Why do parrots can mimic human speech? Do they understand us?

Question

They seem to understand our language wehn we give them an order or a command.

Answer 1

Some species of birds rely on their ability to mimic in order to find a mate. The females will chose a mate based on the sounds the male can create- the more appealing and/or novel the sound the more likely she is to chose him as a mate. To a parrot a human sound is a potential love song! This is why it is often easier to teach male birds to talk than it is females.

I don't believe that parrots actually understand all the words they use, but they do associate certain words with actions. For example if Polly says "Polly wants a cracker" and you give Polly a cracker. Polly will come to understand that by saying this phrase he will get a cracker. On the other hand if you teach Polly to say "the dog is smelly" and you give him a cracker every time he says it, then he will come to associate "the dog is smelly" with you giving it a cracker. He won't actually know what "the dog is smelly" really means.

Answer 2

I don't know if parrots in general understand human language, but SOME parrots definitely do, to a certain extent.

I'm thinking of Alex the grey parrot, who I'm pretty sure you have heard of. If you google "Alex the grey parrot", a number of articles come up, describing the old bird's abilities. This one (http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pepperberg03/pepperberg_index.html ), for example, is a good choice to read. If you find it too long, then read into it, and when you are bored, scroll down and read the last 4 paragraphs. Those are really stunning, at least I think so...

Answer 3

Parrots mimic our speech, My sister in law has a large parrot named cammo that laughs and says 'who's there?' when the door bell rings. He'll also talk on the phone whitch he's learned to answer. It's weird to talk to a parrot long distance!

Answer 4

The don't really understand us.If we say "parrot"they won't recognize that parrot is our word for the kind of bird he is.When the speak,they are only mimicking our speech,with out actuslly recognizing the meaning of the words.

Answer 5

Why do you can not mimic English language? Do you understand me?

Answer 6

NO, they never understand human language. they just imitate what they hear in their surroundings.

Answer 7

They actually mimic you to try to please you. Other animals cannot do this to any extent because they do not have the right vocal chords.

Answer 8

i asked my parrot and he said, "yes, most definitely... now gimme a d@mned cracker, dumb@ss!"

naughty bird.