African Grey Parrot - Mimicry and Intelligence

Mimicry and Intelligence

Unlike other parrots, wild African Greys have been documented imitating the calls of several other species.

Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research with captive African Greys, most notably with a bird named Alex, has scientifically demonstrated that they possess the ability to associate simple human words with meanings, and to intelligently apply the abstract concepts of shape, colour, number, zero-sense, etc. According to Pepperberg and other ornithologists, they perform many cognitive tasks at the level of dolphins, chimpanzees, and even human toddlers.

Many pet Congo African Greys learn to speak in their second or third year. Timnehs are generally observed to start speaking earlier. Both subspecies seem to have same ability and tendency to produce human speech, but vocal ability and proclivity may range widely among individual birds.

One notable African Grey is N'kisi, who in 2004 was said to have a vocabulary of over 950 words and, like Pepperberg's Alex, was noted for creative use of language. For example, when Jane Goodall visited N'kisi in his New York home, he greeted her with "Got a chimp?" because he'd seen pictures of her with chimpanzees in Africa.

A study published in 2011, led by Dr. Dalila Bovet of Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, demonstrated that African Grey parrots were able to coordinate and collaborate with each other to an extent. They were able to solve problems set by scientists—for example, two birds could pull strings at the same time in order to obtain food. In another example, one bird stood on a perch in order to release a food-laden tray, while the other pulled the tray out from the test apparatus. Both would then feed. The birds in question were observed waiting for their partners to perform the necessary actions so that their behaviour could be synchronized. It was also noted that the parrots appeared to express individual preferences as to which of the other test birds they worked with.