Parrots Use Proper Names Like Humans Do To Call Out Individuals

InnovationScienceParrots Use Proper Names Like Humans Do To Call Out IndividualsByGrrlScientist,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. GrrlScientist writes about evolution, ecology, behavior and health.Follow AuthorMay 14, 2026, 06:52am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Parrots may use names like humans do, showing signs of social understanding and individual recognition.Yellow-headed Amazon Parrot (Amazona oratrix) singing "Old Mcdonald Had A Farm". (Credit: Nathan Rupert / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)Nathan Rupert via a Creative Commons LicenseA recent study reveals what many of us who live with companion parrots have long suspected: at least some parrots don’t randomly mimic human speech. Instead, they appear learn (or assign) names to specific individuals in their households and use these names to them call out. Name-calling parrots“We didn’t set out to study name use,” said the study’s lead author, Lauryn Benedict, a professor at the University of Northern Colorado, where she studies animal communication and social behavior.“We started studying parrot vocal learning and cognition in 2020 with the ‘What Does Polly Say?’ survey that asks about the sounds, words, and phrases that parrots learn from humans,” Professor Benedict told me in email.“Since then, we’ve added new collaborators and a second survey called the ‘Bird Singalong and Speech Project’ that collects recordings of talking or singing birds,” Professor Benedict explained in email. “With both of these projects we are asking questions about what different species and individual birds can learn.”Instead of going to the tropics to record and decipher wild parrot chatter, as did Professor Benedict’s long-time collaborator, Christine Dahlin (I recently shared Professor Dahlin’s studies of vocal communication in wild amazon parrots), Professors Benedict and Dahlin were joined...