The Speech of Birds

The "Speech" of Birds

Most all animals make noises for an infinite variety of reasons. These reasons can range from calling and attracting a mate to locating a next meal; for whatever reason, animals always seem to find a way to communicate with the physical “equipment” given to them.

One such creature that uses communication in a very complex way is the parrot.

Parrots do not have vocal cords like humans do, despite their uncanny ability to imitate the sounds and speech of a human. They do have a larynx as does a human, but they also have something called a syrinx that contains membranes that emits a small flow of air that causes the sounds to be produced. It is this airflow that causes this membrane and other air sacs to vibrate. By controlling and directing this airflow with the muscles in their throats, they are able to make a seemingly-infinite range of sounds, tones, and pitches. They also use their tongues to change sounds and “articulate”; if you ever watch a parrot “talk,” he uses both the placement of his tongue and the muscles in his throat to produce sounds. This structure is unique to birds, and thus gives birds the unique ability to imitate sounds with so much precision.

Since most research done on parrots is about teaching them to “speak” in a domesticated setting, we know far less about the communication of parrots in their natural environment. But, the reason parrots are so eager and easy to train—in the right environment—is for the selfsame reason they love to communicate in the wild: they think of the people they live with as their “flock” and thus wish to communicate as they do. And because of their amazing ability to imitate sounds and speech, they actually go so far as to “adopt” the language of the creatures they live with. In the wild, parrots use communication for a broad spectrum of reasons, such as location of family members and mates, and attraction of potential mates. Birds also tend to make noises when they are content; my parrot would often make little “quacking” and squeaking noises while he was asleep.

It is interesting to note that when I was raising my parrot, I was told never to whistle at him or talk to him in “baby talk,” as they will imitate whatever their trainer does. This is similar to the raising of a toddler who is learning to speak: If one speaks to them with the tones and words one would an adult, they will learn adult speech, versus always speaking “baby talk” which they will obviously also imitate and thus not learn speech as quickly.

The question of whether parrots are actually capable of communicating and being cognizant of the language they are using—versus simple imitation—is highly debated. Most scholars and scientists will not say that they are capable of this kind of complex thought. But, trainers and caretakers of parrots have discovered that, though they may not know exactly what they are saying, parrots are very keen at associating sounds—or phrases, in this case—with events that are occurring. Obviously, because of this, parrots also have an acute sense of hearing.

The sound production of a parrot, because it deals with vibration by way of airflow, is most similar to a human's sound production than any other conventional instrument. This is in spite of the fact that the parrot does not have the same mechanism for sound production (vocal cords) as a human does. But the base idea is the same; muscles and tongue position creating different sounds by way of vibrating physical mechanisms.