Now this is a pyrate parrot????

[Andre LeClerc]

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.

About 100 words are needed for half of all reading in English, so if N'kisi could read he would be able to cope witha 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?"

School's in: He is a willing learner

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."

[El Pirata]

I remember the parrots in the jungle school zoo in Panama could curse better than any soldier, seaman, airman, or jarhead that I have ever heard, including myself.

[Rumba Rue]

African Grey parrots are highly intellegent. My friend's daughter has one, which I've parrot sat a number of times, and he picks up words very quickly.

But the number one rule in my home and in hers is no foul language (for they be fowl enough) where the birds can hear it ~ they will pick it up. I don't want my bird cussing and saying nasty things....that's for me to do...quietly. :)

Rumba Rue

** **

[Katie Nameless]

That's amazing! I swear parrots are going to take over the world someday. They're going to evolve to three or four feet tall, develop opposable thumbs and just take over the planet. Make us say "Polly wanna cracker" for guests' entertainment. In the distant future. Hey! Some of them are already outlivin' us!

There was actually a bird on the local news a couple of nights ago that was tought pretty much every swear word in the proverbial book. They had to censor this parrot. It was hilarious. Just the situation of a parrot being bleeped out while a microphone is in his face on a newscast.

I didn't catch why it used so many swear words or how someone got it on the news. Probably lived with someone who cussed a lot and it flew away and someone found it and it started swearing it's beak off. Ah, from the mouths of parrots.

[imadrunkenpirate]

I got me a pirate's best friend (he be me baby bird, Skyler)

Cabinlass Maggie

[AkashaZuul]

African greys are super smart, but as a proud pirate parrot parent, I think Ferdinand is definitely in the running for the cutest pirate parrot ever. Ferdinand now says "hi", "chicken", and "Arrrrr!". We're working on "Pirate", "Pieces of Eight", and "Dead Birds Tell No Tales" as we speak. That's his baby photo below; he's now about 8 months old. Ferdie is a cherry-head/mitred cross conure, native to Argentina and Peru. It's conceivable that one of his ancestors could have been picked up as a pet by a pirate in Maracaibo. That pirate would have had a handful. . . they're like small green golden retriever puppies with beaks, constantly playing and getting into trouble.

You can read his rescue story here:

http://www.mickaboo.com/see_our_birds/story.php?id=194

[Saskia]

Wow! I knew parrots were smart, but I didn't know they were that smart. That's fascinating.

yeah they probably will take over the world someday... imagine in a few thousand years there'll be parrots with human slaves, and parrot children in school will be learning about the great interspecies war of 8926.

Except they'll probably change the dating system. I wonder how they would do it... would they start at zero from the point of winning the war? That seems most likely. And they would celebrate parrot liberation day every year, that would be their biggest celebration.

...

sorry I get carried away sometimes

[darkthing]

they probably will take over the world someday...

Someday! It seems like they're starting now, with our house (I be privileged to live w' Ferdinand and AkashaZuul). Ferdinand has just learned how to unscrew the bolts on the little steel carabiner things we use to put stuff up in his cage, so I don't think it'll be long before he figures out the latch on the cage door. Then he may start a'postin' here himself!