Parrot's oratory stuns scientists

BBC ^ | 1/26/04 | By Alex Kirby

[Revel]

BBC:(Picture Below)

Parrot's oratory stuns scientists By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment correspondent 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.

About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if N'kisi could read he would be able to cope with a wide range of material.

Polished wordsmith

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."

All images courtesy and copyright of Grace Roselli.

[Revel]

[Revel]

Well the image showed up in preview. Here is the link:

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39784000/jpg/_39784261_parrot3_roselli_203.jpg

[Keith in Iowa]

It's like Deja view all over again...

3rd time for this one...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1065941/posts is the second, with link to the first...

[explodingspleen]

Bah. Churchill's parrot is more insightful.

[Hank Rearden]

Ummm, this thread's been done already.

We concluded the parrot would be a vast improvement over Sean Hannity.

[Revel]

[JoeSchem]

Odd that six thousand years of human civilization's association with parrots completely missed this -- or is it that we're missing the tiny loudspeakers hidden behind the bookcase?

[Revel]

Well I put the word "Parrot" in the search box and did not come up with....Oh Well.

[Paleo Conservative]

Churchill's parrot is more insightful.

^@Q#$& the NAZIs!

[graycamel]

Bat boy tabloid alert.

[Keith in Iowa]

There's an explanation for that in the link I posted...

[Palladin]

Put a mike on him and let him stand in for Rita Cosby.

[sourcery]

We concluded the parrot would be a vast improvement over Sean Hannity.

You mean that guy on "Vanity and Combs"?

[Rocky]

I'll bet he's a Jimmy Buffet fan.

[Revel]

OK thanks. I thought it did.

[ovrtaxt]

They should teach N'kisi to type and log on to DU. He would fit right in!

[ovrtaxt]

If he's so smart, why can't they teach him to stop pulling the feathers out of his chest?

[pabianice]

N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy

Uh...right...

[night reader]

Put a mike on him and let him stand in for Rita Cosby.

Does he have exclusive sources?

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Get this bird on Pet Stars!