Communication for bonding

These days we are interested in finding creative ways to test if parrots are actually talking to each other and, if so, what they are saying and how their brains are enabling it. Like us, parrots will go through hell and high water to fit in and bond with with whoever loves them. They'll bark, peck at the ground for seed, or imitate human speech if bonded with a dog, chicken, or human. We use the tools of AI and neuroscience to understand the hows and whys of embodied communication. Some recent discoveries include the identification of a precise vocal motor code that supports their flexible and enormous vocal repertoire (pdf), that parrots imitate not just each other's songs but also how they dance (pdf), and that budgerigar parrots produce song-locked facial expressions (video here). Our past work in songbirds showed that when a singing bird hits the right note, it gets a spritz of dopamine just like we would if we were super thirsty and got juice (pdf). We also discovered that these same signals re-tune to social feedback during courtship (pdf). Finally, for fun, we are obsessed with the incredibly beautiful and precise movements of the tongue. Pay attention to your tongue - it is a mindful alien inside of you - a veritbale octopus tentacle sitting in our mouths tasting the wolrd and making sure you don't choke on it. We discovered how the tonuge corrects for errors after misses (pdf) and how it uses touch to re-aim during drinking (pdf). What unifies us? Life is short: let's focus on the positive aspects of human and parrot nature by staying childishly curious and fun-seeking.