For imitative parrots, wagging tongues may be key to vocalization
...l vocal communication, researchers have shown that parrots can modify the sound of their vocalizations by art...iculation is involved in the well-known ability of parrots to mimic human speech. Even more intriguingly, lingual articulation may also underlie a speech-like ...Imitative parrots just might tell you it's all in the tongue
...NGTON, Ind. -- When it comes to making noise, both parrots andhumans rely on extremely specialized vibrating ...ape sound. "This is the first direct evidence that parrots are able to use theirlarge tongues to change the acoustic properties of their vocalizations,"said IU......ommon with vocal-learning birds like songbirds and parrots than we have previously assumed. In songbirds capable of vocal learning, or imitating the sounds they hear, new findings reveal a highly specialized pattern in the genetic expression of certain brain receptors. These same receptors for the neurotrans...Death by color: Spiny spiders' bright stripes attract prey
...eature," says Hauber. "While color on animals like parrots allows them to blend into the colorful rain forest, other animals use color to attract mates. In this case, the color lures prey to the web. Perhaps the color itself may look like flowers to the insects that eventually become entrapped in the web," h...A little larceny comes naturally to Northwestern crows
...y intelligent," said Renee Ha. "Among birds, only parrots match them in intelligence. Crows are social, highly cognitive birds whose intelligence is up there with dogs." "Crow vigilance is based on the opportunity to steal food," said James Ha. "The over-riding factor in their vigilance behavior is 'who's ...Pet trade wrong: Poaching major threat to parrots
...e pet trade and conservation biologists agree that parrots are threatened by habitat loss, they disagree abou...the first to demonstrate that poaching of nestling parrots is indeed widespread and in many species is occurring at levels that probably are not sustainable," ...Polly wants a cracker - maybe a big mac, too
...were about to chow down on. Pet birds - especially parrots - often can eat the same food you might prepare fo... of birds tend to get obese. These include Amazon parrots and some cockatoos, and these birds' food intake needs to be closely regulated, she adds. "Also, man...Hummingbird studies raise questions about birdsong evolution
...ilian scientists havediscovered that hummingbirds, parrots and songbirds orders of birds that are evolution...sounds. Only three orders of birds thesongbirds, parrots and hummingbirds have the ability to learn songs from their adult tutors andrepeat them in the rig...Urban Ecology Study Watches Birds On The Web
...104th St., where 72 of thesecolorful small exotic parrots (pets that have escaped and naturalized) havebeen sighted. Though it is too early to reach any firm conclusions about what specificfactors affect the distribution of specific urban bird populations, Hostetlernotes that while land use type (c...Cardinals Can Recognize Gender By Song, Columbia University Biologist Finds
...e in the animal kingdom, and is also found only in parrots andother avian mimics, dolphins and whales. Scientists study these species todiscover more about how songs are learned, information that could show how humanbabies acquire speech -- a process that is still not fully understood. By working wi...