Birds are more complicated creatures than is generally assumed, especially those species that live in flocks. For example, a parrot that was intensively tutored by researchers to understand and use words seemed to have a sense of humor. One day, seeing a raw chicken on the kitchen counter, he chuckled and said “Oh, poor Pablo,” referring to an absent fellow parrot as if that was chicken carcass.
Mr. Mercat and I lived for about six weeks with some friends and their two parrots, Arturo and Farout. They hated each other. Arturo only spoke Spanish and Farout spoke English. Actually they mostly just chattered but Arturo chattered with a Spanish accent. They would stalk each other and each of us. The only animal I’ve ever lived with who could stare down a human. Weird.