Best Talking Parrot Dies

Alex, quite possibly the world’s “smartest” and best talking parrot, died recently (September 2007). Alex had worked with Dr. Irene Pepperberg of Brandeis University for thirty of his thirty-one years. With her training, he had accomplished feats that had never been imagined possible for a talking parrot.

The Talking Parrot’s Achievements

An African Grey parrot, Alex had developed extraordinary abilities. Among these were abilities such as:

* count to six on his own
* speak more than 100 words in proper context
* understand a zero-like concept
* identify shapes
* identify colors
* understand size relationships such as smaller and larger
* understand absence of something
* understand concept of different and the same

Talking parrots are common, but talking parrots with such abilities are rare. Training them requires, as Dr. Pepperberg admits, a great deal of patience.

Reportedly, Alex had not yet reached his potential in thinking ability. Shortly before his death, the talking parrot had completed one more study on numbers. He had also begun a project involving so-called optical illusions.

The Talking Parrot’s Final Words

The night before Alex, the talking parrot died, he ran through his usual bedtime parting phrases.

“You be good. See you tomorrow. I love you.”

They were his last words to Dr. Pepperberg. They were ritual, similar to a husband and wife closing the day with, “I love you. I love you, too.” No one knew the talking parrot would be dead the next day.

Teaching or Training

There is a difference between teaching a talking parrot and training one. Most people train a parrot to talk. The human does most of the work, with the parrot acting more or less as a tape recording. The parrot performs for the reward.

Alex participated in his learning. Like a student in a classroom, this talking parrot listened to the teaching, and learned from it. He was excited to learn. He performed for the joy of learning new skills. In this way, the African Grey differed greatly from most talking parrots.

Another Alex?

Are there plans to teach another talking bird that may someday replace Alex? Dr. Pepperberg revealed that she plans to continue work begun with her two other African Grey parrots: Griffin and Arthur.

Will Griffin or Arthur someday become a gifted talking parrot such as Alex was? Dr. Pepperberg said she believes “they have the potential, and we’ll just have to see what happens.”