Parrot's oratory stuns scientists | BBC

[Ediacara]

Parrot's oratory stuns scientists

By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent


Feathered prodigy: N'kisi leads
the field

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's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy, feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine.

N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.

More at the BBC

This is probably the least shocking news I've heard all day :-) Parrots are smart, good communicators, and have senses of humor? Stop the presses!

[rfranklin]

1. That's nothing! I hear...

they've trained a chimp to make SOTU speeches!

[arwalden]

8. Nicely Done, RFranklin...

funny!

-- Allen

[rock]

9. True

but they really shitty speeches.

[Occulus]

33. Ow.

That one bit me. :)

[eyesroll]

2. My parrotlet laughs

At first, she only did it when one of us were laughing. She'd laugh right along with us. (It's not a direct mimic -- it sounds like a higher, faster, more staccato version of her regular "chip.")

Now, though, she'll do it on her own if she finds something amusing. Like if I drop something. She finds that hilarious.

[Ediacara]

4. My parrot thought he was the funniest thing with feathers

He was very playful, and laughed like it was going out of style. His pronunciation was not so good, but his vocabulary, both English and parrot was extensive and we both knew what we were talking about :-)

This news item telling us that parrots have extensive vocabularies and *gasp* seem to have a sense of humor :-) It's shocking I tell you!

[Beetwasher]

6. Same thing w/ my first parakeet

He would laugh up a storm all on his own...At first he was mimicking my laugh but it definitely evolved...He had quite vocabulary too...

My newest little one is only a year old, but she's learning quickly! She's already talking!

Incredible little critters!

[TheDebbieDee]

63. It's shocking I tell you!

Yeah, you're shocked, but what about awed? Are you awed, too?

[schultzee]

38. We do not yet know how to really measure animal's consciousness

and I think when we can, we will be shocked. My dog understand an enormous number of english words and how fast he learns them is amazing to me.

[mhr]

3. I Have Always Believed There Is More Going On In Animals Heads

Than we give them credit for.

Just the fact that animals have personalities suggest some cognitive capability alone.

The higher mammals all try to communicate in any way possible. Anyone with a dog or cat knows this.

We also know that dolphins are highly curious, problem solvers.

One wonders what it would be like to be in the head of a dog or cat for just one hour.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. And there are definitely differences in intelligence among dogs

My family had dogs who could:

1) Open doors (working the doorknob) with their paws and teeth

2) Tell family members apart by name ("Go wake up Lydia.")

3) Communicate every conceivable emotion

4) Understand words that were important to them: dish, Frisbee, tie up, go for a ride, go for a walk, water, out.

[FlaGranny]

12. And haven't we all had cats who

tried hard to open doors by jumping up to the doorknob. They know the doorknob is what opens the door. A few of them even figure out how to twist the knob and actually open the door.

[Suspicious]

24. My cat does this every morning!

I leave for work, and as soon as I get outside the door and lock it, I hear her jump up and try to turn the knob. She is absolutely convinced that she'll get it open one of these mornings...I figure she wants to see where I'm going. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. One of the Sci Am Frontiers shows was about animal intelligence

and the question of whether an animal can figure out what's going on in someone else's head. Recognizing someone else's consciousness, so to speak.

When I was in grad school, we had a cat who used to wake me up every morning by knocking the pencil cannister off my desk.

I think that cats are very intuitive. They been slandered as being aloof and uncaring, but during the times that I've lived with cats, I've always found them to be right there when you're upset and need comfort.

[GinaMaria]

42. mine opens the stereo cabinet and turns on

music with his nose. Can't work the volume knob though so I keep it way down so he doesn't blast me out at 4 AM. He's trying really hard to figure out the door knob.

[pacifictiger]

49. I had a cat

who would turn the light switch on and off - intentionally.

[SharonAnn]

68. Our doors have levers and two of our cats open them.

One used to sit on the dresser (near the door) and bat at that lever for what seemed like hours until the door opened. After a while, he got the whole thing together and now he just walks up to the door, stands up, puts a paw on the lever, and pulls it down at the same time he pushes/pulls the door. Unvelievable!

Another cat seems to have learned it from him.

[JPace]

13. "Understand words"

I have read that intelligent dogs can
memorize and understand up to 40 words
and their meanings. Our dog loves his
ball and we try to avoid talking about
it when we don't want to play as he gets
excited thinking he will get to play.
So when we used the work we would spell
it to each other, now he is recognizing
the spelling and gets excited....go figure!

[Zero Gravitas]

18. more

we had a dog that understood at least 90 words. Of course most of them were related to food...

[roguevalley]

37. our dogs understand all kinds of word for food/eat. then we began to

spell them and they got those too. Love parrots. They
are hysterical babes.

[RebelOne]

29. I am fairly sure that my dog understands just about

everything I say. As an example, she refuses to go outside when it is raining. Yesterday, it was raining here and I tried to get her to go outside to go potty. Well, after a lot of coaxing, she just shook her head as if to say "no way."

[Benhurst]

11. I agree with you totally. That's what made me become

a vegetarian.

I've always thought any species smart enough to visit us from outer-space would be so much more intelligent than we are, that we would be seen by them as just a good source of protein.

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

59. Tell the Colonel at KFC

Jason Alexander told them they should improve conditions of their animals! they stopped his ad campaign after he did.

What if aliens had Human Mc Nuggets
....mmmm
tender white meat with special dippin sauce!

I'm against eating our friends

always tell folks :
Don't eat any Body !

[Beetwasher]

5. I Love Birds!

This is no surprise to anyone who has pet birds. They are very intelligent. I'm going to go home tonight and spend some quality time w/ my parakeets!

I've seen N'kisi before and she's really something, though I'm skeptical of the telepathy claims...

[Mari333]

10. all we human animals have to do is listen

I have a parrot who yells for food, sings opera when I play music, and mimics all the talking on the phone she has heard..she also demands attention, and walks around the house as the Queen of the house..the dogs and cats are terrified of her, and rightly so, she can bite their noses off and they know it..
One of my cats grabs me by the arm when he wants tuna
I can always tell, instinctively, when one of them is in trouble, also.
I like having this family of non human animals. They do speak, in their own way, and they make my life a constant source of happiness in a world gone mad with humans and their need to destroy every other species but their own.

[BeHereNow]

17. AMEN!

Me too Mari- three cats, three dogs and several horse
friends.
Prefer them all to most of the people I know.
As a matter of fact, my fur friends out number my
skinned ones.
One of my kitties does the arm grab too.
He also walks the keyboard on my piano
when he wants me to play.
He then gets on top of the piano and "sings"
while I play.
Too cute...
BHN

[Mari333]

19. I long ago decided that non human animals

are my mentors..what I aspire to be as a human animal, they show me..compassion, love, and joyous wondernment of life.
Innocence
edit to add: sometimes I think the human animal, as a species, just cant get rid of its own egotistical arrogance and large massive frontal lobe and cranium that seems to be denying other species their right to existence. We , as humans, are a very recent species on the huge scale of existence, and luckily, life will go on past our arrogance.
think in "Universe" time. =)

[hatrack]

14. "Awk! I'm running for president! Awk!"

Hell, he couldn't be any worse than the current occupant, and would certainly be more fun to be around.

[alfredo]

15. There is a PBS special

called "Look Who's Talking."

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/parrots/

I bet they have it at your local library or video store.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/parrots/html/body_iloveyou.html

[Kat45]

53. That's a great video. I have a copy I bought through PBS.

I never get tired of watching it; I love it!

[BeHereNow]

16. I LOVE this story!

Thanks so much for sharing it!
I absolutely believe that critters have some
form of telepathy.
I have had far too many experiences with my
own pets to doubt that they possess highly
developed abilities in the perception of frequencies
of energy that we do not.
BHN

[ElsewheresDaughter]

40. i also believe this to be true...

[Miramar]

20. Thank you ever so much!

This thread has been incredible. Gives me hope for the human race when I hear about people appreciating their non-human companions.

[Robb]

21. My sister-in-law's BF

has a parrot that used to live with an uncle that eventually died of emphysema.

You can almost guess where this story is going... the parrot will still to this day, for what appears to be no reason, mimic this horrible cough, followed by screeching "C*cksucker!!".

It's hard not to laugh, because it's so wrong....!

[Zomby Woof]

56. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goddamn, THAT is the funniest post of the year. :D

[Endangered Specie]

22. 950 words.. better than your average freeper

[SheilaT]

23. A cat of ours

used to have several different distinct meows that indicated specific needs: the food dish is empty, the water bowl is empty, and the litter box needs cleaning. She also had a meow that was clearly her name for me. Everyone in the family could recognize it.

And this was not an especially brilliant cat. Dogs seem to be much better at understand human language, and I've been extremely impressed at times.

Some years back I had an African Gray for a while, and she'd do things like the telephone ringing and the sound of the toilet flushing.

[Tracer]

25. My cat speaks too!

This cat was a rescue (she was found behind a gas station in the dead of winter).

Her vocabulary of meows is extremely distinctive! Each "cat speak" means something that is absolutely understandable.

A sample:

"Eek? Eek?!" (My other cat has approached to closely).
"Yaaack!" (For cripes sake, hurry up with the food already)
"Ur? Ur?" (Softly spoken into my ear in bed in the morning, meaning "are you awake, yet?)

[Occulus]

35. Our cat does this also

He has his own words for 'play' 'hello' and so on. Thing is, he's half Maine Coon, and so... our cat will bark at us. In fact, the bark is his word for 'play'.

brrrrr-RUF. brrrrrrrrrrRUF. (roll the 'r', like a vocalised drumroll)

So, just now, in the middle of this post, I went up to my cat (who is asleep) and just lightly stroked his head a couple time. The cat groaned a bit, crossed his paws over his face, and curled up some more, as if to say "leave me alone, Daddy, I'm trying to sleep."

Too cute.

[Lorien]

31. My dad's cat did that too!

He (the cat) actually could say "Brad", "Lynne", "Wayne" to call various family members. Very cute. :-)

[Fovea]

26. AwwwK! N'kisi wants a regular verb!

I suspect I know humans who would be improved by a 950 word vocabulary.
Tense formation is a sign of the understanding of time. Which I am not surprized by, but the use of tense rules in a manner that Chomsky would consider correct is very sophisticated I am a more than a bit surprized by this.

As a child, I was taught without a doubt that bird speech was simple mimcry. If this is true, then a huge hunk of conventional wisdom just joined Atlantis at the bottom of the sea of discarded myth.

[Pikku]

55. Chomsky would totally approve

The irregular verb + ed ending is a mistake that most toddlers and second language learners make. It demonstrates that they have disassembled past-tense verbs and made a rule about how they are formed. It shows that the speaker understands what a verb is, and like someone said before me, it demonstrates an understanding of time.

That little detail, saying flied instead of flew, assuming that the parrot arrived at it the same way a toddler would (by listening to adult human language and building rules from it), would destroy our current assumptions about the differences between animal and human communication.

It is conceivable that the bird's owner taught the form to the bird, knowing the sensation such a phrase would make among linguists. I'd like to think that the bird came up with it itself. If so, it would be a BIG deal.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

27. exactly ;like my african grey...smart as a 7 year old...once my son

brought a new kitten home and Jazz's cage is always open and next to the stairs...the kitten was on one of the steps getting ready to pounce on Jazz'z cage while he was eating...Jazz came out of his cage walked across the top and ove the side leaning towards the kitten he screams "HEY! GET OUTTA HERE!"...the kitten ran like a bat outta hell

another time my 16 year old daughter comes out of the bathroom wrapped in nothing but a towel and walks past Jazz on her way up to her room and Jazz give a huge wolf-whistle!...he does this only when someone is in some state of un-dress...

every morning during the school year he say "sweetie pie time to get up...wake up...donald wake up..get up" and then with Jazz having better hearing than humans lets the children know when the school bus is coming "the school bus...school bus!" and when they come home as soon as they walk in the door and for the first 15 minutes of their arrival home he says, "do your homework ...do your homework sweetie pie"....he only says this during the school year and refrains from it on weekends and during summer breaks

we keep a perch for Jazz out on the patio in the summer...one day the kids threw a ball to close and frightened Jazz...he flew to the top of an 80 foot maple tree and sat there all day singing "i'm sittin on top of the world...sittin on the world"...i had to cook some pasta to intice him down

he is an incrediable bird and we love him dearly....has a great sense of humor too..and the mouth of a longshoreman...calls my hubby a "douche"...sometimes an "effing douche!" depending on his mood :shrug:

[Beetwasher]

28. That's awesome!

My birds love pasta too!

[Mari333]

36. wow!!!!!!! what a story!!

amazing. just amazing.

[nolabels]

58. If the story wasn't so off the wall, I would say you're making it up

But knowing truth is stranger than fiction who would of ever thought lintballs and his roids were ever going to get hit up for being a drug addict?

[fertilizeonarbusto]

30. True story

My grandfather's macaw, Coco, whom he found injured in the Colombian jungle and adopted and nursed back to health (He had a permit to carry livestock and plants across borders because of his work) had not seen me for 14 years and called me by name the first time he saw me. We were all blown away except my grandfather who always had great faith in animals' intelligence. I'm happy to report Coco is alive and well and living with my dad. He's exactly my age and will doubtlessly outlive me.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

39. yes my african grey will out live me by at least 60 years....he is 8 now

they can live 75 years

[Beetwasher]

41. Some even longer

There was just a story about Churchill's parrot still being around. The little critter is over 100 (109 I think) and still talks like Churchill! She says stuff like "Fuck the Nazi's!" I'm not kidding!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

46. holy crap 109?my great grandkids will be able to hear my words ....kewl

do you have a link to the story?

[mmm]

32. Now THIS is what I call good news

[Lorien]

43. Hey, we need any scrap

we can get these days!

[treepig]

34. what's up with all the parrot threads lately?

it seems like only a couple of days ago (although i can't locate it right now) that there was a thread about finding hitler's 104 year old foul-mouthed parrot.

on edit, i think it actually was churchill's parrot (and the foul-mouthed part came into play when the bird was speaking of hitler - anyway, who would have thought that godwin's law would apply to a thread about parrots?)

[Snazzy]

65. that story

F*** THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT

Jan 19 2004

EXCLUSIVE (UK MIRROR)

By Bill Borrows


SHE WAS at Winston Churchill's side during Britain's darkest hour. And now Charlie the parrot is 104 years old...and still cursing the Nazis.

Her favourite sayings were "F*** Hitler" and "F*** the Nazis". And even today, 39 years after the great man's death, she can still be coaxed into repeating them with that unmistakable Churchillian inflection.

Many an admiral or peer of the realm was shocked by the tirade from the bird's cage during crisis meetings with the PM.

But it always brought a smile to the war leader's face.

Churchill bought Charlie - giving him a boy's name despite the fact she was female - in 1937.

She took pride of place in a bizarre menagerie of pets including lambs, pigs, cattle, swans and, at one point, a leopard.

He immediately began to teach her to swear - particularly in company - and she is keeping up the tradition today.

The blue and gold macaw is believed to be Britain's oldest bird.

The title was previously thought to belong to 80-year-old Cokky the cockatoo.

But it can be proved Charlie is at least 104 and was born in the 19th century.

Peter Oram bought her for his pet shop after Churchill died in 1965. But he was forced to move her into his home after she kept swearing at children.

For the last 12 years, she has lived at Mr Oram's garden centre in Reigate, Surrey.

Centre worker Sylvia Martin said: "If truth be told, Charlie is looking a little scruffy but she is very popular with the public. We are all very attached to her."

James Humes, an expert on the late PM, said: "Churchill may no longer be with us but that spirit and those words of defiance and resolve continue."

[Judi Lynn]

45. Thanks for the parrot injection. Wonderful creature. Needed that! n/t

[LifeDuringWartime]

47. wow

all of these bird stories you people have me thinking... i wanna get a parrot! :)

what's a good website to learn about parrot (or otherwise) care, etc?

[alfredo]

51. Bird Talk magazine is pretty good.

http://www.animalnetwork.com/birdtalk/

Start off with something you can handle. A parakeet is a very good bird, a Cockatiel is a fine bird, but not much of a talker in many cases, but very friendly and easy to care for. The large birds can be a handful for the first time owner. You need to learn their body language, and a bit of behavior. Cockatoo's can be very jealous, and have attacked friends and family members if they get too close.

[kskiska]

48. My daughter uses her Walker Coonhound as an indicator

when she forgets whether the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty. She opens the door, the dog walks up to sniff the dishes. If she licks them, they're dirty. She knows how to open the screen door, then the inside door with the French handle. She cries when we drive past Burger King and I don't stop at the drive-thru.

[ElementaryPenguin]

50. Whadya wanna bet it could whup Chimpy in a debate?

I'll bet it makes less gaffes, sounds more sincere, and doesn't need a teleprompter!!

:evilgrin:

[Vadem]

52. My mother's cat uses the toilet!.....

Three cats were dropped at my mother's house on Good Friday seven years ago when they were about two weeks old. My Mother fed them around the clock every two hours with a bottle. They think she is their mother, as right they are! She bought a kit from the cat catalogues on how to train your kitties to use the toilet. It consisted of a cardboard ring that you placed on the toilet seat with kitty litter underneath, which you removed after the kitties learned to jump on the toilet and use the kitty litter there. The cardboard ring eventually disintegrated and my Mother stopped using it, thinking the kitties hadn't caught on. Last September, when I was visiting my Mother, I heard water running in the bathroom very near the kitchen as I was passing by. I looked in the bathroom and saw that Sneakers was up on the toilet seat stradling it, with a definite trickling sound. He was actually peeing into the toilet! I was convulsed with laughter and motioned my Mother to come quickly and see what was happening! That was the first time we caught him actually peeing into the toilet. It has happened many times since. When she visits my house, I now leave the toilet lids up, which I don't normally do because I personally know of three people who have had rats in their toilets from the sewer line, trying to get out into the house. I have had a phobia about since then and keep my toilet lids closed. But, if Sneakers wants to pee in the toilet instead of the litter box, I have tried to smother my fear of rats getting out into my house, just to accommodate Sneakers! Isn't that a riot?? Out of the three cats my Mother adopted, at least one, the biggest one at 18 pounds, learned their lessons!

[Kat45]

54. Why are they so surprised? Don't they know about Alex?

Some of you may have heard about Alex, an African grey who has been studied for a number of years by Dr. Irene Pepperburg. I believe she's still studying him and also has some younger greys she's studying. They've been on news shows and animal shows a number of times; I also have a video of them, and I think there may be a book out as well. I would certainly think these scientists would know about Alex, in which case I don't see why they are so surprised at this bird's abilities.

Alex has an extensive vocabulary and shows that he understands what he's talking about. He is able to identify shapes, colors, and numbers. I believe there's an Alex website, but I don't have the time to find the link right now. If you google Alex the African grey, you should be able to find it.

[nodehopper]

57. Can he be president instead of The Shrub?

[NickB79]

60. Telepathy?

Huh?

[GinaMaria]

61. Parrot story

A man who frequently adopted and cared for animals from the local shelter received a call from the shelter one day about a Parrot. It seems the shelter was having difficulty placing the bird in a home. The man had never owned a bird, but was intrigued by the idea and agreed to adopt the Parrot.

As soon as he brought the Parrot home, the parrot started swearing. The parrot cursed worse than a drunken sailor on leave. Morning to night the parrot cursed and used vulgar and vile language. The man grew frustrated. He told the bird to stop. To which the parrot responded by saying something lewd about the man's mother.

Some time passed without improvement. The man could not invite his mother over. He could not have his girlfriend visit because the parrot was so offensive.

One day frustration got the better of the man. As the parrot spewed a long string of obscenities, the man grabbed him and put him in the closet. The parrot did not stop. He grabbed the bird again and put him outside and shut the door. The parrot cursed louder and the man feared his neighbors would complain. He took the parrot back in the house and in a final act of desperation he shoved the parrot in the freezer.

The parrot continued his rant but suddenly went silent. The man couldn't believe his ears. Finally, peace and quiet. But it was too quiet. He panicked that he had killed or hurt the bird. He slowly opened the freezer door and peeked inside. There stood the parrot.

The parrot spoke first. He said "I hope you can forgive my recent outbursts. They won't happen again I assure you. My behavior has been rude and offensive. I am grateful for the opportunity to be your pet and hope to never cause you embarrassment again. May I exit the freezer now?"

"Sure" said the man. Curious what brought about the change in behavior, he was about to ask when the parrot asked,

"By the way, what did the chicken do?"

[ElsewheresDaughter]

62. LMAO that is a very funny story...thank you

[9215]

64. Is this linked to the Kennedy assasination?

This is from the book "The Man Who Knew Too Much."


George Bush, a Texas oilman in 1963, is also found on the periphery of the assassination. As noted earlier in this book, his name appeared in George de Mohrenschildt's personal notebook and
bush was a friend of Marina Oswald's translator, Ilya Mamantov. When George Bush became CIA director (1976-78), Nagell is on record as having written to him about Robert Morrow's book "Betrayal"

The White House has denied that the president was the "Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency" idntified in a Novermber 1963, FBI memorandum as having been briefed by the FBI on the reacton of Miami's Cuban exiles. But there is no denying the existence of another recently released FBI memo, which begins:

"On Novermber 22, 1963, Mr. George H.W. Bush, 5525 Briar, Houston, Texas, telephonically advised that he wanted to relate some hearsay that he had heard in recent week, date and source unknown. He advised that on James Parrott had been talking of killing the President when he comes to Houston."

An FBI investigation into Bush's charge failed to turn up any connection whatsoever tying James Parrott to the assassination. Parrott was then an active member of Houston's Young Republicans, who had been involved in picketing members of the Kennedy administration. Bush was then serving as campaign manager for future Republican senator John Tower. Since Parrott's group had come out strongly against a then nascent alliance between Texas Republicans and representatives of the petroleum industry, Bush and Parrott were political enemies..... (pp. 709-10)

[sprockets]

66. A wild story of wild parrots (and completely true)

When i lived in OC,Ca.(city of orange to be exact) i had a friend
of mine who was a marine (but retired from the corps) and also a
full blood blackfoot aboriginal.

One day he invited me over to his house near dusk, we went out to
his front lawn and stood there. He said "Wait a few minutes, you're
not going to believe this."

So i'm standing there, sober by the way, and all of a sudden a fair
size flock of about 30 wild and raggedy looking green parrots comes
swarming in around his house, squawking like crazy.

He moves forward about 10 feet from me and tells me to stay put.
Sure enough, these parrots start flying around him squawking like
mad!

Then they all fly up and land on the telephone poles and continue
to squawk while looking at us.

Needless to say, i became very interested in wild parrots, and i
discovered (you can find this out in the audobon book of wild birds
of north america) that there are 100's and maybe 1000's of wild
"talking type" parrots living in the suburbs and parks of the u.s.
Not parakeets, big ass green parrots, which must be the red crowned
or yellow crowned (i recall them having yellow crowns) as described
here-
http://www1.chapman.edu/~wpiper/parrot.html

Now, imagine these animals living in and around suburbs for decades
observing and picking up on human traits and language...very intriguing stuff.

[EFF BrandyWine]

67. This is a great thread...

love stories about birds and animals...but would like to share a story about an abused doberman named Bart. He was rescued by our son and we all fell in love with this truly great "mench" of a canine. He wasn't much for learning tricks...he was too dignified and felt that sort of thing was beneath him. He developed a habit that we found amazing. Every evening when he expected our son home from work he would bring two shoes and put them by the front door, indicating his desire for a walk. Then he would lie down next to them and wait. The odd thing was there was always, without fail, a right shoe and a left shoe...never a match, sometimes a running shoe and a hiking boot, but always a right and a left. He's gone now and is missed, but whenever I see a pair of mismatched shoes, I can't help but smile.