Parrots are truly beautiful animals, as they have very brightly colored feathers and a cute face. Beyond that, however, they are also known for their incredible learning abilities which allow them to distinguish themselves from many other animals of similar species. These specimens, in fact, possess not only linguistic, but also truly surprising social and cognitive abilities.
Parrots’ abilities: here’s what they can do
First of all, the most known parrot ability to anyone is their own the linguistic onegiven that they are able to replicate sounds they hear from the surrounding environment and in some cases they can even understand human language. Of all the parrots those who are most capable of doing so are the Psittacus erithacus. One of the best known is Alex, studied by the psychologist Irene Pepperbergwho was able to recognize colors, shapes, numbers and objects, as well as being able to name them, using them correctly in contexts to communicate what he was thinking.
Another very interesting aspect relating to the abilities of parrots is their cognitive abilitiessince according to some studies they possess an excellent memory and a great ability to succeed solve complex problems. Just like people, parrots are able to learn by observing and imitating. Furthermore, they are capable of organizing among themselves to be able to solve problems, coordinating with each other and cooperating.
In fact, parrots they live in groups and rarely alone, being extremely social birds and managing to survive thanks to collaboration. This aspect can also be found in the relationship they have with human beings, given that they manage to create very close bonds with their own
How is all this possible? These highly developed learning abilities of parrots are due to advanced neurobiological structures present in their brains: although in terms of size they are a little smaller than those of mammals, their brains have a high neural density and the vocal learning regions of cognition are quite developed.
In particular, the nidopallium it’s really developed and it’s a part of the brain that’s associated to language processing and memory, and bears a remarkable resemblance to the brain of humans. These are therefore really interesting aspects, thanks to which scholars have the possibility of obtaining information on all genetic and neurobiological mechanisms related to these aspects.
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