Listen: 6 animals that can imitate human speech

Blah blah blah We’re not the only blabbermouths. by Jennifer Walter Sep. 17, 2021 Head Like an Orange via Giphy

Little Animal Gifs via Giphy/Tumblr Ever tried to talk to your pet ? In some cases, they might try to “talk back” through meows, woofs, or gestures.

Giphy But cats and dogs can’t master human language the way we can.

Shutterstock Neither can other animal species — though there are some with impressive mimicry skills that make it seem like they can talk to us.

Shutterstock Here are 7 remarkable animals that can imitate human speech:

6. Ducks The musk duck, an aquatic species that lives off the coast of Australia, mimic sounds they hear in the wild — including human voices. Auscape/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Lea Scaddan/Moment/Getty Images Though their vocalizations aren’t a new discovery, it wasn’t until recently that researchers analyzed the species’ ability to learn humanlike sounds.

Shutterstock A September 6 report in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B asserts that the ducks have similar vocal learning abilities to parrots and songbirds.

5. Elephants These animals have a remarkable ability to learn new sounds — including ones that humans make. San Diego Zoo and Wildlife Alliance via Giphy

KIM JAE-HWAN/AFP/Getty Images In 2012, researchers working with a captive Asian Elephant named Koshik found that he could make noises that sounded like words in Korean.

Here, Koshik mimics the word “choah” (good) while working with a trainer.

Stoeger, A. et. al. / Current Biology

4. Orcas In 2018, researchers reported that a captive killer whale was able to mimic human vocalizations. TJ Fuller via Giphy

Yuri Smityuk/TASS/Getty Images The orca was able to not only imitate a human voice, but English words played through a loudspeaker as well. It was also able to make a specific noise on cue, prompted only by gestures.

3. Orangutans Our primate cousins cannot speak the same way as us — but they can mimic some of the same sounds. Memphis Zoo via Giphy

Shutterstock In 2016, a group of scientists writing in the journal Scientific Reports shared that an orangutan named Rocky was able to mimic human speech tones, even though he couldn’t say words.

2. Ravens and crows Musk ducks and pet parrots aren’t the only clever birds. Head Like an Orange via Giphy

Buddy Mays/Corbis/Getty Images Corvids , a groups of birds that include crows and ravens, also have the ability to “speak” like humans. They might even enjoy the confusion that comes with mimicry.

1. Beluga Whales Strange sounds from a beluga named NOC captured the attention of researchers in the 1980s. Shutterstock

George Karbus Photography/Image Source/Getty Images They think NOC was mimicking human voices that he heard above and below the surface of the water.

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Listen: 6 animals that can imitate human speech

Here, Koshik mimics the word “choah” (good) while working with a trainer.

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