I went to a seminar on CAG training taught by Dr. Pepperburg. One of the funnier Alex stories she told was about a fundraiser where she was showing people all the things that Alex could do...
She gave him a spelling test. He spelled the word correctly. She gave him a grape as a reward. He promptly spit out the grape, and told her, "I want a nut!" She didn't have any nuts, so she said "Not now, I'll get you a nut later."
She gave him another word. He spelled it correctly. Gave him another grape. Again, he spit it out and said, "I want a nut!" ["So here I was, a PHD tenured professor, ARGUING WITH A BIRD, over his reward, at a fundraiser..."] Again, she explained that they were out of nuts, but if he was good, he would get one later...
She gave him a third spelling word. He spelled that one correctly. This time after spitting out the grape, he threw a little fit. "I want a nuT! N-U-T! NUT!
(He actually spelled it out for her... humans can be so dense!) And then refused to do anything else the rest of the night, until she went and got him his nut...
SO, sometimes we train the bird, and sometimes the bird trains us. It is a two way street... "You left me alone! Now you must be punished."
With a cognitive creature in the house, it is a human/bird "RELATIONSHIP." Parrots have no concept of "ownership." [You own me.] Their concept is "You are my person. I love you. I am loved by you." This is nothing more than I didn't see enough of you yesterday...
AND THAT IS THE KIND OF INTELLECT YOU ARE DEALING WITH HERE.
