# Parrot N'kisi



## Allegra (Feb 16, 2007)

No way, he beats my Wossname!  BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Parrot's oratory stuns scientists


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## Talysia (Feb 16, 2007)

Wow!  What a wordy parrot!  (I was so tempted to type "who's a clever boy, then?" but I stopped myself.) 

Seriously, I'm impressed.  Animals and birds are a lot smarter than we realise.


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## BookStop (Feb 16, 2007)

Oh, it's not all that surprising is it? Bird lovers have known for a long time that birds are very intellegent, many comparing their intellegnce to that of a 3 - 4 year old child. That's one of the reasons it makes me so mad when people keep their birds caged with little outlet for play, or keep the birds where they can see the cats. Even if the cats can't get to them, it's horrible to think that the birds probably live in fear.

I have parakeets, and while they don't talk, they are extremely smart. They are kept in a room with a closed door to ensure they never even see the cats (in 5 years they haven't), but the  family takes time every single day to play with them. One of Lombardi's favorite games is hide and seek with a ball. We hide it under a paper cup and he has to find it and uncover it to get cheers from us. You should see him puff up with pride at his accomplishment. It's very obvious he is aware of his own cleverness.


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## Talysia (Feb 16, 2007)

I think what impressed me most was that the parrot had such a large vocabulary.  I've long known how clever birds can be - we used to have a lovebird, and he was a very canny creature!


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## Allegra (Feb 16, 2007)

BookStop said:


> Oh, it's not all that surprising is it? Bird lovers have known for a long time that birds are very intellegent, many comparing their intellegnce to that of a 3 - 4 year old child. That's one of the reasons it makes me so mad when people keep their birds caged with little outlet for play, or keep the birds where they can see the cats. Even if the cats can't get to them, it's horrible to think that the birds probably live in fear.
> 
> I have parakeets, and while they don't talk, they are extremely smart. They are kept in a room with a closed door to ensure they never even see the cats (in 5 years they haven't), but the family takes time every single day to play with them. One of Lombardi's favorite games is hide and seek with a ball. We hide it under a paper cup and he has to find it and uncover it to get cheers from us. You should see him puff up with pride at his accomplishment. It's very obvious he is aware of his own cleverness.


 
Bookshop, you'd be surprised. My African grey parrot Wossname (whose photo I posted under the Picture of the Day thread once) has no fear to my dogs at all, worse, one of his favourite games is whooshing above their head like a fighter jet or throwing a peanut or a piece of apple to them then laughing madly when they pick it up. He is so clever sometimes it's almost creepy! I have never really thought of him as a bird. Every night when I leave the living room (he lives in a large cage there but gets flying around every evening) he would say 'G'night!' and in the morning he would say 'see you!' when I'm on the way out. Very articulate with a very human voice. Oh I have loads of stories about him.


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## gigantes (Mar 12, 2007)

wow, this parrot seems to have gone beyond the level of even alex, the most famous bird in the world (and another congo grey).

the best i've heard of animals being able to construct sentences is a couple orangs and chimps who can say something like "amy orange amy want want orange amy" when they wish a human to pass them a fruit.  but it sounds like this bird actually has a working grasp of correct english sentence-structure.  utterly amazing.

anyway, here's some audio of nkisi playing with her human companion:
Nkisi Audio Text 1

parrots are probably the most talented and uncanny mimics among animals, but interestingly crows are apparently even smarter.  it's quite possible both families of birds will be recruited in the future to aid humans in surveilance and bomb control and things like that.  i'm not saying i'm happy about that, only that there's a chance of it happening.  IIRC rats with videocameras are being used right now for these kinds of tasks.


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## Milk (Mar 12, 2007)

True Story- this happened a few years ago.

I lived in Fullerton California a year ago where Crows are quite common.
When my oldest dog was a puppy there was this squeeky toy he was obsessed with, shaped like a tiny badger. The sounds from it sent him into crazy doggie spasms. When I squeezed it to make the squeeka squeeka sound. He literally did backflips in anticipation of ripping it apart. It drove him so completely nuts he eventually ripped out the device inside the toy that made the squeeky/ whistling sounds and swallowed it which really concerned me. So to keep my dog from harms way ( I didnt want him to choke).. I had to ban these types of toys from the house. 
Some time after the ban on squeeky toys, I was coming home from work and I heard my dog barking really loud as I was pulling into my driveway. I rushed through the house to the backyard as fast as I could thinking it was an intruder. I heard squeeking, lots of it ,and lots of crazy, manic barking. My pup was going insane and running around in circles chasing his own tale. I was confused as to what was happening. I mean I had thrown out all the toys like that, the ones which make that sound. What could be happening?!? Then I looked up...
Sitting on a telephone wire above my yard. A crow. Making a squeeka squeeka squeeka noise! I couldnt beleive it. It was an exact mimic of the dogs toy. Needless to say, I chased the crow away, and it cawed at me and flew off, and my dog calmed down...

Now I have to ask. This Crow had a sense of humor?!? huh? Its the most intellegent thing ive ever seen an animal do, and it was just to mess with my dog, or perhaps me? Ive never witnessed an animal behave like this before or since. Its one thing to do something intelligent, but to play a sophisticated prank on another animal.. just because its funny?


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## gigantes (Mar 12, 2007)

haha- great story.  i'd love for you to post it in the "one time" thread.

yes, crows are extremely playful, mischevious and curious.  in particular one member of the crow family, the magpie, has a reputation for prefering to adorn its nest with objects stolen from human habitations.

here's a video of a *male* crow that saved an abandoned kitten:
YouTube - Cassie and Moses


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## Talysia (Mar 12, 2007)

A lot of birds have more intelligence than people give them credit for. Crows and Magpies are definitely smart birds, or at least, the ones where I live are.  I've seen documentaries about intelligent birds (this was a good while ago now), and some of the things they were able to do was quite surprising.


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## Allegra (Mar 13, 2007)

Milk said:


> True Story- this happened a few years ago.
> 
> I lived in Fullerton California a year ago where Crows are quite common.
> When my oldest dog was a puppy there was this squeeky toy he was obsessed with, shaped like a tiny badger. The sounds from it sent him into crazy doggie spasms. When I squeezed it to make the squeeka squeeka sound. He literally did backflips in anticipation of ripping it apart. It drove him so completely nuts he eventually ripped out the device inside the toy that made the squeeky/ whistling sounds and swallowed it which really concerned me. So to keep my dog from harms way ( I didnt want him to choke).. I had to ban these types of toys from the house.
> ...


 
LOL that's so funny! You can imagine the agony my two dogs experienced by living with Wossname the African gray and Pablo the Amazon parrot! However since they've been together for a few years the dogs more or less learned to ignore the continuous teasing, except Pepper still gets edgy when Wossname orders her - 'Pepper, Noooo!' or 'Stop it, Pepperrrr!'  Speaking of the intelligence of birds, they never cease to amaze me. Wossname is a wicked bird, extremely mischievous and cunning and talented. He can read my mind at anytime and always knows when to say what, with the articulation better than many people!


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## Allegra (Mar 13, 2007)

Just to add, despite all the learning about the birds and the fun with them, I hate to see any birds in cage not even a canary. I think the business of breeding birds as pet (not to mention illegal trapping and smuggling) should be stopped, though it's a wistful thinking. Wossname landed on me as a result of friends custody battle during their divorce; Pablo was sitting in a dirty cage in a shabby pet shop when I first saw him, he gave me his head to scratch and looked at me full of hope so I had no choice but to get him out of that miserable place! They have been living in large cages in my sitting room and having flying sessions in the evening. Still, sometimes when I look at them I feel sad for these incredibly beautiful and intelligent creatures confined in capacity instead of flying in the sky nestling in the trees and breeding babies!


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## BookStop (Mar 13, 2007)

Milk said:


> Now I have to ask. This Crow had a sense of humor?!? huh? Its the most intellegent thing ive ever seen an animal do, and it was just to mess with my dog, or perhaps me? Ive never witnessed an animal behave like this before or since. Its one thing to do something intelligent, but to play a sophisticated prank on another animal.. just because its funny?


 

A friend of mine used to have a Minah bird that took great pleasure in calling to the doberman. She'd call and call, and once Fraulein(big, scary dog)came, butt wagging, the bird would laugh and laugh and laugh just like a human. She would also call the cat, "Here kitty, kitty.", but the cat learned quickly the sound of her voice.


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## gigantes (Mar 13, 2007)

Allegra said:


> Just to add, despite all the learning about the birds and the fun with them, I hate to see any birds in cage not even a canary. I think the business of breeding birds as pet (not to mention illegal trapping and smuggling) should be stopped, though it's a wistful thinking. Wossname landed on me as a result of friends custody battle during their divorce; Pablo was sitting in a dirty cage in a shabby pet shop when I first saw him, he gave me his head to scratch and looked at me full of hope so I had no choice but to get him out of that miserable place! They have been living in large cages in my sitting room and having flying sessions in the evening. Still, sometimes when I look at them I feel sad for these incredibly beautiful and intelligent creatures confined in capacity instead of flying in the sky nestling in the trees and breeding babies!


so many parrots have escaped or been released by their owners (they can easily outlive humans, after all), that enough parrots of the same species have found each other and started communities in several cities.  the communities have grown so large that giant flocks of parrots are routinely seen winging to and fro.  this is also fairly noteworthy because parrots are typically tropical animals, and many of the cities in question have rather cold climates.

at least one movie has been released on this subject, about the relationship between a bird lover and the local flock in telegraph hill, san franscisco.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u258/nicolasb1966/WildParrotsofTelegraphHill.jpg


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## Allegra (Mar 14, 2007)

Thanks for the movie info, gigantis. I remember I saw something about it on TV. Amazing. Imagine seeing flocks of macaws and Amazon parrots and cockatoos flying in the city, would it be paradise-like? It won't happen in Malta. The climate is okay but the environment is not. Too many predators from stray cats to crazy hunters who will shoot at anything that moves!


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## gigantes (Mar 14, 2007)

wow, malta.  right below the soccer ball!

now here this bird has turned the tables:
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u258/nicolasb1966/20070115-Mattingly_bert.jpg


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## Allegra (Mar 15, 2007)

Just found a BBC video of a Lyre bird who mimics other birds and camera shutters and chainsaws! Absolutely amazing! 
YouTube - Attenborough - Lyre Bird


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## jackokent (Mar 15, 2007)

Allegra said:


> Just to add, despite all the learning about the birds and the fun with them, I hate to see any birds in cage not even a canary. I think the business of breeding birds as pet (not to mention illegal trapping and smuggling) should be stopped, though it's a wistful thinking. Wossname landed on me as a result of friends custody battle during their divorce; Pablo was sitting in a dirty cage in a shabby pet shop when I first saw him, he gave me his head to scratch and looked at me full of hope so I had no choice but to get him out of that miserable place! They have been living in large cages in my sitting room and having flying sessions in the evening. Still, sometimes when I look at them I feel sad for these incredibly beautiful and intelligent creatures confined in capacity instead of flying in the sky nestling in the trees and breeding babies!


 
My sentiments exactly.  For me it would be like putting something with the inteligence of a baby in a cage and leaving it for hours alone.  Even when it was played with, it would be with no one who really understood it (as clearly that would only be another of it's own kind).  To make matters worse, this intelligent baby has wings... but in it's cage it can't use them.


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## gigantes (Mar 15, 2007)

Allegra said:


> Just found a BBC video of a Lyre bird who mimics other birds and camera shutters and chainsaws! Absolutely amazing!
> YouTube - Attenborough - Lyre Bird


wow... add them to the parrots, mynahs and crows as superb mimics.

i liked this anecdote from WP (wikipedia):


> In 1969, a park ranger, Neville Fenton, recorded a lyrebird song, which resembled flute sounds, in the New England National Park, near Dorrigo in northern coastal New South Wales. After much detective work by Fenton, it was discovered that in the 1930's, a flute player living on a farm adjoining the park used to play tunes near his pet lyrebird. The lyrebird adopted the tunes into his repertoire, and retained them after release into the park. Neville Fenton forwarded a tape of his recording to Norman Robinson. Because a lyrebird is able to carry two tunes at the same time, Robinson filtered out one of the tunes and put it on the phonograph for the purposes of analysis. The song represents a modified version of two popular tunes in the 1930's: "The Keel Row" and "Mosquito's Dance".


the WP page also shows that the lyrebird has its own coin, and i now that i think about it, i believe a lyrebird was one of the featured characters in an old arcade game, "rock n' rope".


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## gigantes (Mar 22, 2007)

clever crows:
YouTube - Attenborough - Crows in the City


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## Curt Chiarelli (Mar 22, 2007)

Everytime I see a bird I cry, "Dinosaur"! One can only imagine what could have been had that meteor missed our planet 165 million years ago. Our ancestors' potential would have remained supressed and we would be now scratching out a sustenance living in a sewer drain whilst bipedal dinos developed culture, civilisation and technologies that took them to the stars . . . .

For a long time scientists have dismissed claims to animal intelligence as little more than anthropomorphism, but any pet owner will tell you otherwise. Nothing annoys me more than people who arrogantly assume that we humans are Nature's last word in superior biological engineering.

I'll bet you that little N'kisi's briliance is a new stage in his species' development. The next stage will be full conversations with humans. The lesson contained in this article seems to be that all lifeforms contain enormous, untapped, latent potential. All it needs is a chance to flourish.


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## Dave (Mar 22, 2007)

This time it's a cat talking:
Ananova - Cat can say his own name

There is a difference between mimicry and actually using language. Anyone remember that dog on _That's Life_ that could say "Sausages"?

I'm not sure about all these examples being given, they aren't the same as Chimpanzees using sign language.


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## gigantes (Mar 22, 2007)

well, yea... the parrot was clearly more clever than the sign language-using chimps.

but the crow cracking the nut is clearly showing a great deal of adaptive ability... basically using cars and pedestrian crosswalks as tools.  i mean, that's some impressive intelligence right there.


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