Ravens and parrots are some of the most intelligent kinds of birds ever known. Both birds are known for their ability to communicate, but there are a few differences between the two.
While ravens and parrots both communicate through copying sentences and words, ravens tend to do so only if in contact with humans.
This may be through popular wildlife centers or zoo habitats.
Parrots are commonly known for their ability to talk, though they are known as one of the best due to their wide vocabulary. For instance, African gray parrots know up to 1000 words, but at just 100, ravens know much less.
This doesn’t mean that ravens aren’t as intelligent though! Ravens beat parrots at copying sounds, like animal calls and even car alarms.
They can create these noises due to their impressive vocal organ, known as the syrinx.
While ravens and parrots are birds, they come from different families. Ravens are corvids, but parrots belong to the Psittaciformes, a group mainly found in tropical and subtropical locations.
However, while they may be from separate families, their communicative abilities aren’t that different. They are both incredibly perceptive birds with similar intelligence levels.
We’ll cover more about the way parrots and ravens communicate in this article, including whether one type of bird speaks better than the other.
How Do Parrots And Ravens Communicate?
Parrots and ravens can talk as their brains have similarities with the human brain. Just like us, ravens and parrots have a cortex and cerebellum.
The cerebellum manages perceptive motor functions, though it’s also responsible for posture, balance, and coordination. The cortex is necessary for sensory details, perception, language, and memory.
Both the cerebellum and the cortex work alongside each other. They are linked through a neural track known as the medial spiriform.
This circuit delivers information between the cortex and cerebellum, allowing both birds to communicate like humans. This process also allows the birds to copy words, sounds, and sentences.
This is all possible even though parrots and ravens don’t possess teeth, lips, or vocal cords. These are necessary for humans to speak, but the birds don’t, as they have a syrinx, not a larynx.
The larynx, or human voice box, is located within the center of the neck. It contains two vocal cords which vibrate to create sound inside the mouth, nose, and pharynx.
The syrinx in both birds contains fluid and is made from two parts. It’s located deep within their chests at the bottom of the trachea.
Ravens and parrots can both change the shape of their syrinx. They can move each of the two components to produce noise. As air flows through the organ, the valves and muscles vibrate to create sound.
Both birds can also use their tongues to alter the frequency of the sound, a process known as lingual articulation. Ravens and parrots can also do this with their beaks to form different sounds.
The majority of birds possess a syrinx, but the organ will be slightly different between each type of bird. This is the case with ravens and parrots.
Take note that both birds copy sounds they hear, but they don’t ‘talk’. These noises are like sounds we are familiar with, which is why we understand them so well.
Are Parrots And Ravens From The Same Family?
Parrots and ravens are both birds, but they come from different families.
Ravens are from the Corvidae family, which also consists of crows, magpies, nutcrackers, and jays.
Parrots are from the Psittaciformes family. This group contains an impressive 398 species, including true parrots (Psittacoidea), New Zealand parrots (Strigopoidea), and cockatoos (Cacatuoidea).
Ravens and parrots are also dissimilar in looks. Ravens are black with long, straight beaks. Parrots can have many different colored feathers, such as red, blue, gray, and green.
They also have shorter, hooked beaks that produce different sounds to ravens.
Do Parrots And Ravens Communicate The Same?
Parrots may be known for their vocabulary, but ravens can be taught to speak better.
Ravens aren’t usually kept in captivity due to laws around their domestication. However, some ravens spend much of their time around humans, such as in wildlife centers and zoos.
Captive ravens are more likely to speak compared to wild ravens. Ravens that are often around humans can develop a vocabulary spanning over 100 words.
Not all parrots and ravens know how to speak. Even though many of these birds can talk, communicating through sound depends on their character and the way they interact with humans.
Parrots are often kept as captive pets, which is why they’re usually better talkers compared to ravens.
Other than their vocabulary, ravens are much better at copying sounds, including dog barks, sirens, technology beeps, and car alarms.
They can also utter different calls ranging from low croaks to rough shouts.
Ravens usually express bubbling croaks which become higher in tone.
These sounds come from the back of the throat. Ravens produce this sound in response to other ravens, a noise that can be heard from over a mile away.
Ravens also make other sounds that indicate their emotions. If their nests are disturbed, they express deep, croaky noises. If they are chasing predators away, they produce shrill, warning calls.
You may also hear ravens making knocking noises, bill snapping, and even singing.
Parrots can talk, but they can make a larger range of words. African gray parrots, for instance, can copy up to 1000 words. This is much more than other kinds of birds can do, including ravens.
Different kinds of parrots can range a lot when it comes to estimated vocabulary size. Cockatiels and Indian ring parakeets can speak around 250 words.
Amazon parrots can handle slightly more at 300. Budgies know much more, as their vocabulary stretches to 1,000 words.
Ravens and parrots have similar talking skills, but parrots have much larger vocabularies, explaining why they are known for their speaking abilities.
Which Bird Is Smarter, Parrots Or Ravens?
As we can’t give animals IQ tests, it’s hard to understand which bird is smarter than the other.
However, we can compare intelligence levels by giving both birds the same task, observing them, then comparing the results.
A researcher from the University of Vienna carried out an example of this with parrots and corvids.
They gave the birds several puzzles to solve. If they solved the puzzle, they would earn food kept in a plastic container.
This could be done in four ways, either pulling a string tied to the food, using a stick to push food off, rolling a marble down a chute to push food off, or opening a window and sticking their head in the food box.
Every time the birds learned one of the tricks, the researcher would shut the method down, meaning the birds had to adopt a different method to earn the food.
The research found that corvids were slower to adopt different methods. They examined the plastic box cautiously and used their beaks as tools.
The parrots found the new solutions faster, but they were a lot more combative to do so.
The research doesn’t show that one species is cleverer than the other, but it does show the different ways in which they look at tasks. Both birds had similar achievements with the task.
Ravens are thought of as one of the most intelligent types of bids, next to crows.
However, the African gray parrot is known for its advanced communicative abilities, which is why it’s known as one of the most intelligent types of parrots.
Ravens can plan ahead of tasks and possess self-control, at a similar level to children and large apes.
They can also imitate hand gestures, copy human speech, display empathy, and can adapt to a changing setting.
When it comes to the mirror test, which measures self-awareness, neither parrots nor ravens have passed it. The only non-mammal to pass the test is the Eurasian magpie, a member of the corvid family.
This is particularly impressive when you consider primates struggle to pass the test.
You might judge parrots to be more intelligent as they speak more than ravens, but remember that ravens aren’t often around humans as much.
Both birds can produce sounds that are familiar to humans, which is why they are both some of the most intelligent animals around the globe.
Conclusion
Now you know more about the way parrots and ravens speak!
Though both birds are from different families, their brain has a cortex and a cerebellum, just like the human brain. This gives them the ability to talk and communicate familiarly.
Parrots are known for their extensive vocabulary, but ravens can mimic impressive sounds, like alarms and animal calls.
Some may believe that parrots are the cleverer bird, but ravens can be taught to speak better.
It’s hard to judge which one is smarter than the other, but thanks to their communication abilities, we know that both ravens and parrots are examples of incredibly intelligent animals.
Harlan Derricks, nice to meet you. I created this online resource in the hopes of educating more people about the wonders of parrots, including their species, sizes, and more.
But I don’t just want to stop with parrots. I want to give every bird an opportunity to be marveled at and rescued by my education. If just one of my readers learned something valuable about budgies, cockatiels, or parakeets, then I’d be happy with my success.
