How are talking birds able to so precisely enunciated words without lips and a larynx?
In: Biology
I have a couple of talking birds, and it never stops being fascinating to listen and watch. They’re constantly remixing their words and phrases in their songs, too, so random words can pop up in new places and sentences can evolve over time.
I’ve also found that when imitating phrases learned from male voices, they tend to use their lowest chatter and sound slightly robotic. When the phrase is learned from a female, it’s more like a whistle or song.
The explanation has been given, but I wanted to mention a recent episode of the [podcast Twenty-Thousand Hertz](https://www.20k.org/episodes/birdsong) that takes a deep dive into birdsongs.
It’s like how you can make a fart noise with your armpit *and* your butt. They’re smart so they use what they have to approximate the sounds.
[There’s a nice BBC podcast on the subject](https://youtu.be/OTgolOc-BzU) where beatboxer Beardyman talks about how birds make sound, with some crazy examples of birds imitating things like cameras and chainsaws!
Speaking is just uttering specific sounds/tones in a certain order. A bird can vary their sounds/tones way more that humans. They could probably mimic the sounds a dolphin makes and possibly communicate. Ok I’m blowing my own mind…..
There’s actually a great Vox video on this exact question. It was a really fascinating watch. https://youtu.be/dBGw7uXc0eo
Because they’re not real and are government drones that are spying on you. Those who can talk just have an output device as well.
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