History Main / PollyWantsAMicrophone

* Kiki in ''Series/TheEnidBlytonAdventureSeries''.

* Raven Familiars in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' can speak. AWizardDidIt (or Sorcerer, or Adapt, or Hexblade, Dread Necromancer or arcane caster with the right feat)

** ''Harry's Mad'' sees Harry Holdsworth inherit his great-uncle George's pet parrot Madison, and soon learns that Madison is able to freely talk back to Harry, which is attributed to the fact that George Holdsworth was a professor of linguistics and was therefore able to give Madison thorough instruction. Later in the book, Madison is able to pass on these lessons to another parrot, Fweddy (who is later revealed to be female when she lays an egg).

* Merlin's "highly educated," snide and sarcastic pet owl, Archimedes, in ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'', of course.

* The UrExample (at least as far as this trope's horror potential goes) is Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's famous raven in the poem "Literature/TheRaven." The narrator begs of the bird to answer increasingly desperate questions about the afterlife and the hope of reuniting with his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]], but the raven constantly answers, "Nevermore," rather pessimistically. The last stanza suggests that the bird has taken up permanent residence, and is less bird than evil portent of despair and damnation. You know, typical Poe.
** The narrator actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] the fact that there's nothing inherently supernatural about ravens learning to speak basic words - people train them to do it all the time - and initially suspects it's nothing more than an escaped pet. One possible interpretation of the poem is that the bird's supernatural nature, maybe even its ''existence'', is a product of the narrator's own grief-stricken delusions.

* By the time the ''Literature/XandriCorelel'' series takes place, parrots have been selectively bred and genetically modified to be even smarter than they are now, so Xandri's parrots Marbles and Cake both have very impressive vocabularies. Marbles in particular is said to be intelligent even for his kind - he knows 1128 words, can utter relatively complicated sentenced like "Millet now for smart birdie," and can even participate in conversations to a limited extent.

* Lewis from ''Webcomic/TheBirdFeeder'' has tried on occasion to speak to humans. However, in [[http://thebirdfeeder.com/comic/48 #48]], "Mimicry," he reveals that despite him merely asking politely for a bowl of food, the humans tend not to have very good reactions to him.

* Inspired by the above, Dalton and Tori have been raising and teaching their own African Grey named Apollo. (You can see the video records of his learning [[https://www.youtube.com/@ApolloandFrens here]].) He can identify colors, materials, objects, ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' and [[VideoGame/{{Mario}} Wario]], and even give instructions of his own.

* Literature/{{Discworld}} has two: Quoth, the raven ([[JustForPun har dee har har]]), and the parrot in ''Literature/{{Eric}}''. Both have limited wossnames... vocabularies, especially the parrot. Which led to the splendid line (from the parrot) "Wossname wossname wossname wossname wossname!"

* Inspired by the above, Dalton and Tori have been raising and teaching their own African Grey named Apollo. (You can see the video records of his learning [[https://www.youtube.com/@ApolloandFrens here]].) He can identify colors, materials, objects, WesternAnimation/Shrek and VideoGame/Wario, and even give instructions of his own.

* Averted, oddly, in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', with the parrot Pokémon Chatot. It's known for repeating human speech, all Pokémon are supposedly sentient, with a large number (The humanoid and psychics in particular) appearing sapient, and a ''cat'' Pokemon learned human language and speaks it fluently. But every time a Chatot is featured it just mimics human words without understanding them like a real-life parrot.

* An African Gray Parrot by the name of "Alex" was intelligent enough to not only have a vocabulary of 150 words, but also a basic understanding of them. He was capable of counting a few items and announcing their number (including saying "none" if no item matched the color or shape he was asked to count), and apparently coined a {{Portmanteau}} - calling an apple a banerry (banana + cherry)[[note]]It was a red apple.[[/note]]. When he died in 2007 at the age of 31, his keeper, Dr. Irene Pepperberg, asserted that his intelligence and grasp of language was on par with a human toddler.

* The parrot in ''Literature/{{Next}}''; his uncanny use of language is handwaved as the result of being genetically altered. He's also far and away the most awesome character in the book because of this.

* Justified in Creator/MichaelCrichton's last novel, ''{{Literature/Next}}'', which features a [[UpliftedAnimal genetically uplifted parrot]]. Unfortunately, he seems to be [[SurroundedByIdiots surrounded by humans too stupid to recognize how intelligent he is]].

* Inko-chan from ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}''. Despite being utterly incapable of saying its own name, it seems to always be saying the right thing (or at least, things that are appropriate for the situation) at the right time. Even more pronounced in the novels, where it's even capable of breaking out in cold sweats in respond to a threat from Taiga.

* The title character of ''Film/{{Paulie}}'' (image above) is such a parrot; the catch is that every ''other'' parrot in the movie ''isn't'', and most humans have difficulty believing that Paulie ''is''.

* Matthew the talking raven and his predecessors in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

* ''Film/CarryOnBehind'' has a talking mynah bird, whose vocabulary is mostly innuendo. When people don't realise the bird is talking, it causes the usual comic misunderstandings.
--> '''Carol''': Is that bird yours?
--> '''Mynah bird''': Get stuffed.
--> '''Daphne''': Mine would never say things like that.

* The birds in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' will exhibit this if you hide. But only one is a parrot (the rest are ravens), and if you're not hiding, it says the stock parrot phrases (and, [[ShoutOut for some reason]], [[GratuitousEnglish "Shine get!"]]).
** The parrot drops the act after the end of the chapter, though.
* Creator/{{Infocom}}'s ''[[VideoGame/{{Enchanter}} Sorcerer]]'' has Belboz's talking parrot, Pollibar, who provides a crucial clue to getting out of the Hall of Enchanters at the beginning of the game.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' has two myna birds, and while they both talk, one of them is a bit of a subversion: It will say it's not good at human language and will only interact with Wolf Link (who [[AnimalTalk can understand all animals]]), offering a minigame.
* Douglas Adams' computer game ''VideoGame/StarshipTitanic'' featured a very screechy parrot voiced by former [[Creator/MontyPython Python]] Terry Jones. Who loved [[CarnivoreConfusion eating chicken]].
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kea Kea]] is a type of parrot that would indeed enjoy eating chicken.
* One case in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' used a talking parrot as a ''[[MakeTheDogTestify crucial witness to a case]]''. Mildly subverted in that the parrot is never implied to be especially intelligent. Instead, the key lies in which specific words the parrot was trained to repeat.

* In ''[[VideoGame/StreetpassMiiPlaza Mii Trek]]'', your guide, Sir Henry Beaksley, is a talking toucan.
* ''[[VideoGame/MysteryCaseFiles Mystery Case Files: 13th Skull]]'' has Mr. Crickets, Charlotte Landry's talking parrot.
* Vienya's familiar Moja, from ''VideoGame/KnightsInTheNightmare''. Just how intelligent Moja is, we don't know -- he does communicate telepathically with Vienya, though, and is capable of translating for her in only slightly clipped Japanese (complete with kanji). Justified because, well, he's her familiar, and that's what he's there for (she's a selective mute and can't/won't communicate in any other way).
* [[EmbarrassingFirstName Pecker]] the {{m|ixAndMatchCritters}}onkaw from the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' series.
* Loulou and Coucou from the ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games are both capable of giving you hints, and appeasing their wishes is required to progress in both games in which they appear.
* In Chapter 5 of ''VideoGame/StarTropics'', you meet Peter, the talking parrot. You have to bribe him with worms to get him to talk, and what he says is a clue to the puzzle in Captain Bell's tomb. He's also the great-grandson of the original Captain Bell's pet parrot.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVII: The Black Gate'', parrots have only a few lines of normal conversation (putting them on the same level as most town guards...) but if you threaten them with a gavel, they will tell the location of the hidden treasure in a bid to get you to spare them. Curiously, ''all'' parrots in the game know this secret, so perhaps they have a terrifying hive mind going.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', you can teach a parrot (Or a kestrel, because it's really just a palette swap.) to talk, and your sims can have full-on conversations with it once it learns. Of course, it, like your Sim, will still be SpeakingSimlish.

* Creator/EmilyShort's InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Glass|2006}}'' features such a parrot--as the protagonist. You're locked in a cage, but by saying the right words at the right time you can influence the train of thought of the people talking in the room, and make their conversation reach one of the different outcomes.
* There is a talking parrot in ''VideoGame/TheUltimateHauntedHouse'', found in the menagerie, who gives hints to complete the game. It can be fed items in order to make him lay eggs, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential attacked, tortured, or fried by electricity to create a "roast bird".]]
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series backstory, there existed a race of [[BirdPeople Bird Men]] native to what would become the Imperial City Isle in central Cyrodiil. When first approached by [[OurElvesAreDifferent Aldmeri]] explorers, the Bird Men spoke back in [[ConLang Aldmeris]], surprising the Aldmer. However, they quickly realized that the Bird Men were only repeating their own words back to them. Despite this, the Aldmeri were able to teach them to actually speak their own words and to write, for which the Bird Men were grateful. [[MightyWhitey They declared Topal, the leader of the Aldmeri explorers, to be their lord and offered him their islands]].
* The titular raven of ''VideoGame/MyFriendIsARaven'' has conversations with [[PlayerCharacter Lutum]].
* ''VideoGame/CastleForestIslandSea'' has three talking birds: blackbird, robin and ''owl''. And they're chatty.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* With ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' being a regularly down-to-earth cartoon universe, [[TalkingAnimal talking animals]] simply don't exist here. However, due to parrots being able to mimic human speech in real life, Sergio gets a pass and the writers are allowed to exaggerate his "human" traits as much as they want, to the point where they've basically turned him into an [[LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy equal among the humans in the world]].

* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}'', where all the parrots are able to actually talk, but none of the humans can understand them. In fact, they [[AnimalTalk can actually talk to other birds and animals]], but they cannot talk to people.