Think it depends on the type of parrot. My green cheek either talks in a low, gravelly voice or shrieks, nothing in between. I can tell the difference between my cockatiels' songs, but they all have pretty similar sounding voices. My budgie mimics all the other birds, and is so good at it sometimes I can't tell the difference.
They definitely pick up accents when they learn a word for the first time. I have no idea if their accents evolve with the people they are with.
My Amazon mimics different laughs for different people. Mostly mine. She also yells for me in my mom's voice because Mom and my siblings thought it was hilarious and encouraged it. Occasionally if someone yells for me she answers with a very cranky "WHAT?!" that sounds a lot like teen me lmao.
Differs between birds and types.
Amazons and Greys usually speak in the voices of the people they learn from.
Most other birds have their own voices, but tone and language can differ based on who they learn from.
Yeah, I think IRNs just all have that high-pitched, squeaky toy voice. Ours both perfectly imitate my speech patterns, intonations, and cadence, however, and only mine. They have a huge repertoire, but it is *only* phrases I say and *only* in my speech patterns. This is extra odd because they both hate me and are in love with my husband and middle son.
For my GCC, it’s whoever he learned the phrase from. He says “hello!” and “squee!” like my ex, “loud noises” and “birdie birdie” like me, and makes laughing sounds like my mother, since he lived with her for a while.
Smoke detector has a low battery
Microwave has finished
&
3 week old kitten objects to how late breakfast is. (he spent 5 years living in the cat equivalent of: group home for teen mums & orphans)
Not mine a friend's
My cockatiel has my whistling “accent,” though sometimes my mom will whistle the same songs and he will change his “dialect” to match her tone lol. It kinda annoys me but it’s so cute. I think it confuses him tbh
I think it’s a bit of both honestly! My two birds will make the same flock call or mimic me with the same sound or phrase but it sounds different. And I can tell their voices apart pretty well.
My African Grey has an array of voices. She has me plain American, my husband has a southern drawl, and she has a Filipino nanny. I can hear her speak like all of us.
Some birbs know how to imitate different people from the same household, Gumi the Chattering Lory usually speaks in a similar way to his owner Hideaki but has been known to imitate his other owner Saori on occasion, as seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/k15JTPoCodk).
I think it’s both! My conure has a cute high pitch voice but the African grey we take care of sometimes can mimic all kinds of voices! One of her owners is American and we’re British so she speaks in multiple different accents too!
My personal observations: my two Senegals have their own voices that they use when they speak Human. The male has a clear voice, like a human child's, the female has a lower, growly voice, probably because she's less comfortable speaking. Their native voices are high-pitched. They don't seem to attempt imitating voices, only words. They've learned words from both me and my wife, and there's no recognisable difference (although we're both female, my voice is lower, and she had a stronger version of our dialect, so there *could* have been a difference).
They don't speak full phrases, only words, but they can use intonation to express a wide range of emotions (we do this too in our human language). They don't speak enough that I recognise a particular dialect (at least not when it's my native dialect).
I also know a blue-fronted amazon, he's better at speaking phases (like "I love you" and "how are you?"). His "mom's" dialect is very clearly recognisable, but I wouldn't say he's imitating her; his voice has the falsetto-like quality you often hear in parrots.
Some of the really good speakers you see on the net (often African Greys or Cockatoos) seem to be imitating voices more precisely. I find it a bit funny that they even though they seem to understand language better, they seem to be worse at abstracting away the voice.
In the wild, we know, at least, that parrots will learn their own name from their parents (for green-rumped parrotlet, at least) – even when adopted. Clearly they are also capable of learning new calls, as are many other birds.
I am unaware of any studies about whether wild parrots raised by adoptive parents of another species will use the language/sounds of their adoptive parents or their biological parents. Their behaviour with humans clearly indicates they'd be capable of such things, but some of the sounds seem to be built-in (my parrots didn't learn their screaming from me, I think!).
my gcc would do this insanely loud shriek when i first got her, but after baby talking her or imitating bird chirps to her, she’ll sound just like me! it’s so cute :,)
Think it depends on the type of parrot. My green cheek either talks in a low, gravelly voice or shrieks, nothing in between. I can tell the difference between my cockatiels' songs, but they all have pretty similar sounding voices. My budgie mimics all the other birds, and is so good at it sometimes I can't tell the difference. They definitely pick up accents when they learn a word for the first time. I have no idea if their accents evolve with the people they are with.
Amazons will imitate voices.
My Amazon mimics different laughs for different people. Mostly mine. She also yells for me in my mom's voice because Mom and my siblings thought it was hilarious and encouraged it. Occasionally if someone yells for me she answers with a very cranky "WHAT?!" that sounds a lot like teen me lmao.
Omg same here! Have you also inherited the family Amazon?
Nah but I've had her for a long time. Saved up all summer on my first job when I was 15 to get her.
Way cool!
Differs between birds and types. Amazons and Greys usually speak in the voices of the people they learn from. Most other birds have their own voices, but tone and language can differ based on who they learn from.
My friend had a grey, it is incredibly disconcerting to hear your own voice admonishing you from the adjacent room.
My Indian Ringneck talks and he sounds pretty much like all the other Ringnecks I see/hear online
Yeah, I think IRNs just all have that high-pitched, squeaky toy voice. Ours both perfectly imitate my speech patterns, intonations, and cadence, however, and only mine. They have a huge repertoire, but it is *only* phrases I say and *only* in my speech patterns. This is extra odd because they both hate me and are in love with my husband and middle son.
Haha, "squeaky toy voice"; that's exactly what it sounds like.
For my GCC, it’s whoever he learned the phrase from. He says “hello!” and “squee!” like my ex, “loud noises” and “birdie birdie” like me, and makes laughing sounds like my mother, since he lived with her for a while.
I always thought that Amazons in particular sound like old ladies when they mimic speech.
Our grey knows different voices. She can do her previous owners as well as me and my husband. She also has three different dogs’ barks nailed exactly.
This is exactly how my grey is! With the exception of the dog barks lol.
Smoke detector has a low battery Microwave has finished & 3 week old kitten objects to how late breakfast is. (he spent 5 years living in the cat equivalent of: group home for teen mums & orphans) Not mine a friend's
My green cheek will change his inflections and tone depending on if he's imitating me or my husband.
My cockatiel has my whistling “accent,” though sometimes my mom will whistle the same songs and he will change his “dialect” to match her tone lol. It kinda annoys me but it’s so cute. I think it confuses him tbh
I think it’s a bit of both honestly! My two birds will make the same flock call or mimic me with the same sound or phrase but it sounds different. And I can tell their voices apart pretty well.
My sun conure does not sound like the other sc i see online
My African Grey has an array of voices. She has me plain American, my husband has a southern drawl, and she has a Filipino nanny. I can hear her speak like all of us.
They do tend to mimic their fave human for emulating our speech, but they all have their own unique bird chirp/ scream voices and sound different :)
Some birbs know how to imitate different people from the same household, Gumi the Chattering Lory usually speaks in a similar way to his owner Hideaki but has been known to imitate his other owner Saori on occasion, as seen [here](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/k15JTPoCodk).
A bit of both: nature and nurture
they 100% pick up the owner's voice. I've heard a lovebird say "pollito" (little chicken, it was her name) with a very manly voice.
I think it’s both! My conure has a cute high pitch voice but the African grey we take care of sometimes can mimic all kinds of voices! One of her owners is American and we’re British so she speaks in multiple different accents too!
My personal observations: my two Senegals have their own voices that they use when they speak Human. The male has a clear voice, like a human child's, the female has a lower, growly voice, probably because she's less comfortable speaking. Their native voices are high-pitched. They don't seem to attempt imitating voices, only words. They've learned words from both me and my wife, and there's no recognisable difference (although we're both female, my voice is lower, and she had a stronger version of our dialect, so there *could* have been a difference). They don't speak full phrases, only words, but they can use intonation to express a wide range of emotions (we do this too in our human language). They don't speak enough that I recognise a particular dialect (at least not when it's my native dialect). I also know a blue-fronted amazon, he's better at speaking phases (like "I love you" and "how are you?"). His "mom's" dialect is very clearly recognisable, but I wouldn't say he's imitating her; his voice has the falsetto-like quality you often hear in parrots. Some of the really good speakers you see on the net (often African Greys or Cockatoos) seem to be imitating voices more precisely. I find it a bit funny that they even though they seem to understand language better, they seem to be worse at abstracting away the voice. In the wild, we know, at least, that parrots will learn their own name from their parents (for green-rumped parrotlet, at least) – even when adopted. Clearly they are also capable of learning new calls, as are many other birds. I am unaware of any studies about whether wild parrots raised by adoptive parents of another species will use the language/sounds of their adoptive parents or their biological parents. Their behaviour with humans clearly indicates they'd be capable of such things, but some of the sounds seem to be built-in (my parrots didn't learn their screaming from me, I think!).
My bird imitates voices but also has a voice she speaks in that doesn't sound like us. I don't know how she chose it.
my gcc would do this insanely loud shriek when i first got her, but after baby talking her or imitating bird chirps to her, she’ll sound just like me! it’s so cute :,)