Do parrots just mimic or do they put things together?

Answer 1

They do both, depending especially on the breed of bird. One of the birds I own is an african grey. They are known as the "Einsteins" of the bird world. It is said that they have the intelleigence of a 5 year old and the emotions of a 2 year old. I totally believe that. Not only does my bird mimic EVERYTHING, but he DOES know what he is talking about. For instance, he used to call the cat, "here kitty kitty" to get the cat to come over so he could bite its tail. When it is bed time he says " time to go night night" In the mornings, when I get up and go in to make coffe he says " good morning". There are many many other examples, but I am sure he knows what he is talking about a good percentage of the time.

Answer 2

A lot of people believe they just mimic but Eileen pepperburg proved that they speak in context. My own blue fronted amazon can put things together. For example. The words "something nice" mean a treat, something which is not seedmix. any treats get put into a spare pot in his cage which we call his "nicey pot". He also knows and understands the word "quickly". He hears me say it to the dogs and to him when I need to place my hands inside his cage and want him to move up to his roosting perch (he can be aggressive when hormonal so has been trained to go up on the perch).
So, One day I was feeding and watering all the other parrots, cats, and dogs in the hosue when he asked for "something nice". I replied "in a minute I'm busy". He then asked again for "something nice". I told him he had to wait. to which he responded in an impatient voice "something nice, in my nicey pot....quickly!!"
I never taught him the phrase.
Another time he looked down at one of the dogs which had been badly injured and was bed bound and said in a very sympathetic voice "ohhhh poor poor poor". I have NEVER said anything like this to him.
He also knows several foods by name.
If birds only mimiced they would simply gabble words. Most parrot owners will tell you that their birds can use words and phrases in context.
I teach my parrots like I taught my son to speak when he was a baby. All I can say is that it works.
If he asks for "nice narner" (banana) and I give him apple because I don't have bananas in the house, he will throw it to the bottom of the cage in a fit of temper and say angrily "oh bad bad bad abble" and then in a sweet voice "nice narner?"
In other words, he doesn't like abble (apple) today, he wants banana.
If a bird can make it's feelings, wants, needs known by using language, that cannot simply be random mimicing.
p.s. I don't know why people think that only african greys talk well and are intelligent. I have 2 which don't make a sound. And the top talking bird at one of the UK's top bird shows, for the past several years has been an Amazon.
Not only does my Cuppy talk, but he sings. He knows 5 songs and will sing on request and say "is that nice singing" when he's done, but he can sing wonderful opera. I have no idea where he learned that from because I cannot hold a tune at all and never sing opera.

Answer 3

Awww! Some lovely answers here, really enjoyed reading them!
I have a blue and gold macaw 8 months old and an African Grey 14 months old.

My blue and gold can only say hello at the moment but he has soooo many ways of saying it that we nearly always know what he wants or means.

The African Grey, has a huge repetoire of words and phrases and chatters most of the day. He says things like :

want nana (banana)
wanna go out
wanna go in
all the pets names
sshhh! (when the other parrot starts screaming)
Sally sit! (dog)
Walkies (to the dogs)
makes animal noises of cat, dog, duck and pig
door squeaking noises
dog squeaky toy noises
and many many more!

The weirdest thing is when he laughs...he sounds just like my husband.

The grey definitely knows what he's saying and understands what we tell him.

We teach our parrots language like you would a child. They're gorgeous! They're very hard work but it's a pleasure.

Finally in answer to your question, parrots are very intelligent, some talk, some don't, but I think they all understand more than you know.

Answer 4

Parrots are amazing mimicers, but at the same time, I have seen my friends parrot ask for a carrot, then when he got the carrot, said nevermind I want a peanut. I think that they mostly mimc, but I do think they can cognitively think a little bit, and know what they're talking about to an extent.

Answer 5

Many species can imitate human speech or other sounds, and the results of a study by Irene Pepperberg suggest a high learning ability in an African Grey Parrot named Alex. Alex has been trained to use words to identify objects, describe them, count them, and even answer complex questions such as "How many red squares?" with over 80% accuracy. Other scholars claim that parrots are only repeating words with no idea of their meanings and point to Pepperberg's results as being nothing but an expression of classical conditioning, or possibly a manifestation of the Clever Hans effect.

Answer 6

"Just" is perhaps inappropriate as the word makes little of this amazing ability considering the enormous difference between a parrot's facial & vocal features & our own. However they can use certain words & phrases to express needs & emotions. though ,semantically, they may have little or nothing to do with the situation.
ie: A sulpur crested cocatoo used to say "Put the telly on ." as a form of greeting, rather like a dog barking or wagging it's tail when pleased to see it's owner enter the room.. It also used to say "There you go" when it enjoyed being scratched. They don't understand the meaning of what they are saying, even when it appears to be appropriate, but they do know that that particular string of sounds is appropriate for that situation. However they can be trained to follow certain prompts giving the illusion of complete comprehension. A feat in itself !

Answer 7

I saw this parrot on tv once and it could do simple arithmatic. He was given little crackers and they took some away and added some and he was able to say how many were there. It wasn't a circus or anything, it was some scientist who was figuring out how smart parrots are.

Answer 8

My grandmas parrot would ask for ice cream when he would see us eating and wouldn't stop until he got some or the blanket was thrown over its cage.

Answer 9

i must do both at different points whenever they hear something, maybe relate ir to something else in their brain. if it is a african grey then they definalty remember things very well in detail and can reconstruct a whole event will just sounds and speak a different language if u teach them of course!! birds r cool.

Answer 10

With speech sounds, they're mimics. They are relatively smart birds with some capacity for inference and synthesis.