How Humans and Birds Make Sound

You make sound with vocal cords at the top of your windpipe, but a bird makes sound deep in its chest, where its windpipe splits in two. In both, the sound then travels up into a hollow space, the mouth or the beak, which shapes it.

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In the picture

Human vocal cords: they vibrate at the top of the windpipe, in the throat.
Human mouth: this hollow space shapes the sound into words.
Bird syrinx: it vibrates at the bottom of the windpipe, where it splits in two.
Bird beak and throat: this hollow space shapes the song.

Examples

Put your fingers on your throat and hum: you can feel your vocal cords buzzing high up in your neck.
A parrot can copy words by shaping the sound from its syrinx with its throat, tongue and beak.

Key takeaways

Humans make sound with vocal cords at the top of the windpipe. Birds use a syrinx at the bottom, where it splits.
In both, a hollow space above, the mouth or the beak, shapes the sound.