Talking parrot stuns scientists. (BBC)

[Kutjara]

Another kick in the teeth to human "superiority" and exceptionalism. When will we realize that we aren't all that?



<snip>

The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour. He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do... N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.

About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if N'kisi could read he would be able to cope with a wide range of material. He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is often inventive.

<snip>

More about this fascinating creature here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3430481.stm

[crim son]

1. No way.

This is the most interesting thing I've read all day. I want to see that parrot in action.

[Kutjara]

2. Incredible, isn't it?

When I read about him making little jokes, the top of my head nearly flew off.

[crim son]

5. What I really, really enjoy

are discoveries that confound scientists and reshape the way we look at our world. An animal with a sense of humor!

I think I've suddenly become a vegetarian. :think:

[Kutjara]

7. It kind of reinforces my suspicion...

...that the only reason more animals don't talk is because they have nothing to say to us. ;)

[crim son]

10. I admit I have been a nonbeliever.

I am going to have to think about this, truly.

[lildreamer316]

11. Can't you just hear them??

"Man. There they go again. I mean; how many times can a human repeat a behaviour before they learn? Or die?
Hope they let me at the food soon..." <rolls eyes>

[jilln]

43. Yeah, their mothers told them that

if you have nothing nice to say, you should just say nothing ;-)

[WritingIsMyReligion]

47. They really are crazy-smart, crimmy.

My own Grey is a bastard of a bird. :D

[hunter]

52. Parrots are a violation of everything dogs stand for.

Our own dogs look at our parrot and you can almost see them thinking, "If there is a devil, he looks like YOU!"

And the parrot laughs, and she likes it that way. She is a master of dog intimidation.

She will also intimidate any person who is intimidated by birds. You really have to be the boss, or she will walk all over you.

But once you win the battle she is very affectionate, just enough that you put up with all the damage she does.

Awful, awful, creatures, parrots.

[Momgonepostal]

3. Very cool!

I'd love to see a video clip of that bird.

[Kutjara]

6. So would I.

It must be mindblowing to see linguistic originality coming from a being whose brain is supposed to be too small to be capable of anything except imitative behavior.

[qnr]

4. Very interesting. Thanks for the link. n/t

[qnr]

27. I love being the only one that doesn't get answered in almost every thread

Not that I said anything interesting in this one, but still....

[Kutjara]

29. I'm sorry qnr.

It was remiss of me not to acknowledge your response. :hi:

[qnr]

57. S'ok, I was just in a mood, it wasn't really important :) n/t

[Pithlet]

8. Very cool.

I love parrots, and I've always wanted an African Grey. My late grandfather had one and it was so intelligent, just an amazing bird, so it never surprises me to see stories like this.

[reyd reid reed]

12. My SIL has one...

damn thing bites. But she's smarter'n a lot of people I know, so...

:shrug:

[lildreamer316]

9. WHAT is that movie with this concept???? Something about Pauly??

Now I have to go look it up. This very thing happened in the movie.
Oh; that's weird.

[Kutjara]

14. It certainly is weird.

Imagine if cats could talk. They already look at us like we're something they scraped off their paw, but if they could put it into words, they'd be devastating.

"Are you really going out wearing THAT?"
"How about you bring back some Ahi tuna this time instead of that canned crap?"
"What were you thinking when you named me 'Fluffy'?"

I'd never recover from the inferiority complex.

[lildreamer316]

28. Oh dog.

:rofl: :rofl:

[jmowreader]

60. Bad cat joke

An old woman was walking through a flea market when she sees an old Aladdin's lamp. She buys it.

When she got it home, she rubbed the lamp just for the hell of it and the genie came out. She received the standard three wishes.

Wish 1: to be rich. Done.
Wish 2: to be young and beautiful. Done.
Wish 3: she pointed at her cat and asked that he be turned into a handsome prince. Done.

The handsome prince walked up to her and whispered in her ear...

"I bet you're sorry you had me neutered."

[u4ic]

13. I've read about this parrot before...

Alex is another intelligent African Grey. Dr Irene Pepperberg has been researching parrot intelligence for over 20 years: http://www.alexfoundation.org/index2.htm

(African Greys are the most intelligent, and are the best talkers)

The poor thing is plucking himself. :-(


Parrots are truly amazing creatures.

[Kutjara]

15. Thanks for the link.

I really want to read up on these amazing animals, and that looks like a great place to start. :hi:

[u4ic]

21. I have TONS of links

I used to have cockatiels, and a Moustached Parakeet (that's not him, btw):




His name was Rev, after Reverend Jim. He was a rescue, and not particularly friendly. Didn't talk, but muttered to himself while swinging upside down in his cage. :D



Check out a couple of these videos - they're not of African Greys:

http://www.capeparrot.org/ (go to pics, then movies)

http://www.petparrot.com/ (look under movies, then check out Roscoe singing)

[Kutjara]

23. Thanks! It's lovely to see these guys in action. nt

[u4ic]

26. If you want more links,

just PM me and I'll send you some more. :hi:

[Kutjara]

31. Yes please!

I'm really curious about these wonderful birds now. It would be great if you can point me in the right direction to find out more.

[u4ic]

32. Sure

I'm off to bed soon, so I'll go through my links and send you some tomorrow.

They are so special. Though I wouldn't buy one from a pet store (only a breeder), I often visit them in pet stores. You might want to do the same, see them up close and personal; most will take them out for you to hold.

There are also rescue groups that usually need volunteers, if you're interested. :hi:

[Kutjara]

33. Thanks! I can't wait.

I don't think I'd buy a bird, because I have a thing about keeping wild creatures in captivity (particularly ones that can fly), but I'd certainly be interested in volunteering to help ones that have been harmed or abandoned.

[pitohui]

55. yeah with great brains come great neurosis

i don't know why african greys are such pluckers but they are, it's a common issue for them

i guess they are a bit highstrung, there's a lot going on upstairs with them

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. If we're so effing smart, why can't we talk with them?

:shrug:

Great story! Thanks for the link!

[Kutjara]

25. Maybe they'll talk to us a bit more...

...if we stop killing so many of them and destroying the habitats of the rest.

Most of the animal kingdom has probably given up on us as a a good experiment gone horribly wrong.

[BarenakedLady]

17. Totally cool

I truly believe we have no idea what goes on inside the brains of animals or how smart, cognitive, empathetic, etc. they are. Which is why I can not justify (I'm my own mind, for myself) eating a chicken any more than I can justify eating our closest living relative the chimp, or the dog, or the cat, etc...

[crim son]

18. I never before believed that.

I bought the idea that their ability to... hmmmm... have human-like emotions was nil and that anything that looked like it was a response to abstract thought was reflexive, inborn. I was wrong.

Pass me that mushroom wrap, would ya?

[BarenakedLady]

19. Hehehe

A convert! Yay! :bounce::bounce:

[Kutjara]

20. I agree. We always seem to be trying...

...to understand animal intelligence in terms of our own. We never seem to think that it is we who may be cognitively limited, not the animals.

I sometimes think that the world's animals are part of an observation network put here by an alien species, to observe our behavior. That would certainly explain the looks my pets have given me over the years.

[BarenakedLady]

22. "So long and thank for all the fish"

as the dolphins said ~ Douglas Adams

[Kutjara]

24. Indeed. We should keep an eye out for...

...any "raptured" animals. It may be the only indication we get that the Constructor Fleet is coming through.

[pokerfan]

30. One of my favorite Far Side cartoons

Two dolphins in a tank, being watched by the white-coated scientists. Blackboard in the background on which they've been making notes about the sounds the dolphins have been making. The scientists are trying to decipher dolphin language, and the caption is "There's some more of that 'Se Habla Español' stuff".

[Der Blaue Engel]

34. I've always thought it absurd that scientists disregarded bird speech as mere mimickry

I have cockatiels, which have much more limited vocabulary and less clear speech than the very smart African Greys, but still, it was obvious to me within days of getting the first one that he was using the words and phrases he picked up from me in logical ways.

For instance, as soon as he met my cat, he decided she was his mate, and designated her "pretty bird," while I only rate "bird." :D

[Kutjara]

35. It certainly seems like brain size is a poor measure...

...of brain performance. There isn't much space in a parrot's head, yet they manage to process some very sophisticated information with what they fit in there.

I wonder what evolutionary pressures developed their cognitive abilities. It seems a need to communicate quite sophisticated concepts was a necessity at some point in the species' life.

[u4ic]

38. Their environment

No question.

For example, one of the Macaws favourite nuts only mature once every 5 years. They have to remember what trees they are - in the vast Amazon rainforest.

There are many, many other examples, but that one came to mind.

[Kutjara]

39. Fascinating.

That could require the development of an entire geographical, spacial and taxonomic lexicon. "Words" for kinds of tree, other features like rocks and rivers to help with direction-finding, degrees of ripeness, a sense of temporality. All in a brain the size of a large prune.

[pitohui]

56. it's because they are adapted to flight

the mammalian brain is quite inefficient, think about how much brain can be removed in some surgeries w.out causing permanent damage or think about people you know who have had strokes to damage part of the brain yet have mostly or even fully recovered

with birds there's basically no duplication of effort, it's very space efficient

as for larger parrots, the need to communicate is similar to the need to communicate in the primates -- they are a long-lived species that reproduces infrequently and a lot of their time is spent in social behavior, bonding through crosstalk and grooming each other, and so on, when you have a monogamous species where pairs may have to work together and work with the larger group for many years to successfully raise young it makes sense that you would need the greater communication skills

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

36. Johnny Carson once had a talking dog on his show

I think that was back in the late 1960s when I saw it. There was a woman who had trained her dog to say "I love my mama" on command. It kind of came out, though, like "arf-arf-arf ... rye-ruv-rye-rara".

[Kutjara]

37. He must have been Scooby Doo's voice coach. n/t

[RebelOne]

40. Lots of talking dogs on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Talking+dog&search=Search

[Digit]

41. I have an African Grey, although not nearly as smart as this one

She often says to me, "You're so BIRD". I don't know what that means, but I can tell she is saying it affectionately.
Another day I was on the phone and she screamed, "I want out right NOW!"
I had to explain to the person on the phone that it was my bird talking and not some child I kept in a cage.

[dropkickpa]

42. Link to hear N'kisi

http://www.sheldrake.org/nkisi/nkisi1_text.html

Link to N'kisi project main page http://www.sheldrake.org/nkisi/index.html

[u4ic]

54. Thanks!

[peekaloo]

44. A bigger vocabulary than Condi!

and a sense of humor.

[stuntcat]

45. rock on N'kisi!

N'kisi the Cool

[WritingIsMyReligion]

46. Awwww....he's a plucker.

:cry::cry:

I :loveya: Greys. They fucking rule!

[otherlander]

59. We shouldn't be keeping these things in captivity.

;loveya: Pretty birdcreatures...

[ironflange]

48. Found some vids, good ol' Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0wN_kH0amA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gClHT_vVsY

Search there, there are lots of them.

[eyepaddle]

49. That is so f***ing cool

thanks for the heads up! :)

[Strawman]

50. Wow

That's amazing.

[ironflange]

51. The most famous parrot of all

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-gClHT_vVsY

Lovely plumage!

[Dukkha]

53. the talking cats are really freaky

makes you wonder what happens in your home when you're at work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV6DQuEh4UQ

[Deep13]

58. Usually, though, the bird just randomly quotes Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[Evoman]

61. I'm a scientist, and I'm not stunned. Maybe a bit skeptical.

But if it is true, which it may very well be, I won't be stunned. Whats with all the stunned scientists, anways.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

62. Churchill's parrot is still alive

And says things like "Fuck Hitler", according to a news item from a few years ago.

[Kutjara]

65. Unfortunately not.

It seems to be a bit of a scam:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3417353.stm

[LostInAnomie]

63. Well, that's got me beat.

Damn.

[Bucky]

64. For God's sake don't let the Republicans find out about this bird!!

At 950 words he'd talk circles around Bush and they're already out looking for a viable back up for when McCain explodes on himself.

[Oeditpus Rex]

66. '...and parrots started to announce television programmes'

"It's eight o' clock and time for the news."







Good evening. Here is the news for parrots. No parrots were involved in an accident on the M1 today when a lorry carrying high-octane fuel was in collison with a bollard. That's a bollard and not a parrot. A spokesman for parrots said he was glad no parrots were involved.
The Minister of Technology today met the three Russian leaders to discuss a £4 million airliner deal. None of them went in the cage or swung on the little wooden trapeze or ate any of the nice millet seed. Yum, yum.

[Godhumor]

67. Oh I know a bird with an evil sense of humor...

I don't know what kind or its name, but...

When I lived in rural Japan an older woman had a talking bird that she kept outside in a cage. The house next to her kept a dog on a very short leash outside (an unfortunate treatment of dogs, but one that is very common in Japan.). This bird would mimmick a cat's meow over and over until the dog was in a fury at which point it would leap towards the "cat". Of course, the dog hit the end of its leash, choke itself, and lie back down again. The bird would watch all of this, wait for the dog to calm down, and start meowing again (my friend and I used to eat our lunch outside to observe this bird.).

It also immitated squealing car breaks and would make a point of screeching when the kids at the local elementary school would cross the street. It even got me one winter when riding my bike to work. I heard a car screech behind me, twitched my hand breaks, crashed on the slick road, and rolled to the curb thinking i was about to be hit. Instead, I looked up and saw the bird watching me with interest.

I miss that bird.