Alex - one amazing African Grey
Alex is one of the most famous of African Grey Parrots in history.
Purchased from a Chicago pet store at around just 12-13 months old in 1977, Alex was to work with, and spend the remainder of his life with, Dr Irene Pepperberg, a Research Associate and lecturer at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
Dr Pepperberg studies African Greys with a focus on cognitive and communicative abilities. Comparisons with the abilities of the great apes, marine mammals and young children are at the forefront of her work.
Put simply Alex was an astonishing bird. He was able to count objects to 6 and was working on the numbers 7 and 8 when he passed away.
He knew in excess of 100 vocal labels for different objects, colours and actions and could infer the connection between numbers, object sets and the vocalisation of the number. He had an understanding of phonemes and was learning to read the sounds of letters before he died.
There's so much to see and read on Alex and Dr Pepperberg, the videos on YouTube will leave you in no doubt these birds are super intelligent.
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