Parrots will parrot

So-wanna go out for coffee sometime?

Parrots parrot, and no one knows exactly why. In the wild, when you hear tweet tweet from a budgeriger, for instance, it could be a simple 'hi hello,' a 'warning, predators near,' or an all out sexy 'hubba hubba.' But, why did calls evolve in the first place?

Researcher Nancy Burley at University of California has been studying the 'hubba hubbas' pretty closely for years now, using budgie males and virtual females fluttering and tweeting away on television screens. The experiment is kind-of like a virtual date for avians. When they meet, males try to parrot the female's call--a big turn-on for the ladies. But, the question for these scientists is--do females prefer parrots who have a similar call to their own innately or do they just like to hear males with mime talent?

 In these tests, the females preferred a virtual male (who the researchers claim they treated as they would a real male) who had a more similar call to their own before courtship. Females also showed preference for males who can increase their call similarity during courtship. As to why an identical call would give an advantage to a budgie couple, no one really knows. The evolutionary train is still in the tunnel on this one.

Budgie are also known as parakeets and kept as pets. They are native to drier parts of Australia.


1. Marin L. Moravec1, 2. Georg F. Striedter, & 3. Nancy T. Burley (2010). ‘Virtual Parrots’ Confirm Mating Preferences of Female Budgerigars Ethology