Why can parrots talk? - Grace Smith-Vidaurre and Tim Wright

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

In 2010, a parrot that spoke with the same British accent as his owner

2010 年，

一隻和主人同樣有著英國口音的鸚鵡

went missing.

走丟了。

They were reunited four years later,

他們在四年後重逢，

but the intervening time left a conspicuous mark:

但中間這段時間 留下了明顯的痕跡：

the parrot had lost its British accent

鸚鵡失去了牠的英國口音，

and was instead chattering away in Spanish.

變成喋喋不休地說著西班牙語。

Parrots and several other birds are the only other animals

動物中只有鸚鵡和其他幾種鳥類 能夠說出人類語言。

that produce human speech.

And some parrots do it almost uncannily well.

有些鸚鵡還能說得不可思議地好。

How is this possible?

這怎麼有可能？

Most wild parrots are highly social.

大多數的野生鸚鵡非常社交。

They use vocalizations for mating and territorial displays

牠們用發聲的方式 來交配和宣示領土，

and to coordinate group movements.

以及協調群體動向。

Some species have flocks that continuously split and fuse,

有些物種的群體會分分合合，

meaning individual parrots must be able to communicate with many others.

意即每隻鸚鵡都一定能 與許多其他鸚鵡溝通。

Parrots use contact calls to interact

鸚鵡使用聯絡叫聲來互動，

and stay in touch when others are out of sight.

並和不在視線範圍內的 其他鸚鵡時保持聯絡。

But how exactly they use these calls depends on the species

至於鸚鵡如何運用這類叫聲

則取決於物種和群體的大小。

and the size of their flocks.

Monk parakeets, for example, live in large colonies

以和尚鸚鵡為例，

牠們會大量棲息在一起，

and have individualized contact calls that help them stand out.

而個別化的聯絡叫聲， 能幫助牠們分辨彼此。

Yellow-naped Amazon parrots, on the other hand,

另一方面，黃頸亞馬遜鸚鵡

forage in smaller groups that learn and share highly similar contact calls.

以小群體的方式覓食，

同群體的鸚鵡會學習並共用 極相似的聯絡叫聲。

This need for sophisticated mimicry may partially explain why yellow-naped Amazons

牠們需要做到很精密的模仿，

這也許能夠部分解釋 為什麼黃頸亞馬遜鸚鵡

and some other parrots can closely imitate a wide range of sounds—

及一些其他種的鸚鵡

可以仔細地模仿各種聲音——

including the human voice.

包括人聲。

So, how does a parrot actually declare that “Polly wants a cracker”?

那麼，實際上鸚鵡是如何宣稱

「波莉想要餅乾」的呢？

A person would string these sounds together using their larynx,

人類會用喉頭將這些聲音串在一起，

the organ at the top of their windpipe.

喉頭是氣管頂部的器官。

It consists of rings of muscles and a vibrating membrane

喉頭的組成包括環狀肌肉

和控制氣流用的和振動薄膜。

that controls airflow.

They’d finely shape the vocalization into enunciated words

接著將發聲精細地形塑成 發音清晰的字詞，

using their tongue and lips.

此時用的是舌頭和嘴唇。

For a parrot, however, the sound would originate in its syrinx,

然而，對於鸚鵡來說，

聲音源自牠的鳴管，

located at the base of its windpipe.

位置在其氣管的底部。

Many other birds have two vibrating membranes within this organ.

許多其他鳥類的這個器官內 有兩片振動薄膜，

But parrots, like us, have just one.

但是鸚鵡和我們一樣，只有一片。

As sounds leave the airway, parrots shape them using their tongues and beaks.

當聲音離開氣道時，鸚鵡會用 舌頭和鳥嘴來形塑發音。

They can do this because they have especially flexible, powerful tongues

牠們能做到這一點是因為 牠們的舌頭特別靈活有力，

that help them manipulate seeds and nuts.

用來幫助牠們處理種子和堅果。

And while parrots’ beaks are rigid, they have very flexible jaw joints,

雖然鸚鵡的鳥嘴是硬的， 但牠們的頜關節非常靈活，

giving them a lot of control over how wide and how quickly

讓牠們能精確控制要以 什麼速度把鳥嘴打開多少。

they open their beaks.

Like other animals with learned vocalizations,

和其他學會發聲的動物一樣，

parrot brains contain interconnected regions that allow them

鸚鵡的大腦中也有相互連結的區域，

to hear, remember, modify, and produce complex sounds.

讓牠們能聽見、記住、

修改，和產生複雜的聲音。

But while songbirds have just one song system in their brains,

但是雖然鳴禽的大腦中 只有一個歌唱系統，

almost all parrots seem to have an additional circuit.

幾乎所有的鸚鵡 似乎都有一個額外的電路。

Scientists think that this might give them extra flexibility

科學家認為這可能會讓牠們 有額外的靈活度，

when it comes to learning the calls of their own species— and ours.

來學習牠們同類的叫聲——

還有人類的。

With this specialized anatomy,

因為有這種專門的結構，

parrots can bark, scream, curse, and recite factoids.

鸚鵡可以吠叫、尖叫、 罵人，和背誦些小知識。

One intrepid lost parrot managed to get back home

一隻大膽的迷路鸚鵡 靠著重複向樂於幫忙的陌生人

after repeating his full name and address to helpful strangers.

說出牠的全名和地址之後， 終於設法回到家了。

But these impressive abilities raise another question:

但這些令人印象深刻的能力 又帶出了另一個問題：

do parrots actually understand what they’re saying?

鸚鵡真的明白牠們在說什麼嗎？

When most captive parrots talk,

大多數被飼養的鸚鵡說在話時，

they’re likely attempting to form social bonds in the absence of their own species.

牠們很可能是在試圖在 沒有同類的情況下建立社交連結。

Many probably have associations with words

許多人可能對字詞會有聯想，

and may be drawn to ones that elicit certain responses—

可能會被引起某些反應的字詞吸引——

hence their capacity for profanity.

因此鸚鵡會有罵髒話的能力。

But, especially after training,

但是，特別是在訓練之後，

parrots have been observed to say things in the appropriate contexts

可以發現鸚鵡能在適當的情境說話，

and assign meaning to words— saying “goodnight” at the end of the day,

並將意義賦予字詞——

比如在一天結束時說「晚安」，

asking for certain treats, or counting and picking objects.

討食，或數數及挑選物品。

One extensively trained African grey parrot named Alex

亞歷克斯是一隻 訓練有素的非洲灰鸚鵡，

became the first non-human animal to pose an existential question

牠是第一隻提出 存在問題的非人類動物，

when he asked what color he was.

牠問的是：牠是什麼顏色的。

Whether they’re belting Beyoncé, head-banging to classic rock,

無論是飆高音唱碧昂絲的歌、 跟著經典搖滾樂不斷點頭，

or rattling off cuss words at zoo-goers,

或對動物園遊客出口成「髒」，

parrots are constantly astounding us— as they have been for millennia.

鸚鵡都會不斷地讓我們驚奇——

數千年來牠們一直如此。

But our fascination with parrots has also made them vulnerable.

但我們對鸚鵡的著迷 也讓牠們很容易受到傷害。

Sought by poachers and pet traders,

牠們會被盜獵者和寵物商人追捕，

while losing their habitats to deforestation,

又因森林砍伐而失去棲息地，

wild populations have decreased dramatically.

因此野生數量已經大大下降。

To truly understand parrots, we need to preserve and study them in the wild.

要真正了解鸚鵡，

我們需要在野外保育和研究牠們。