Parrots mimic words through regular, consistent training or listening to the TV or radio. Ravens learn to speak due to their close contact with humans while living in zoos and wildlife centers.
Parrots are revered as skilled talking birds because they can amass an extensive vocabulary.
Some African grays and budgies can say around 1,000 words, while ravens can say about 100. Ravens can speak better than many parrot species, including lovebirds, parrotlets, and cockatoos.
Parrots and ravens can mimic sounds because they have a syrinx (the vocal organ of birds). In addition to talking, they’re skilled at mimicking sounds like car alarms, microwave beeps, and animal calls.
Why Ravens And Parrots Talk
Ravens and parrots can talk because their brains are wired similarly to ours. Both birds have a cerebellum and cortex. The cerebellum controls voluntary motor functions, while the cortex controls:
- Memory.
- Language.
- Perception.
- Sensory information.
Both parts of the brain work in tandem. They’re connected via a neural circuit called the medial spiriform. This neural highway transfers information between the cerebellum and cortex, enabling them to:
- Talk like humans.
- Mimic words and sounds.
- Communicate.
Even though ravens and parrots don’t have teeth, lips, or vocal cords – all of which enable humans to speak – they have a syrinx rather than a larynx (human voice box).
This fluid-filled organ is buried deep in their chests at the base of the trachea and is composed of 2 parts that parrots and ravens can change the shape of.
They can also move each part independently to create sound. The muscles and valves vibrate and produce noise by pushing air through the syrinx.
Current Biology found that birds change the frequency of the sound they produce using their tongues, called “lingual articulation.” Parrots and ravens also use their beaks to shape sounds.
While most birds have a syrinx, it differs between birds. This means parrots and ravens have slightly different organs. Both species mimic the sounds they hear.
Their words sound similar to what we recognize as speech, so we believe ravens and humans can talk.
Ravens Aren’t Related To Parrots
While ravens and parrots are aves, they belong to different orders:
- Corvidae: Ravens, crows, rooks, jackdaws, treepies, jays, magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers.
- Psittaciformes: Contains 400+ species, including the Psittacoidea (true parrots), the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots), and the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos).
They look noticeably different, as ravens have longer, straighter beaks that enable them to produce different sounds to parrots with shorter, hookbill-shaped beaks.
Ravens vs. Parrots At Talking
Parrots are more advanced talking birds, but ravens can be taught to speak.
Due to various laws, ravens aren’t commonly kept in captivity. Still, those who spend time around humans – in zoos and wildlife centers – can develop a repertoire of 100 words.
Wild ravens are unlikely to speak at all, let alone to the same level as parrots and captive ravens.
Not all ravens and parrots speak. While many can, it depends on their personalities and interactions with humans. Parrots are better talkers since they’re more commonly kept as captive pets.
As well as their impressive talking abilities, ravens and parrots mimic sounds, such as:
- Animal calls.
- Dog barks.
- Sirens.
- Car alarms.
- Microwave beeps.
Ravens make several calls ranging from low, gurgling croaks to harsher sounds.
Ravens make a gurgling croak that rises in pitch from the back of the throat. This sound can be heard for over a mile, and they produce it in response to other ravens.
Ravens also produce deep, rasping calls when their nests are disturbed and short, shrill, repetitive calls when chasing predators away. They also make the following noises:
- Deep rasping calls.
- Rapid knocking noises.
- Bill snapping.
- Singing.
While ravens talk well, their ability to produce varied sounds is more advanced. African grays can mimic up to 1,000 words, more than any other bird species, including ravens.
The following parrots also have extensive vocabularies:
- Budgies: 1,000 words.
- Amazon parrots: 300 words.
- Indian ring parakeets: 250 words.
Ravens’ and parrots’ talking abilities are similar. Some parrot species are better talkers than ravens, while others have inferior talking skills.
Raven vs. Parrot Intelligence
Animal intelligence is hard to measure and compare because there’s no standard IQ test.
The only effective way to compare intelligence levels is to give parrots and ravens the same task to complete and observe, measuring the results.
According to Discover Magazine, a researcher from the University of Vienna challenged a group of parrots and corvids to solve puzzles to earn food in a plastic box. They could do this in 4 ways:
- Pulling string tied to the food.
- Opening a window and putting their head in the box.
- Pushing the food off with a stick.
- Knocking the food off by rolling a marble down a chute.
Each time the birds learned one of the tricks, the researcher closed this method off, forcing them to find a different way to get hold of the food.
The study found that the corvids were slower to pick up the different solutions as they explored the plastic box more tentatively and used their beaks as tools.
Parrots discovered the solutions more quickly but were more aggressive in their approach.
This doesn’t prove that either species is more intelligent. Instead, it shows they approach tasks differently, yet both had similar success levels.
Due to their advanced talking abilities, African gray parrots are considered the most intelligent parrot species. Ravens, alongside crows, are among the most intelligent bird species.
According to the journal Science, ravens can pre-plan tasks and exert self-control, performing at least as well as great apes and small children. Ravens are also able to do the following:
- Imitate human speech.
- Use hand gestures.
- Show empathy toward each other.
- Adapt to different environments.
- Live in teenage gangs.
No parrot has passed the mirror test, and neither have ravens, but the Eurasian magpie (part of the corvid family) is the only non-mammal to have done so. Not even primates have been successful.
While ravens seldom talk better than parrots, it can happen when they live around humans. Both species produce sounds we recognize, so they’re among the world’s most intelligent animals.
