{"id":38538,"date":"2024-05-20T14:06:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T12:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e820346f-1259-4cd7-bf7b-39cce1906c03"},"modified":"2024-05-20T15:35:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T13:35:37","slug":"is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it just parrots that can talk, or can other birds talk too?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not just parrots that can talk, says Stuart Blackman, other bird species can copy the human voice too <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Monday, 20 May 2024 at 12:06 PM<\/p>

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There are few things as gloriously entertaining as the effing and blinding of a potty-mouthed parrot. You can\u2019t beat a well-timed expletive uttered by an animal that doesn\u2019t know what it means.<\/p>

What birds can talk?<\/h2>
It\u2019s not just parrots<\/a> that can talk. Starlings<\/a>, mynahs, Australian magpies, lyrebirds, bowerbirds and corvids<\/a> can all mimic human speech. Even a captive Australian musk duck hit the news in 2021 when it was recorded saying \u201cYou bloody fool\u201d.<\/p>
<\/div><\/figure>Birds vocalise for many reasons \u2013 to advertise their quality to potential mates and rivals, keep in touch, recognise one another or warn of impending danger. Like much complex behaviour, these vocalisations are part genetic, part learned. Some birds copy their parents or flock members.<\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/do-animals-have-accents\">Do animals have accents?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>Others stitch together a variety of sounds from diverse sources. European starlings, for example, incorporate elements pilfered from other species into their repertoire, as well as phone ringtones, car alarms and human speech. <\/p>Species kept as pets, such as parrots and mynahs, are exposed to humans more than wild birds, so it\u2019s no surprise they tend to be the most accomplished talkers.<\/p>Discover more fascinating bird facts<\/strong><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/do-birds-hibernate\">Do birds hibernate?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/do-birds-pee\">Do birds pee?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/how-do-birds-sleep\">How do birds sleep?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/how-long-do-birds-live\">How long do birds live?<\/a><\/li><\/ul> <\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not just parrots that can talk, says Stuart Blackman, other bird species can copy the human voice too <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38539,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too.jpg",2118,1415,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-1536x1026.jpg",1536,1026,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/05\/is-it-just-parrots-that-can-talk-or-can-other-birds-talk-too-2048x1368.jpg",2048,1368,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"It's not just parrots that can talk, says Stuart Blackman, other bird species can copy the human voice too","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/38538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}