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Biologists have yet to resolve the function of avian mimicry, and likely there is more than a single function. What is clear, however, is that lyrebirds have a stunning ability to accurately mimic the sounds of the forests they inhabit. Most of their mimicry is of other avian species: The avian sound-producing organ is the syrinx. Instead of the usual four pairs of syringeal muscles of other songbirds, lyrebirds have only three pairs.

It is not known if this simplification makes them more adept at mimicry, nor is their motivation to mimic entirely clear. There is no evidence to suggest that lyrebirds attempt to fool other species. While mimicry forms most of their vocal repertoire, lyrebirds also have their own songs and calls. Nevertheless, they are often mistaken for that. From whence comes the myth that lyrebirds in the wild mimic chainsaws and other mechanical sounds?

This Attenborough moment is highly popular — but hold on!

He fails to mention that two of his three lyrebirds were captives, one from Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary and the other from Adelaide Zoo. The fact that lyrebirds in captivity mimic human machines and voices with such fidelity should be a substantial enough achievement to warrant our awe. This extraordinarily complex song consists of flute-like tone colours.

A lyrebird chick was raised in captivity in the s. Our recent article was unable to consolidate the conflicting memories and recorded anecdotes of credible witnesses.

World's Weirdest: Bird Mimics Chainsaw, Car Alarm and More

It further suggests that the cawing of crows originated from their being trained by the Picts to say the name of Kar, a female warrior killed fighting the titular monsters. Male galahs are reportedly easier to teach than females. They were not classed with the passerines until a paper was published in , 12 years after they were assigned a discrete family, Menuridae. Every rock star has their groupies. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment, and the striking beauty of the male bird's huge tail when it is fanned out in courtship display. That was a camera shutter.

Nevertheless, every winter the rugged, misty rainforests of the New England Tablelands resound with flute-like timbres, contrapuntal overlapping scales, and melodic contours often with a musical competence exceeding what a human flautist could achieve that are poles apart from the territorial songs of the rest of the species. That was a camera shutter.

And just to show off, he adds in the camera's motor drive. Now he's practically one of the papparazzi.

The superb lyrebird can imitate nearly any sound he hears around him in the forest, though he rarely mimics manmade sounds in the wild. But when he gets his groove on, he can really let loose. And even a chainsaw felling trees. There are two commonly kept species of which the Timneh parrot Psittacus timneh tends to learn to speak at a younger age than the Congo parrot Psittacus erithacus. Australian galahs Eolophus roseicapilla can talk, although not as well as some other parrots.

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Male galahs are reportedly easier to teach than females. The yellow-crested cockatoo Cacatua sulphurea is rated as a fair-to-good talker. The long-billed corella Cacatua tenuirostris is described as being able to talk "very clearly". The budgerigar , or common parakeet Melopsittacus undulatus , is a popular talking-bird species because of their potential for large vocabularies, ease of care and well-socialized demeanor.

The monk parakeet Myiopsitta monachus , sometimes known as the quaker parakeet, is also a skilled talker. The Australian king parrot Alisterus scapularis can be trained to talk if it is hand-reared.

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The rose-ringed parakeet Psittacula krameri manillensis , also known as the ring-necked or Indian ring-neck parakeet, is an accomplished talker and popular pet which can develop a large vocabulary and talk clearly in sentences. The blossom-headed parakeet Psittacula roseata is rare and therefore not often kept as a pet, however, they are good talkers. The African ring-neck parakeet Psittacula krameri krameri can also talk, but some may never learn if not trained at an early age.

The Derbyan parakeet Psittacula derbianais is an excellent talker. The clarity of their speech has been compared to that of amazon parrots although they may not learn extensive vocabularies. The slaty-headed parakeet Psittacula himalayana generally does not learn to talk.

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Hill mynahs tropical members of the starling family of birds are renowned for their ability to mimic the human voice. It has been claimed that the hill mynah is the best talking bird and the best mimic in the world. Several members of the corvids , or crow family, can mimic human speech. The best talking crows may be the ones found in captivity at zoos and wildlife centers.

A blue jay named "Bindie Sue" learned to mimick sounds such as the barking of a dog and to say her own name. European starlings Sturnus vulgaris are exceptional mimics, including human speech. The northern mockingbird Mimus polyglottos , as both the common and taxonomic names suggest, are mimickers of a great number of sounds.

This includes human speech. In Australia, lyrebirds are great mimics of many sounds, including the human voice. Lyrebirds have three syringeal muscles whereas most other songbirds have four. This could make the syrinx of the lyrebird more flexible.

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One hand-raised Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen developed the ability to mimic human speech, including words and phrases. This individual mimicked a large number of non-human sounds, but a third of all mimicked sounds were of human speech. In learning to speak, Alex showed scientist Irene Pepperberg that he understood categorization like "same and different" and "bigger and smaller". He could identify objects by their shape "Three-corner", "Four-corner", up to "Six-corner" and material: Alex could identify the difference between yellow and green same-sized objects by saying "Color" or identify a larger one by naming its color.

If asked what the difference was between two identical blue keys, Alex learned to reply, "None" he pronounced it "Nuh". As of January , he had a documented vocabulary of words. N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.

Video clips show her making the sound of a laser beam generator and an evil-sounding laugh. She has been trained by Stephanie White. One of his most famous phrases, is the impressively long: I am not a Crook, my name is Disco, I'm a Parakeet. Several theories have been proposed regarding the function of audible mimicry in general; however, these do not make a specific theory regarding why human speech is mimicked.