Talking bird
[1] Wild cockatoos in Australia have been reported to have learned human speech by cultural transmission from ex-captive birds that have integrated into the flock.
Lacking vocal cords, birds are thought to make tones and sounds using throat muscles and membranes – the syrinx in particular.
It has been suggested that mimicry amongst birds is almost ubiquitous and it is likely that eventually, all species will be shown to be able to have some ability to mimic extra-specific sounds (but not necessarily human speech).
[13] The budgerigar, or common parakeet (Melopsittacus undulatus), is a popular talking-bird species because of their potential for large vocabularies, ease of care and well-socialized demeanor.
[27] Between 1954 and 1962, a budgerigar named Sparkie Williams held the record for having the largest vocabulary of a talking bird; at his death, he knew 531 words and 383 sentences.
[3] In 1995, a budgerigar named Puck was credited by Guinness World Records as having the largest vocabulary of any bird, at 1,728 words.
[28] The black-winged lovebird (Agapornis taranta) can talk if trained at an early age; however, they only rarely develop into competent talkers.
[31] One hand-raised Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) developed the ability to mimic human speech, including words and phrases.
[32][33] The northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), as both the common and taxonomic names suggest, are mimickers of a great number of sounds.
[37] A domestic canary (Serinus canaria forma domestica) named Pinchi, who lived in 1966 from 2–3 months of age with a resident of the city of Leningrad, learned to imitate the human speech of his owner-educator and weave it into his song.
In 1976, copies of this record were attached to the book by A. S. Malchevsky and co-authors "Birds in front of a microphone and a camera", and were also sold separately.
It has been suggested that (general) mimicry of non-bird related sounds is simply a mistaken attempt to copy species-specific calls.
Birds raised in captivity might mimic humans, particularly their owners, to gain acceptance as a member of the family (flock).
One proposed[citation needed] function for (general) mimicry is that mimics have evolved to have a wide repertoire of vocalisations to increase their reproductive success.
It has been suggested that birds with complex social organisation may develop an auditory map of their territory, as well as visual, and that mimicking facilitates this process.
[45] Critics point to the case of Clever Hans, a horse whose owner claimed could count, but who instead was actually understanding subtle cues from him.
[48] Alex, a grey parrot, had a vocabulary of about 100 words, substantially fewer than world record holders,[49] but he is perhaps the best known talking bird due to the publicity surrounding his potential cognitive abilities.
In learning to speak, Alex showed scientist Irene Pepperberg that he understood categorization like "same and different" and "bigger and smaller".
He could identify objects by their shape ("Three-corner", "Four-corner", up to "Six-corner") and material: when shown a pom-pom or a wooden block, he could answer "Wool" or "Wood" correctly, approximately 80% of the time.
[54] "Prudle" held the Guinness World Record for many years as the bird with the largest vocabulary - a documented 800 words.
She knew several phrases, including "halloa, old girl",[58] and was the basis for an integral character in Dickens's novel Barnaby Rudge.
