Parrot's oratory stuns scientists

BBC News On Line ^ | 2004/01/26 | Alex Kirby

[aculeus]

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.

He uses words in context, with past, present and future tenses, and is often inventive.

One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for "flew", and another "pretty smell medicine" to describe the aromatherapy oils used by his owner, an artist based in New York.

When he first met Dr Jane Goodall, the renowned chimpanzee expert, after seeing her in a picture with apes, N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"

He appears to fancy himself as a humourist. When another parrot hung upside down from its perch, he commented: "You got to put this bird on the camera." Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal fireworks are an "outstanding example of interspecies communication".

In an experiment, the bird and his owner were put in separate rooms and filmed as the artist opened random envelopes containing picture cards.

Analysis showed the parrot had used appropriate keywords three times more often than would be likely by chance.

Captives' frustrations

This was despite the researchers discounting responses like "What ya doing on the phone?" when N'kisi saw a card of a man with a telephone, and "Can I give you a hug?" with one of a couple embracing.

Professor Donald Broom, of the University of Cambridge's School of Veterinary Medicine, said: "The more we look at the cognitive abilities of animals, the more advanced they appear, and the biggest leap of all has been with parrots."

Alison Hales, of the World Parrot Trust, told BBC News Online: "N'kisi's amazing vocabulary and sense of humour should make everyone who has a pet parrot consider whether they are meeting its needs.

"They may not be able to ask directly, but parrots are long-lived, and a bit of research now could mean an improved quality of life for years." © BBC MMIV

[Johnny_Cipher]

Lovely plumage, the Norwegian Blue ...

[sirshackleton]

This is quite impressive, when you consider that John Kerry only knows four words...Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, and the other I can't remember...some east Asian country...starts with a "V".

[Aquinasfan]

Analysis showed the parrot had used appropriate keywords three times more often than would be likely by chance.

Take him to Vegas. He's on a roll.

[martin_fierro]

The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.

	Industrial Strength Humor
No amateurs, please. Send FReepmail if you want on/off ISHP list

I find that to be ... uh ... to be ... (what's the word?)

[martin_fierro]

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

Well, they had me up to that point.

[SAJ]

This bird could easily pass for a gummint screwel graduate in any number of American cities.

[bmwcyle]

[DMCA]

They how do you explain the split room experiment where the bird performed at 3 times the rate random chance would explain?

[MHGinTN]

This particular parrot was used to assist in teaching a new younger parrot of the same species. The adult was testy at times, supportive at others. At one point, this adult parrot became defensive of his species member, then turned to chide the younger bird!

I can attest to birds being smart ... the Blue Jays born in my trees return to pick up broken Black Walnuts from the driveway, then fly up into the tree to find a suitable fork in limbs into which to place the halves so they can peck at the meat inside. When the meat is gone, they pick up the shell and toss it down, then go for another and return to their crook to extract the meat!

[arjay]

The dead parrot is the funniest bit I ever saw them do.

[blam]

"Well, they had me up to that point."

Yup. Me too.

[martin_fierro]

Tell me what I'm thinking riiiiight now.

[DMCA]

Must post of FR. FR is not addictive. Must post on FR. FR is not addictive.

:->

[bmwcyle]

That and the Cheese Shop

[martin_fierro]

Not even close.

<|:)~

[<1/1,000,000th%]

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

Believe it or not.

[DMCA]

Besides, I didn't say if I believed in telepathy, I just asked how it could be explained.

[TXFireman]

Here's a similar story.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_1822000/1822240.stm

[tiamat]

My daughter just got to see that bit.... she about killed herself laughing... ( She's mildly autistic so jokes are HARD). She keeps wandering through the place talking in a BAD Brit accent and yelling "Helloooo Polly! " and then disolving into a fit of giggles.

Makes my heart sing!

Tia