that parrots communicate in other fascinating ways too. They’re intelligent, fun, and capable of much love and expressing affection in their own unique ways.

If someone gets a bird with an understanding that they are each unique individuals and will communicate in their own ways, a wonderful bond can ensue. With time, most people will begin to see that despite the differences between humans and birds, we have more in common than we initially realized. When those differences are embraced and respected, the commonalities between our species can become apparent - and that’s one of the most beautiful aspects of having a bird in our family. 

References:

Pepperberg, Irene M. “Vocal learning in Grey Parrots: A brief review of perception, production, and cross-species comparisons.” Brain and Language, vol. 115, no. 1, Oct. 2010, pp. 81–91, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2009.11.002. 

Bradbury, Jack. “Vocal communication of Wild Parrots.” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 115, no. 5_Supplement, 1 May 2004, pp. 2373–2373, https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4780035.