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Talking bird

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Talking birds are birds who can imitate human speech. Talking birds have varying degrees of intelligence and communication capabilities: some, like the crow, a highly intelligent bird, are only able to mimic a few words and phrases, while some budgerigars have been observed to have a vocabulary of almost two thousand words. The Hill Myna is a commonly kept pet, well known for its talking ability – whilst its relative, the European starling is also adept at imitating speech.[1]

Budgerigars

Puck

Only recently has it been discovered that budgerigars are highly intelligent and masters of communication. In 1995 a budgerigar named Puck was credited by Guinness World Records as having the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words. [2]

African Grey Parrots

The African Grey Parrots are particularly noted for their cognitive abilities. Some of the most notable African Grey Parrots are Alex, Prudle, and N'kisi.

Alex

Alex had a vocabulary of about 100 words,[3] but he was one of the most famous birds because of his cognitive abilities. In 2005, World Science reported that Alex understood the concept of zero.[4]

Prudle

Prudle held the Guinness world record for bird with biggest vocabulary for many years with a documented vocabulary of 800 words. [5]

N'kisi

N'kisi is noted for his impressive English usage skills and other abilities. As of January 2004, he had a documented vocabulary of 950 words and shows signs of a sense of humor. N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.[6]

Macaws

Arielle

Arielle is a pioneering bird demonstrating that the cliché “Parrots just imitate what they hear” is erroneous. Arielle, a blue & gold macaw communicates ideas using a vocabulary of 4000 meaningful expressions. She speaks in several tenses, uses pronouns appropriately, attributes characteristics to animals and objects, and generally uses English correctly—she demonstrates a “Theory of Mind.” Her web pages are located at www.ParrotSpeech.com . A book, based on recordings of her free speech documents many aspects of the macaw’s linguistic abilities. [7]


Hill Mynas

Hill Mynas are renowned for their ability to mimic the human voice. Many have claimed that the Hill Myna is the best talking bird and the best mimic in the world.[8]

Crows

Crows have long been considered to be highly intelligent, and top a bird IQ scale.[9]

See also

  • Lyrebird, ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment

References

  1. ^ Talking Starlings
  2. ^ Claire Folkard (ed.) (ed.). Guiness World Records 2004. Guinness World Records Limited. pp. p. 54. ISBN 085112-180-2. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Amazon.com: The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots: Books: Irene Maxine Pepperberg
  4. ^ Researchers explore whether parrot has concept of zero
  5. ^ African Grey Parrot
  6. ^ BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Animal world's communication kings
  7. ^ Another Kind of Mind: A Talking Bird Masters English. Arielle Publishing. pp. 2007, pp.288. ISBN 978-0-9799698-0-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Hill Mynahs
  9. ^ BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Crows and jays top bird IQ scale

Recordings of an African Grey parrot talking

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