New Study Finds That Parrots Might Actually Talk Like Humans

New research shows parrots produce speech using brain systems surprisingly similar to ours.

Fez– For years, parrots have been the poster birds for mimicry. They copy our words, our laughter, even our coughs.

But a groundbreaking new study has just shifted the conversation, literally. It turns out these feathery chatterboxes might not just be repeating sounds. They may be generating language the way we do.

Published in the journal “Nature”, the study dives deep, birdbrain deep, into how parrots produce sound. And the surprise?

Their brain structure for vocal control is remarkably similar to that of humans. In other words, parrots don’t just have good ears, they have speech centers eerily close to ours.

The focus of the research? Budgerigars, or budgies — those tiny, neon-colored Australian parrots you’ve probably seen in pet shops, endlessly babbling into mirrors. Social by nature and naturally noisy, budgies make the perfect test subjects for vocal studies.

Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center, led by neuroscientist Michael Long and researcher Zitian Yang, implanted microscopic sensors into the brains of four budgies to monitor neural activity while the birds vocalized.

What they found was jaw-dropping. As the budgies chirped, their brain cells lit up in specific regions that mirror human speech centers, particularly a section called the “arcopallium”.

This area functions similarly to our motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls lips, tongue, and vocal cords.

Basically, budgies have their own version of a tiny mixing console in their heads, orchestrating a symphony of sound.

Even cooler? The brain activity wasn’t random. Each neural pattern corresponded to specific sounds, just like in humans.

It’s almost like a musical keyboard: different “keys” in the brain produce different notes. That’s a level of control previously believed to be uniquely human.

To really hammer home how special this is, the scientists also compared budgies with zebra finches, birds that sing learned melodies but can’t mimic new sounds.

Zebra finches showed much more rigid and less adaptable brain patterns, reinforcing the idea that budgies are in a vocal league of their own.

So why does any of this matter for us humans? Communication disorders, caused by strokes, neurodegenerative diseases, or developmental conditions, affect millions of people.

By studying how parrots learn and adapt speech, researchers hope to unlock new approaches to treating these disorders.

The study even hints at a future where we might decipher what parrots are actually saying, not just how they say it.

Long’s team is now working with AI experts to decode the meanings behind parrot chatter. Think Google Translate, but for squawks.

In short, parrots aren’t just mimicking us. They’re giving us a mirror into our own speech and cognition.