The mail bag from Feb. 21 has a question
about why parrots imitate sounds. The answer
speculated about sexual competition, but
didn’t make a good case for it.
Many birds sing to establish territory.
A bird that can imitate other species can
drive them out of its territory.
This can give the imitator an advantage
if it scares away species that each the
same types of food that it eats.
Imitating predators would have a similar
advantage.
Link to the article in question is: Why do parrots imitate sounds?
Current research suggests that parrot communication may be much more complex than that. Check out the work of Dr. Irene Pepperberg and her African Gray Parrot named Alex. Her work would suggest that Parrot communication is much more complex than previously thought.
You didn’t give a link or book for her.
I’ve heard about her parrot. Fascinating.
Here is a link for a recent news article. Very interesting… but I would like to see an independant study done to make sure the parrot isn’t picking up on some (possibly subconcious) non-verbal cues from Dr. Pepperberg.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/CloserLook/wnt_000303_CL_parrot_feature.html
My board got hacked and all I got was this lousy sig file…
Here are two short articles from Scientific American on the subject. Her work was featured in the last Science News or Scientific American (can’t remember which.)