Wild parrots in Sydney learning to talk

[Lusankya]

Source

ENTIRE flocks of wild galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos and corellas are learning to talk.

The wild birds are being taught by pet birds that have escaped or been released by their owners and joined the flocks.

"We have had people call us thinking they are going mad or had something put into their drink because they've gone out to look at the flock of birds in their backyard and all the birds have been saying something like 'Who's a pretty boy then?'," Martyn Robinson, the Australian Museum's naturalist, said yesterday.

Mr Robinson said the city was now home to large numbers of galahs, sulphur-crested cockatoos and corellas that had fled the state's far west during the decade-long drought.

"They've decided to stay and even begun to breed in the city, and if a pet bird of their species escapes their cage or is released because their owner's moving or whatever, they naturally join the wild flocks," he said. "These birds are very smart birds and very social and communication and contact is important between them.

"So the pet bird begins to say things it's been taught by its owner and the rest of the flock learns and starts speaking too, to mimic the pet bird," Mr Robinson said. "I just hope a pet that's been taught dirty words doesn't join a flock."

Clever little birds.

[Broomstick]

"So the pet bird begins to say things it's been taught by its owner and the rest of the flock learns and starts speaking too, to mimic the pet bird," Mr Robinson said. "I just hope a pet that's been taught dirty words doesn't join a flock."

It can happen. There is allegedly a flock of feral parrots in Brooklyn, escapees from a dropped shipment to a pet store a few decades ago plus escaped pets. Imagine a cute little bird saying "Fuck you" in a Brooklyn accent. Saw a nature special on 'em once where half of what the flock said had to be censored, but really, they're just repeating what they hear.

Local humans say it's the imitated car alarms that are the most annoying, not the swearing.

[Iroscato]

"So the pet bird begins to say things it's been taught by its owner and the rest of the flock learns and starts speaking too, to mimic the pet bird," Mr Robinson said. "I just hope a pet that's been taught dirty words doesn't join a flock."

It can happen. There is allegedly a flock of feral parrots in Brooklyn, escapees from a dropped shipment to a pet store a few decades ago plus escaped pets. Imagine a cute little bird saying "Fuck you" in a Brooklyn accent. Saw a nature special on 'em once where half of what the flock said had to be censored, but really, they're just repeating what they hear.

Local humans say it's the imitated car alarms that are the most annoying, not the swearing.

Oh I want to go there just to hear that
Nothing on the lyer bird though, they can repeat chainsaws, camera shutters, other birds...they're amazing.

[Jaevric]

I don't get people just dumping their pets like that, though I'm sure some escape due to human stupidity (or avian intelligence, the little bastards are clever).

I worked at a pet store years ago that had a few parrots, one of whom had been shuffled from location to location for years and had an extensive vocabulary of dirty language. Worse yet, he liked to hurt people and was clever about it. He'd say "Hello? Hello?" and "Hi there pretty boy!" then bite the hell out of anyone who tried to pet him before calling them names and laughing at them.

I'm kinda surprised feral parrots can survive in Brooklyn, though -- I'd thought it would get far too cold for them.

[Broomstick]

They Brooklyn parrots figured out that electrical stuff on the utility pools generates heat. They nest next to the equipment, and in winter it keeps them warm enough to survive overnight.

Like all flying birds, generating body heat while in flight isn't a problem.

Chicago likewise has a parrot colony in Hyde Park, utilizing similar strategies to survive a winter even longer and colder than what New York City experiences, although the Chicago birds tend to nest in trees and not so much utility poles.

Both colonies are quaker or monk parrots (or parakeets), which come from a somewhat temperate region of Argentina. In addition to probably having more tolerance for cold than most parrots, they will also nest communally which may help in winter, with communal nests being heated by the body heat of multiple birds.

[StarSword]

Nothing on the lyer bird though, they can repeat chainsaws, camera shutters, other birds...they're amazing.

I once read about a crow that saw an explosive demolition of a building, then later randomly announced, "3, 2, 1, Kaboom!"

[Molyneux]

"So the pet bird begins to say things it's been taught by its owner and the rest of the flock learns and starts speaking too, to mimic the pet bird," Mr Robinson said. "I just hope a pet that's been taught dirty words doesn't join a flock."

It can happen. There is allegedly a flock of feral parrots in Brooklyn, escapees from a dropped shipment to a pet store a few decades ago plus escaped pets. Imagine a cute little bird saying "Fuck you" in a Brooklyn accent. Saw a nature special on 'em once where half of what the flock said had to be censored, but really, they're just repeating what they hear.

Local humans say it's the imitated car alarms that are the most annoying, not the swearing.

When I attended summer classes at Brooklyn College, I most certainly saw green parrots flying about the campus. My father was a student there years ago, and he can confirm that the parrots lived around campus back then, too.

I can't say that I ever heard them swearing, though.

[Broomstick]

I'm sure the nature special editors took LOTS of footage and only showed the highlights.

[KhorneFlakes]

Nothing on the lyer bird though, they can repeat chainsaws, camera shutters, other birds...they're amazing.

I once read about a crow that saw an explosive demolition of a building, then later randomly announced, "3, 2, 1, Kaboom!"

If that's true, this only reinforces the reason why I like crows.

[StarSword]

Found a reference. "Large Black Birds: How To Tell Ravens From Crows" by Jacky Davis. Top of the third page. Website belongs to the Foothills Community Foundation in Arizona.

I remembered where I read about it originally, too. It was a Muse magazine article several years back about a German-American ornithologist named Bernd Heinrich who studies crows and ravens.

[Lord Baal]

DEAR LORD CROWS CAN LEAR TO TALK TOO???!! REALLYY?!!!!
O.O

[Broomstick]

They sure can - YouTube has bunches o' videos of crows and ravens talking. Here's a crow saying "I wanna fly! Fly!"


Here's a raven saying "nevermore"


In some ways the corvids have better speaking voices than parrots. When they can be bothered to make the effort their voices are much closer to human-sounding. Parrots, however, are much more eager to mimic and some of the smarter ones can memories longer phrases and sentences whereas crows tend to stick to just a word or three.

[Broomstick]

Back to the parrots - this is a quaker parrot (obviously a pet, not a feral colony bird) speaking. This is what you might hear in Brooklyn or Chicago:


Back to the OP species - this is a sulpher-crested cockatoo who wants a cracker:


Here's a gallah (another species of cockatoo) claiming to be a good boy:


And finally, a talking corella:


It's not uncommon for parrots to do what the corella is doing - imitate the cadence and tone of speech with random syllables, but not actually use words. My green-cheek conure will do this. Sometimes for hours. The only reliable way to get him to shut up is to point a video camera at him and attempt to capture the phenomena.

[ArmorPierce]

"So the pet bird begins to say things it's been taught by its owner and the rest of the flock learns and starts speaking too, to mimic the pet bird," Mr Robinson said. "I just hope a pet that's been taught dirty words doesn't join a flock."

It can happen. There is allegedly a flock of feral parrots in Brooklyn, escapees from a dropped shipment to a pet store a few decades ago plus escaped pets. Imagine a cute little bird saying "Fuck you" in a Brooklyn accent. Saw a nature special on 'em once where half of what the flock said had to be censored, but really, they're just repeating what they hear.

Local humans say it's the imitated car alarms that are the most annoying, not the swearing.

When I attended summer classes at Brooklyn College, I most certainly saw green parrots flying about the campus. My father was a student there years ago, and he can confirm that the parrots lived around campus back then, too.

I can't say that I ever heard them swearing, though.

That's pretty crazy, I went to the high school at brooklyn college. Midwood High School at Brooklyn College? The birds lived in one of the trees that came crashing down in the front entrance of the school. Don't know what happened to them after that.

So what did you think about the junction? How long ago were you there?

[phred]

Oh I want to go there just to hear that
Nothing on the lyer bird though, they can repeat chainsaws, camera shutters, other birds...they're amazing.

We have mockingbirds out here that do car alarms, also police sirens, crickets, whining dogs, and one that did a reasonably good impression of car accident.

[Iroscato]

Oh I want to go there just to hear that
Nothing on the lyer bird though, they can repeat chainsaws, camera shutters, other birds...they're amazing.

We have mockingbirds out here that do car alarms, also police sirens, crickets, whining dogs, and one that did a reasonably good impression of car accident.

Imagine if a guy found out his wife/girlfriend/boyfriend was cheating on him by hearing the incriminating sounds via mockingbird...how would that stand up in court when he gets a divorce?
(By the way phred, I'm emphatically not insinuating anything at you, your post just made me think along these lines )

[StarSword]

Dunno about that, but my uncle once taught a mockingbird to whistle at girls.

[Justforfun000]

This is why I love birds.

I own a green-cheek conure too and he doesn't talk so much...but his behaviour is just so endearing. So different from other animals...

[Molyneux]

That's pretty crazy, I went to the high school at brooklyn college. Midwood High School at Brooklyn College? The birds lived in one of the trees that came crashing down in the front entrance of the school. Don't know what happened to them after that.

So what did you think about the junction? How long ago were you there?

Well, I only took a couple of summer classes there years ago, so it's not like I got to know the campus very well.
All I can really say about it is that the Shakespeare bookstore near campus was a nice little place, that the coffee shop right by the subway had good lattes, and that if a cop sees you walking between cars on the subway train, even while it is has not yet left the station, they WILL pull you off the train, give you a ticket, and make you miss your train home.

That last was a bit of a surprise to me, given that on the LIRR, the conductors will TELL you to move between cars as needed (if the current car doors won't open at the next platform, etc).