Tribute to a special alien intelligence right here on Earth

[Linda]

Alex the African Grey Parrot has died after thirty years as a test subject, but more - a companion and a friend of Dr. Irene Pepperberg. They broke barriers in Human/Avian communication. It is reported that Alex functioned at the emotional level of a three year old Human child and intellectually at the level of a five year old Human child. His last reported words to Irene were "I love you". Some people may be skeptical that he knew the meaning of those words, but I am not one of those skeptics.

Here is a short tribute to Alex:

http://www.alexfoundation.org/pdf/A%20T ... 20Alex.pdf

and here is the site of the foundation Alex was part of:

http://www.alexfoundation.org/index.htm

I am very sad about this. My own parrot companion of 20 years is healthy, but I will go home and hug him tonight. He is said to have somewhere between a 40 to 90 year life span, but no one is garranteed their projected lifespan - neither Human nor Avian. Hercule, my parrot, does not say "I love you". But he does say my name and press his beak against my cheek and close his eyes.

[Elessar]

OMG that's incredibly cute. My cat is 14-15 and he's going to live to be 90 too... Know how I know? CUZ I SAID SO!

Pretty amazing that he functioned on the intellectual level of a 5-year old... How common is that among perrots?

[Linda]

Fairly common, I think. I was told Amazon Orange Wings (which Hercule is) have the intelligence of a two year old Human. Maybe African Greys are the peak of parrot intelligence? Maybe Humans underestimate parrots!

[evcake]

You can hug a bird?
I think I saw Alex on PBS once - identifying colors and numbers, talking up a storm. Very impressive.

[Linda]

Yes, birds are hugable. At least mine is...gently. His foot is also like a hand (two toes forward and two toes back) and he will grip two or three of my fingers at once. He is left handed (footed). Also he will untie knots in a length of clothesline I give him by holding the knot with his foot and working it loose with his beak.

[CX]

The only birds i really like are hummingbirds - no sound.

[evcake]

Hmmm...my hummers make a short sharp clicking noise, in addition to the purring of their wings. But I think them the most delightful of birds.

[HopefulRomantic]

Hmmm...my hummers make a short sharp clicking noise, in addition to the purring of their wings. But I think them the most delightful of birds.

"...purring of their wings..." That's lovely. The hummers around here (Anna's and Rufous) sound like really big bumblebees. I usually duck and run until I realize it's a bird, LOL. And when the males are romancing the females, they are noisy. Their singing is a high musical buzzing.

Thanks for the links about Alex, Linda, they were nice to read over. They reminded me of Koko, the gorilla who knows sign language. I've never had a parrot, but I had a parakeet who would sit on my shoulder and nuzzle against my neck. She was a real sweetheart.

My cat is 14-15 and he's going to live to be 90 too...

Just take good care of him and give him plenty of love, hon. My kitties are 16, 17, and 21...

[justTripn]

I saw a program once about the evolution of intellegence in totally different branches of the animal kingdom. It was fascinating. The parrots, the humans and other apes and the dolphins, and octipuses and squid, believe it or not! (Oh shoot, it might have been something just like a squid.) An attribute common to intelligent animals seemed to be "play." Doing things just for the heck of it, because it's fun. For instance the squid would swim over the the researchers each morning and theyed stick their hands in the tank and "wrestle" with the squid. They called them "the puppies."

My sister tells me that once Koko, the gorillia, met Mister Rogers. Koko was a big Mister Rogers fan and when he came into her cage to see her, she was delighted and totally knew who he tryed to take off his shoes, which Mister Rogers let her do! (Just like Mr. Rogers did at the beginning of each program--take off his sneakers and put on a sweater!)

And of course my little doggie is amazing, just like everyone elses.

[justTripn]

AND, when you say alien intelligence right here on Earth. That is one way to think about it. At the first SETI conference (At Green Banks Radio Observatory), you know Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, and friends, they had one of very kind of specialist--an expert in astronomy, an expert in biology, and expert in radio technology, an expert in languages, etc . . . Someone joked, "All we need now is someone who has communicated with aliens!" Someone said, "I know the guy!" It was a dolphin researcher, who had been the trainer for "Flipper." This man was so enthusiastic about the intellegence of dolphins and so impressed the others with his stories that the original SETI group referred to themselves as "The society of dolphins" and took to wearing little dophin pins (if I remember correctly.)

[JadziaKathryn]

A lot of these animals are smarter than we think. (My own cat has my mom and I so well trained that I have taken to calling us her 'pet humans.' I miss her when I'm at school!) Service dogs are another example, too. My cousin volunteered with service dogs, and of course it took a lot of training, but they can learn a lot of things. Now I know that's not quite the same as some of the things dolphins, chimps, and Alex have done, but it's impressive nonetheless. (And very helpful to people with disabilities.)

[Bether6074]

I worked at an animal hospital a decade or so ago. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that the birds don't know what they're saying. The vet there specialized in birds. I got to hold huge owls, pelicans, vultures, macaws etc.etc. while the vet examined them. There was an African Grey there that used to drink Pepsi right out of the bottle. One day I bumped into his cage by accident and he screamed and I quote, "What the %*#%!" And I was like .

[krn]

I'm just glad researchers have given up trying to find reasons why humans are smarter than everything else - 'cause that's just a load of hooey.

[TSara]

My friends Parrot used to say s*** when you would drop something around him

You didn't have to say it.

[blacknblue]

Quick. Somebody define "intelligence" for me. A real workable definition. One that is objective quantifiable and testable.

Seriously. I want one.