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Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth
Who the hell do birds mimic talking? They don't have lips and their tongues are weird and tube-shaped, it's awful. I can't talk without moving my lips or tongue, how the hell does a bird do it?!

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Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth

Colonel Cancer posted:

Birds have lips they're just inside their beak

Unacceptable

Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth

Fluffy Bunnies posted:

They're just really good at mimicking sounds and learning that those sounds sometimes make sense to humans in the same way they want to express. Much like a dog learns "cookie" or "treat" and some of the primitive breeds are good at making similar sounds to relate that they want this thing.

No I mean how do they physically make those sounds they don't have any lips!

Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth

Ignatius M. Meen posted:

you don't vocalize with your lips, how do you think ventriloquists work?

By talking out of the sides of their mouth and everyone is too polite to call them out

Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth

Asterite34 posted:

Real answer! :eng101:

Humans talk with their larynx and vocal cords vibrating to produce pitches and tones like a kazoo, and their mouth and lips form the more complex phonemes and "sounds" of words.

Birds, obviously, don't have lips, or even a larynx like humans do. They do, however, have an organ called a syrinx in their throat just above their lungs. This organ is much more flexible and articulated than the larynx, to the point where the "vocal cords" can be moved independently of each other. Essentially, this organ combines the vocal cords and lips into one doodad for creating complex sounds!

So they got throat lips. Thank you for finally explaining this in a way that normal everyday Americans can understand

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Who What Now
Sep 10, 2006

by Azathoth

crusty posted:

Op, consider that hi-fi speakers don't have lips or tongues either and you'll be on the right track

I don't get them either!

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