Parrot Intelligence Survey

[Rambosmother]

Can you help with some research my child is doing for school? He is researching the intelligence of parrots. My Quaker can respond in context.

1. Does your parrot respond in context rather than just mimicking? Can you share an example?
2. What kind of parrot is he?

Your feedback is invaluable. He needs to collect data but we don't know anyone else with parrots that we can canvass.

Thanks

 

[Owlet]

Hey I don't have a lot to offer since my parrots don't talk a ton, but I fully suggest looking into "Alex the African grey" he's a superstar on this topic. A simple Google search would bring up information on him.

 

[bug_n_flock]

I don't know about talking in context, but my cockatiel certainly understands in context(he doesn't talk). Let me copy and paste from what I wrote in another thread:



"Oh, young tiels and early stages of bonding, I remember those days. <3



Alex doesn't have many tricks, just practical things we have learned together thru the years(never really "trained" him trained him. I was only 11 when I got him.).



He knows "hold"(turbulence expected, hang on tight buddy), step(ususally I snap twice before presenting my finger and telling him to step), shoulder, put your wings down, show me your foot, other foot, gimmie five, show me your wings, what are you doing, where are you, ay quit that!, I'll be right back, I'm only going over here, etc etc etc. I more talk to him than give commands, and he seems to understand quite a bit from context. For example the other day he found a comfy perch on a weird wall we have in the bedroom between the bedroom proper and a weird 2 person bathtub(no door between, and the "wall" has holes in it like a window but with no pane, the mobile home came with the property so the weird "[jacuzzi] tub" freaks us out a bit... we converted it into an enclosure for our tortoise. Lmao). I told him fine, you can stay there but no eating the wall! After a bit he started chewing the wall and I was like, "hey! What was our deal?" And he gave me this look like, oop! I'll be good, mom. And quit eating the wall. Now he only "eats the wall" when he wants something and I am ignoring him(food, whatever I'm eating, water, bedtime). If he wants food that I'm eating super badly, he will waddle his happy butt on over and try to steal it(Alex has never been much of a flyer).



The other day I watched him pick up the paper towel bedding, hold it with his foot and peck at something under the bedding. I wanted to test if he knew what he was doing so I moved him, and put a small amount of millet under the paper towel. He pretended to be busy elsewhere, and then slowly went back to the spot, watching me all the while, pretending to be distracted along the way when he caught me looking, and then finally waddled straight to the spot with the millet and repeated the pick up towel, hold with foot, eat the food action. WOW. Object permenance, object manipulation, comprehention of the mind on an "other" and that the "other" may have different thoughts about him taking the food... just wow. Even having known this bird for 17 years, he surprises me with his mind all the time, and remember: Tiels are supposed to be on the "stupider" side of parrot intelligence. It just blows me away. Parrot cognition is FASCINATING to me. "



Freedom also seems to understand a lot(blue and gold macaw). When she came to us she knew "mmmmm"(anything edible), and she asks for tasty things like that. She knows "wanna scratch?" And asks for scratches like that. She understands what "wanna" means, and I have used it like, "wanna mmmm?" "Wanna come out?" And she seems to understand. She *right away* picked up when I said "wanna mmm? Go home, get down on your perch" and has also understood "wanna come out? Get on your perch". Obviously understands cause and effect like that. I did not target train her or anything like that, and as far as I know her previous owners did not either.

 

[Flboy]

Hi, this is a start:
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/80457-1st-time-got-ordered-around-human-speak-context-p.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/congo-timneh-greys/76609-birdie-practical-jokes.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/congo-timneh-greys/61360-reno-scoundrel.html#post564048
http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/57214-do-birds-know-things.html#post522360

 

[bug_n_flock]

Ahhhahahajaha, flyboy those were hilarious, thanks for pointing them out.

 

[Squeekmouse]

I've got two little genius birds...

Yoda, 2 year old Green Cheek Conure

• He imitates my husband's drinking sounds (Gulp gulp gulp) and he knows that it means water. When he sees water or if he is thirsty he will make the Gulp Gulp Gulp sound. He does this very consistently and does not make that sound any other time.
• He also imitates our laughter, many times he will laugh when my husband and I are talking in a happy tone and so he laughs to join in and make us laugh. The result is that he often laughs at funny things we say, before we've even laughed.

Trigger, 8 month old Congo African Grey
He knows how to say 'Hi!' and 'Peekaboo', he uses these both in context frequently.

• He says Hi when I first approach him, or if he has just flown over to land on my shoulder.
• He has on a couple of occasions said Peekaboo when we were looking for him and he comes out of hiding. Example, we have a loft overlooking out living room, he flew up there and out of sight, We looked around and called out to him, and I heard him flapping so I looked up. He pokes his head over the railing to look down at me and says "Peekaboo!"
• He also LOVES it when my husband trains him to "Come", it's like a game to him. So when he sees my husband, and he's feeling like playing he will call to my husband saying "Trigger! Trigger come! Trigger come!"

 

[GaleriaGila]

Great input above!

Sounds as if you have a budding young scientist there!
My bird does a lot of seemingly in-context verbalizing, too.

If your child is interested in some additional references, here are a few possibilities.

Good luck.

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96897162
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/bird_intelligence.htm
https://www.scienceabc.com/eyeopene...tate-human-soundswords-but-primates-cant.html

 

[noodles123]

11-year-old Umbrella cockatoo-Noodles:
(Yes, mine can respond in context and generate novel sentences)
Here are some examples:

Bird: "whatya' doin'?" me: "cleaning your cage" bird: "thank you"--There is no routine that could have come from.

Yesterday- she said "pick baby up?" (I have never even said that sentence). I call her baby sometimes and in the past, I have said, "do you want me to pick you up?" but she made that sentence and added a questioning tone. I was in the kitchen and she said "hop up" a few times (and I didn't come in) so then she said, "Pick baby up?" and when I walked over, she already had her foot out lol!

Another time, I was giving her nightly meds (which I deceptively called a "chippy"). One night, I forgot to give it to her and she wouldn't settle down and I couldn't figure out why she wasn't ready for bed. Then she said, "wanna chippy! Come here!". Mystery solved--she couldn't go to bed as the routine hasn't been completed and she loves routine. Totally reminded me that I had forgotten her medicine. As soon as the routine was complete, she settled down (it was immediate). It wasn't a sedative or anything lol! Just something I was giving her nightly at the time.

If she sees another bird on our balcony, she will say "a big bird" or "Hi bird" (with her crest up). She also called a moth a "baby bird"!!!

She also calls herself a "bad bird" sometimes when she is naughty. I know she could have learned this before she came to me lol, but I don't call her a bad bird. She is aware enough to label a variety of behaviors as "bad", but mostly it's when she is trying not to scream but then does so anyway (it's like a battle within lol)---she brings her volume back down and then proclaims "bad bird". That having been said, SHE ONLY SAYS "BAD BIRD" when she is in a good mood and trying to be good. If she is mad and screaming, or throwing a tantrum, she won't say it...It's like her version of "sorry, I can't believe I let that slip out!" ha

She greets people and animals when they walk into the room, but only if she likes them (and she has different greetings for different people). When I was visiting my parents, my mom once walked into the room in a white robe with her hair in a white towel, and Noodles did her version of "Helllllloooooo nurse!" (She didn't say that, but she said Hello...in a very sultry tone LOL! They (my mom and Noodles) looked the same and she loved it!

Edit--I made the "hello nurse" reference and then I Googled it because, while I knew what it meant, I couldn't remember why!-- LOL (OMG...it seems that Animaniacs (kids show from the 90s) would not be allowed these days in kids programming today LOL- too many not-so-subtle innuendos and gender/cultural cliches- LOVED IT AS A KID! (Still kind of love the idea of it for the nostalgia and snarky commentary--it is crazy though!!! haha).
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_GltMkjMsM"]Animaniacs - Hello Nurse - YouTube[/ame]

There have been many others as well, but those are the ones that popped into my head first....

You didn't ask about this, but she does use tools as well. She bit off a bit of a toy she never touches, put it in her claw and immediately used it to scratch the top of her head
recently.

Okay, that's the end of my brag-fest! lol

 

[texsize]

Bella my CAG does not usually respond verbally in context but.
If I ask her for a kiss she will respond with a smack noise.
She knows what "red butt shower" means and when I say those magic words she will fly to me to take a shower (she does not get wet herself but mostly likes to look out the window).
When my Son is in the kitchen and he gets a glass out of the cupboard she makes the noise of opening a soda can.
Somehow Bella knows that my coke (drank always from bottles not cans) is the same thing and when I am getting a coke she makes the same noise (opening soda can noise).
She has a very good sense of time. Monday through Friday I always leave the house for work at the same time. I always tell her "have to go to work" so she understands I will be gone for a while. On the weekends Right on time she starts saying "have to go to work" and I tell her "No, not today"

My cockatiels know when I am going to let them out and Lucky definitely knows his name. If I ask them "you want to come out?" they get excited.
If Lucky is in his box and not visible I will call his name and he will come out of his box right away.

Bingo my YNA.
My wife uses Skype to talk with her family in South America. Somehow Bingo knows when she is going to use Skype (maybe he can hear the dialing/ringing noise to quiet for me). When that happens he starts imitating my wife's conversations in Spanish "Hola" etc. etc.

 

[Flboy]

Ahhhahahajaha, flyboy those were hilarious, thanks for pointing them out.

There are some great ones that Birdman666 posted, but I couldn’t find them! A great, where Sally, with the other birds were all outside. A new kid to the neighborhood kept pestering them asking for them to speak, well Sally then blurted out something like, "Knock it off and get out of here!"
And the time Mark made the mistake of taking the smaller birds out first, and Sally, in his voice, gave the poop command! Yes, they were sitting on him, and yes, they obeyed!

 

[Tami2]

Hi,

I believe my grey understands context.

Levi answers yes & no questions.

He anticipates and does respond appropriately.

He also, states 'no' when he is about to do something he knows he is not supposed to do.
He says No & than looks up at me to see if he can continue or stop.

He greets my husband always with, "Hey Buddy, what's going on?" In my husband's voice.

He says, "Hi" or "Good Morning" to me in my voice.

My son will walk into the room and Levi says, "Hey Johnny Luke".
(Actually Levi was the one who pointed out that we call my son Johnny Luke more than John Luke.)

I ask my husband a question and Levi immediately says, "No" in my husband's voice.

Last night there was some garbage on the floor. I looked at Levi & asked, "Levi did you get into the garbage?" He said, "yes" hahaha. AT least he owns up.
Than I said, "you know you're not supposed to go in the garage." he just looked at me.

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it at the moment.

Good Luck & please keep us posted on the outcome of the project. :smile049:

 

[Tami2]

Just thought of something else.

If he is bad, (nasty, fresh or bites) to the point where I have to discipline him, he shows remorse. When I get him after the fact, he constantly leans up & gives me lots of kisses. And he is very sweet after that. Which I think is AWESOME!!

 

[IndySE]

I've done quite a bit of personal research with my green-cheek conure to understand how she thinks.

Kermit says about 6 or so words/phrases and countless mimics (some more intelligible than others), and she can somewhat use them in context, depending on your definition.

I.e. "Be nice!" whenever she is in a mean mood and/or repeated back to us when we say it initially, as though "arguing" with us that she is being nice.
I've known her to say "thank you" when putting her to bed
She LOVES to play "peeka boo" which uses some context. You can initiate it by bobbing your head down, and she'll do likewise -- lower her head down on the "peeee", and popping it up on the "ka boo!"
She will play "microwave" with you. If you press the beeps on the microwave, she will respond in turn.
She will mimic a squeaky door whenever you open the fridge
She mimics the slider whenever someone is going in/out

I suppose the point is that while she makes these sounds and says these phrases sometimes for the joy of it, she does use them depending on the situation as well.

I've also tried to teach the bird 2 word sentences in the past. I had these colored rings, and was/am still trying to get her to set down, pick up, or bring the color I ask her to bring. She has a hard time putting it all together, though, so that might be at the limit of her intelligence. Still, extremely clever bird -- I wound up unintentionally teaching her fetch.

 

[john8terry]

Can you help with some research my child is doing for school? He is researching the intelligence of parrots. My Quaker can respond in context.



1. Does your parrot respond in context rather than just mimicking? Can you share an example?

2. What kind of parrot is he?



Your feedback is invaluable. He needs to collect data but we don't know anyone else with parrots that we can canvass.



Thanks

Consuela, my QP, turns 1yr old on 27June. She has just learned, "Where's my grape?". Of course I give her half of a grape, but only three per day. She says it and she gets plenty of praise as well as the clicker. Pavlov, you know. 8 -)

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