Parrots may not just mimic human names — a new study suggests they know who they're talking about

People often think of parrots as birds that simply repeat what they hear. But research indicates that, in some instances, their use of human words may be more specific.

The study found that parrots appear to use names in reference to particular individuals, ScienceDaily reported.

That discovery came from a large analysis of parrots kept by people, giving scientists an unusual look at how those birds vocalize in everyday human environments.

What's happening?

Rather than heading into tropical regions to record wild flocks, Lauryn Benedict, a biology professor at the University of Northern Colorado, focused the study on parrots that share daily life with humans and regularly hear words, phrases, and names.

Benedict teamed up with Christine Dahlin of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and researchers in Austria to review survey data from more than 889 parrots collected through the Many Parrots Project, which studies parrot learning, cognition, and vocal behavior.

Examples of parrots saying names were submitted by nearly half the participants.

Among the 413 recordings involving name use, 88 appeared to show birds directing a name toward a particular person or animal rather than simply repeating a familiar sound.

The findings, published in PLOS One, suggested that some birds were linking certain names to one individual rather than using a name as a broad label to describe "people."

Why does it matter?

Names play a major role in human social life, helping people keep track of relationships and direct attention.

Scientists have long studied whether animals use vocal signals in similar ways, and parrots are especially compelling because of their unusual flexibility with sound.

These results add to growing evidence that parrots may pair strong cognitive skills with advanced vocal abilities.

If some birds are using names to refer to a person or another animal, that could deepen scientists' understanding of animal intelligence and social behavior.

However, researchers cautioned against drawing direct comparisons to people.

"We cannot conclude that they are analogous to human names both because animals' signals are often so different and because we don't understand the full intent behind the signals," Dahlin explained.

What's being done?

The research team used the Many Parrots Project to gather a much broader range of observations than a traditional field study allows.

By drawing on surveys and audio recordings from homes and other captive settings, the researchers were able to study hundreds of birds at once.

Using such a pool of observations also made it easier to spot behaviors that a smaller study might miss.

One example was parrots repeatedly saying their own names to get attention, a pattern that suggests names may serve different social functions at different times.

Researchers said there is still much more to learn, particularly because of variation across species and from one bird to another within the same species.

Future research could help explain when parrots are referring to a specific person, when they are trying to get attention, and how those behaviors develop.

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