Parrot’s Disruptive 3 a.m. Wake Up Call of ‘Five Little Ducks’ Captures Hearts

Quick Smiles:

• A double yellow-headed Amazon parrot named Michael disrupted his owner’s sleep at 3 a.m. with an impromptu concert of “Five Little Ducks.”
• Despite not having lips or vocal cords like humans, parrots can mimic our sounds using an organ called the syrinx and a distinct area of the brain called the “song system.”
• Michael’s early morning serenade quickly went viral on TikTok, amassing over 2 million views and 175,800 likes, resulting in a wide range of funny and amazed comments from users.

@lokovodo

Michael serenading at 3am #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #parrot #amazon #doubleyellowheadedamazon

♬ Michael the Parrots Five Little Ducks – Kasey

If you think being woken up at 3 a.m. by a pet is strictly a matter of barks or meows, you haven’t met Michael, a double yellow-headed Amazon parrot with a knack for early morning songs. A viral TikTok video reveals Michael in full song, singing a delightfully clear rendition of the children’s song “Five Little Ducks.”

But it’s not just the time of day that makes this parrot’s performance stand out. Michael enunciates every word correctly and even replicates the sounds of the ducks in the song. The video caption reads “POV: it’s 3 a.m. but you have a double yellow-headed Amazon. Michael serenades at 3 a.m,” summing up the hilarity of the situation.

Parrots have a unique set of tools to mimic our sounds. Using an organ called the syrinx, situated at the point where the trachea splits into the lungs, parrots can produce sounds similar to ours. Together with the “song system,” an area of their brain dedicated solely to learning and repeating sounds, parrots can perform impressive mimicry. Some species, including African grays, Amazon parrots, and cockatoos, are particularly adept at this. Macaws and Senegal parrots, in contrast, tend to be less prolific.

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