Parrots are not just mimicking words—they use proper names like humans to identify individuals

by University of Pittsburgh

edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Like many animals, parrots make sounds that suggest they are talking with each other, maybe even calling out to a specific parrot. But do they truly have names in the same way people do? To find out, Lauryn Benedict, a biology professor at the University of Northern Colorado, didn't set up shop in the tropics to record parrot chatter, as they've done in the past. She instead found birds who spoke her language—birds that live with humans and mimic what they hear, including people's names.

Working with long-time collaborator Christine Dahlin from University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and a team of researchers from Austria, Benedict analyzed vocalizations from more than 880 captive parrots. They heard many of the birds using names in ways that seemed similar to people, to identify individuals. They also found some unusual ways names popped up in the recordings.

Their work was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

One of the benefits people get from using proper names is the ability to more readily organize complex social interactions. Plenty of animals in nature use sounds in ways that are at least analogous to names, and for seemingly the same reason.

Although animal researchers have been studying these vocalizations, Dahlin said, "We cannot conclude that they are analogous to human names both because animals signals are often so different and because we don't understand the full intent behind the signals."

A sample of parrots living with humans showed the ability to correlate names with individuals, but also to use proper names in ways humans typically don't. Credit: Lauryn Benedict

Thankfully, plenty of parrots do speak our language. To find them, Benedict and team used data from the ManyParrots project, a network of researchers who study parrot vocal learning and cognition by collecting survey data and audio recordings.

The researchers sorted through survey data on over 889 parrots. For a subset of those birds, the survey respondents provided additional context that allowed the research team to better understand how the birds were using names.

Nearly half of the survey takers included examples of parrots using names. Of those 413 clips, 88 seemed to be birds using names as labels for people and animals. The research team also found strong evidence that some birds applied names not only to a particular category, such as "people," but to a single individual.

On the other hand, many of the birds also used these labels in ways that people typically wouldn't. For instance, parrots sometimes said their own name just so they could get some attention.

Ultimately, Dahlin said, this research suggested that parrots do have the cognitive and vocal skills to use names in different ways, from communicating with people to even talking about someone who isn't there.

The variation across species and even across individuals of the same species, however, leaves room for plenty of questions about how, when and why animals do or don't use these skills to call out another creature by name.