Alex the African Grey parrot and subject of landmark studies of bird intelligence dies at 31
This just tears me up, and I cannot IMAGINE what Dr. Pepperberg must be going through about now. The average lifespan for African Grey parrots is 50-70 years so it is very strange for him to have died so young with no explanation. She and he together have challenged many assumptions about the nature of cognition, language and the ability of non-human animals to think and communicate in ways previously believed to be reserved for the 'humans only' club. I know she'll continue to do great work, but Alex started it all...
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Mamabeek
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3 comments:
Okaaaay, that's too weird. I just posted about Alex on my blog! But then I went one step further and added story about me to the post because it's all about me.
I can't imagine the shock to the good doctor. From the news articles I've seen there was absolutely no sign he was ill. She probably assumed Alex would outlive her.
No doubt she did, and he should have!!!
Our little green Gus, who is of course not a Grey, but a Senegal Parrot, isn't as clever as Alex was. Or rather I should say AR and I haven't worked with him to determine if he might be... but he's pretty damned brilliant for someone with a brain the size of a walnut! It never ceases to amaze me how well he communicates, but what amazes me more is to what lengths people will go to deny that anything else can think the way we do. Clearly all that forebrain does something or other up there, or I'm in deep shit career wise, but clearly it's a matter of degree.
Example conversation with Gus (note that in our house, unlike in Dr. Pepperberg's lab, the BIRD gives the orders) who shares Alex's love of nuts.
"Treat time! Gimme nut."
We ignore him
"Can you hear me? Come over here."
We still ignore him (He asks for treats constantly)
"I said come over her RIGHT NOW!"
We walk over and offer a grape
"SCREECH! (throws grape) Gimme NUT!"
We comply with a cashew
"Thank you." (well this one only follows about 1 out of 10 treat sessions, but he does thank me for his breakfast every morning.)
omg, that conversation with Gus is like having a small child! How funny!
Hey, I hope you're feeling a bit better.
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