Does mynah speak?

Mynah birds, which belong to the starling family, are known for their incredible ability to mimic sounds and human speech. This talent for vocal mimicry has fascinated people for centuries and leads many to wonder – can mynah birds really speak? Here we’ll explore the mynah’s amazing talents and look at what’s really behind their uncanny mimicking abilities.

An Overview of Mynah Birds

There are several species of mynah bird, but some of the most common and talented mimics are the Indian mynah and the hill mynah. Mynahs are medium-sized birds around 25 cm long and weighing 70-150 grams. They have brown plumage, yellow legs and feet, and black feather tips on their wings and long graduated tails. Mynahs are omnivorous and enjoy a varied diet of fruit, nectar, insects, and small animals. They are highly intelligent birds with an insatiable curiosity.

Mynahs originate in Asia but have been introduced to other tropical and subtropical parts of the world like Australia and Hawaii. Mynahs live in pairs or small flocks and can adapt well to urban environments. They nest in tree hollows, eaves, or crevices and building nooks. Mynahs are not migratory so they stay in their range year-round.

Mimicry Talents of Mynah Birds

Within their natural range, mynahs are well-known for the variety of sounds they can perfectly mimic. Mynahs in the wild have been reported to copy calls of other bird species, sounds from their habitat like creaking trees, and even noises from human activities such as chainsaws. In areas like India, wild mynahs often copy phrases in the local human language.

When kept in captivity as pets, mynah birds become even more adept at mimicry because they are in constant close contact with people. Pet mynahs effortlessly pick up household sounds like telephone rings, door creaks, melody snippets, and human speech. Some have vocabularies of 100+ words and phrases.

Talented captive mynahs are recorded mimicking their own names, coughs and sneezes, answering simple questions, singing tunes, and more. Their human speech mimicry is so realistic that listeners frequently mistake it for a person talking in another room!

Factors Affecting Mimicry Ability

Not all mynahs have equal mimicking skills. There are a few key factors that affect their vocal copycatting abilities:

• Age – younger mynahs under 3 years old generally learn to mimic better than older birds
• Exposure – mynahs mimic sounds they hear frequently in their environment
• Training – regular positive reinforcement training improves mimicking ability
• Personality – some individual birds are naturally better mimics than others

Captive mynahs trained intensively with mimicry in mind from a very young age demonstrate the greatest ability to copy human speech.

How Mynah Birds Mimic Speech

Mynahs have specialized physical and neurological adaptations that allow them to recreate sounds with high accuracy:

• Syrinx – The syrinx is the avian equivalent of the larynx or voice box in mammals. The mynah syrinx has extra muscles compared to other birds, giving them extra control over vocalizations.
• Tongue – A mynah’s tongue is quite thick with bristly tips that allow it to make rolling r-sounds and other phonemes in human speech.
• Brain pathways – A mynah brain has specialized neurons that connect auditory input to vocal output regions in the brain via efficient pathways.

These physical attributes enable mynahs to listen to novel sounds, quickly map them to motor patterns, and then accurately replicate them using their specialized muscles and vocal tract anatomy. Their mimicry brain regions are similar to those that allow humans to acquire speech and language.

Why Mynah Birds Mimic Speech

Mimicry serves several important purposes for mynah birds in nature:

• Mate attraction – Male mynahs may mimic sounds to impress females during courtship rituals.
• Bonding – Vocal mimicry helps establish bonds between mated pairs.
• Group cohesion – Mimicking flock calls keeps groups together within range.
• Predator avoidance – Copying danger sounds keeps mynahs safe from threats.

For pet mynahs, mimicry helps them interact with and bond closely to their human caretakers. Their ability means they are perceived as engaging and interesting companions by people.

Can Mynah Birds Actually Understand Speech?

Mynahs are masters at reproducing human speech sounds. But does their mimicry reflect real comprehension of the meanings behind the words?

Experts agree that mynah birds do not genuinely understand human language. Unlike parrots, they do not associate the mimicked words and phrases with their meanings. Instead, mynahs are limited to excellently parroting speech without grasping the semantic content.

However, mynahs are skilled at recognizing patterns and cues within speech directed at them. For example, they learn to associate certain phrases with actions like food delivery when conditioned through regular training. But they do not comprehend the significance of the words themselves beyond these connections.

Evidence Against Speech Comprehension

There are several lines of evidence confirming mynahs are only mimicry specialists, not language users:

• They do not respond appropriately to novel combinations of known words
• They cannot meaningfully answer questions or hold dialogues
• They do not associate speech with physical objects or concepts
• Their vocabulary lacks any semantic quality or organization

While mynahs may give an illusion of understanding through well-timed chirps, their speech cognition does not go beyond clever mimicry of auditory patterns.

Famous Talking Mynah Birds

Throughout history, certain talented mynah birds have gained fame and notoriety for their exceptional ability to mimic human speech:

Sinbad

In the early 1900s, a mynah living in London named Sinbad gained recognition for his large vocabulary and clear human-like pronunciations. Sinbad was reported to have a vocabulary of over 50 words and phrases and gave public performances of his conversational skills. He interacted verbally with his owner and entertained visitors to his home.

Willie

In the 1980s, a Hill mynah named Willie became a media celebrity. Willie lived in various zoos and homes and made TV appearances displaying his advanced mimicry talents. He could pronounce phrases like “I love you” with perfect clarity and imitated other noises like breaking glass. Willie understood over 100 verbal commands and directions.

Myna Marie

Myna Marie was adopted in the early 2000s by owners impressed by her crystal clear human verbiage. She was recorded on TV mimicking full sentences like “Hi sweetie, come give me a kiss!” with no discernible bird sounds. Myna Marie understood directions related to several daily routines. Her owners noted her special talent for imitating noises like paper tearing or dropping coins.

Teaching Mynah Birds to Talk

For those interested in training a mynah to mimic speech, here are some key tips to maximize vocal abilities:

• Obtain young birds under 3 years old
• Have daily 15-30 min training & bonding sessions
• Use treats and rewards to reinforce mimicking
• Repeat target words/sounds frequently
• Practice clear pronunciation for the mynah to copy
• Expose mynah to household noises to increase vocabulary
• Be patient – mimicry takes time and practice

With dedicated training, even mynahs without genetic giftedness can learn vocabularies of 25+ words and phrases and impress with their human-speech imitation skills.

Conclusion

Mynah birds possess a remarkable inborn talent for vocal mimicry that allows them to perfectly copy an array of sounds. Their physical adaptations enable accurate replication of human speech. While mynahs do not truly comprehend language, their mimicry abilities let them convincingly simulate conversation. Throughout history, certain exceptional mynahs like Sinbad and Willie have gained fame for their advanced imitation skills. With time and training, many mynahs can be conditioned to have impressive vocabularies and speech imitation abilities that never cease to fascinate and delight human listeners.