To aid with flight, birds' genomes have evolved to be more compact and small; smaller DNA, smaller cells, lighter bird. A side effect of this is smaller neurons, which allows bird brains to be denser.
I think Irene's work is amazing. I was very touched by this story. Who would have ever thought that a parrot would be as smart as a 5 year old child in many aspects with the brain size differences one would assume that the bird wouldn't have a chance. But you know the saying assuming something makes a ass outta you and me.
So birds have many more neurons per square inch than other animals which makes up for there smaller brain size. A dog has about 500 million neurons a cat 250 million and alexs species, a African grey parrot has 3 billion! So in a lot of ways they are smarter than other animals. Humans have about 86 billion by comparison
To the commentor Sharona, you don't put toys in their bed box or in their bed cage. There daytime cage should be separate from their nighttime cage. My wife's parent Mishka, has a huge daytime cage with all kinds of toys and "jungle Jyms" but in her night box she has a heating pad with a small carpet over it and her sleeping perch and that's it.
Matthew C You realize this means that the bird's brain is more impressive, right? Alex's brain was the size of a walnut, a child's brain is just under three pounds.
+Matthew C if intelligence was measured by brain size then animals like elephants or whales would be on top of the food chain. Well they kind of are in the wild.
They didn't give him sunlight and proper exercise. Also fed with seeds for treats all the time. That was a sad parrot, a plucker, they also clipped his wings. They basically tortured him. He had to die to be finally free to fly to heaven. A parrot is not made to live in a laboratory.
First of all, the pet shop clipped his wings, not Irene. She states this in another video. It wasn't her decision. Secondly, he was fed with fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts all the time. He asked for them specifically, too! There are other videos where Alex's food is prepared and he asks for certain fresh foods. I've never heard Alex ask for seeds, ever. I do not know enough about how he was exercised or how much sunlight he received.
Dr Irene gave him 8 hours of supervised roaming every day, a free flow of food and water, and he was able to have anything (fresh fruits, nuts, toys) upon vocal request so means he gets toys when he's awake, but his cage is only for his sleeping hours.
I’m still not convinced about the cognitive part. Almost all animals memorize better than humans, and they were drilling this parrot eight hours a day, six, even seven days a week FOR YEARS. In my humble opinion, he was displaying memorization. He even got some answers wrong, and she found a way, an aspect of the item, that had she have meant it in that way, he as correct, so she played it off. All of these findings need to be discovered and displayed using a different bird AND A DIFFERENT handler in another facility, otherwise, it’s just a fluke,
Not the most convincing documentation. Almost everything they show here, could also simply have been learned. I trust a learned scientist will make sure this is not the case when proving intelligence beyond learning by heart but this documentary does not show that nor is it commented as in e.g. "no matter what shape, color, size relation, previously known or unknown to the bird, the results were the same". Also, a 5 or 6 year old child? There is no denying that Alex or parrots in general may be quite intelligent for an animal that size but only because after more than 15 years of training, it shows a few feats of what a 5 year old accomplishes naming that evidence of intelligence of the level of a 5 year old human is a huge overstatement. Either that or, as discussed, this scienty documentary does a bad job. And as for his popularity: people love cute animals that can do nice, impressive or inexplicable tricks. Why the need to compare it with Michael Jackson or Einstein??? Even comparing the latter two just by name dropping would make no sense.
Sebastian watch the other video where he differentiates different materials for same objects, is able to count specific amount of color in a group, and count specific shapes in a group along with specific colors. He says when he wants water and food as well.
@@tedmich What part of his model/rival routine, fed organic veggies no less, constitutes "endless torture"? Have you ever met an untrained parrot? That beak is a dangerous weapon lol, they can fend for themselves if they have to.
HorseGirlb look how tiny his cage is. and they worked with him continuously for 8-12 hours a day- far too long for a parrot. he asked to go back to his cage and they did not let him. he had feather destructive habits. he clearly was not happy.
@@horsegirlb7120 He was obviously either very stressed or sick. She cared more about getting published and grants then Alex. The condition of birds feathers are one of the best ways to tell if a bird is stressed, sick or depressed. Just look at Alex's feathers, a healthy happy African Grey or any parrot does not look like that. Most likely he is destructive plucking because of stress/depression. Not to mention at 1:32 the cage has absolutely no toys for him to play/destroy so he could let out his stress and frustration. Also he died pretty young, a well taken care of grey can easily live to 50 years some even lived to 80-90 years.
He could tell the bigger number, That must've took a lot of time. He could just confused big with its size, but he actually did choose the bigger number. That's fascinating.
The worst part about watching this video is the section about when Alex died. Having an African Grey myself, it makes me want to break into tears. Greys really are amazing animals both with their intelligence and as companions.
My wife's African gray whose name is Mishka is only seven years old and she is extremely smart! And getting smarter by the day. It's funny how she picks up on things without even being trained or taught. She tells mommy when it's time for bed right at 10 PM every single night no matter if it's daylight savings or standard time she knows when it's bedtime
My 10 month old budgie says "Bedtime birdos!" at 9:30pm every night and will screetch at me if I don't turn off the light, and she says "Here you go!" at breakfast time while waiting in front of the food bowls. She also chases her tail though... and sometimes she likes to just stare at her feet for no reason.
@@vedantsridhar8378 African gray are the smartest birds in the world. It been said they have the Brian of a small human child. So based of that alone like a kid sooner or later will see things just like a human kid and act just as that
These kinds of things are why I don't want to get a parrot as a pet--they're such smart birds, but they're also like children. I'd be constantly worried that if I make one mistake, I'd ruin the poor thing's mind forever.
Just because an animal has a smaller sized brain doesn’t mean that they have less mental capacity. You could train a goldfish to do tricks if you took the time to train. Give animals a chance and they are going to teach you more than you ever could have imagined.
I have ALWAYS thought that animals are MUCH smarter than they've been given credit for. I have seen it with my own eyes with my own pets. I don't mean cats and dogs, although they are smart and I had dogs who could do many things and respond to many things. I mean reptiles, guinea pigs etc. Animals that you wouldn't think were smart. I had an iguana I could communicate with by head bobbing. If you give them the patience and earn their trust, you see amazing things. Even an animal like a toad. In the summer, my outside buddies come out after the rain. The toads will come out if it's just me. If the kids are running around they will hide until the coast is clear. Like how do they know that ? I can pretty much hand feed them insects, even stink bugs 😄 The neighbors call me Sue Doolittle or the toad/snake lady. Patience and trust are the most important things. But I have always been fascinated by animals. Not just the fuzzy ones. They all need our understanding and help to leave them some wild places. We invaded their homes, NOT the other way around. The least we can do is leave them some space since we have taken over so much of their former homes.
My family used to have a parrot in Dominican Republic. He was very smart and used to tease children. He assisted in collecting potable water in the mornings by turning off the connection leading towards the other homes. No one showed him how to do this and I was told he did it out of his own accord. Unfortunately, this task was also very dangerous and at some point he died while doing so.
The parrot probably "teased" children because he had been "teased' by them. NEVER "tease" a pet parrot. They don't understand it is a game, and they will fear and distrust people for the rest of their lives.
And even before bedtime when it's dinner time she tells mommy it's dinner time. She tells mommy when she wants to take a shower. She tells mommy I love you at the appropriate times. And so many other things I could never say in the short little comments
If you want to get to know the relationship between Alex and Dr. Pepperberg more, look for the book "Alex & Me" by Dr. Pepperberg herself. It details a lot more of Alex's personality, as well as some instances as to why he may look plucked.
@@dogman9291 I am reading the book right now. It's very good by the way. There is alot of similar parallels when reading how the burd learns to what I see when children are learning.
She over work him and he do not look well taken care he don't receive enough love. He was only the means for her to shine. I feel sorry for Alex. Clear by his fethers he was Lakin good care.
My families African Grey "GreyStone" passed away about a month ago! And GreyStone's Nickname was "Gracy" we called he that a lot! Gracy and my Mom were very much bonded together! And after Gracy passed away from multiple secures my Mom just broke down in tiers for about an hour! We now have a new African Grey "Paco" we still miss Gracy very much but Paco has bonded with the family just as much as Gracy did.
RIP Alex, a truly amazing bird. I only hope for the best with Irene and her future of animal science. It makes me wonder, though -- Alex was clearly plucking for a considerable amount of time during his life, and his cage did appear too small and under-stimulating... additionally even in these video clips he does beak-wiping, which is a behaviour seen in parrots when they are displacing aggression. Yet, he was constantly given love, affection, stimulation, and attention. I would have thought that such a life would have been okay for a parrot. Parrot minds are so complex, as we now know from Irene and her research, I can't help but wonder if there was maybe just something wrong with Alex. perhaps from his being raised in and coming from the pet store / parrot mill environment? In any case, we now know much more about the complexity and wonder of these amazing animals thanks to Irene and her lab.
Angus Gibson I'd have to agree though that the cage does look rather stark. Also, why was Alex left all alone in the lab at night? That might be stressful to be left alone night after night. Perhaps other birds were there with him in separate cages?
BradZanders A bird demonstrating such intelligence may have had a hard time socializing with the other birds if that had been the case. Just speculating.
Irene had to go away for weeks at a time sometimes. Alex plucked when his "person" wasn't there. A small, unadorned "sleeping cage" is not unusual. He had a lot of out of cage time during the day.
The bird looks stressed u can see it of the body language and feathers. you have to quit in time give those birds a break. I think she pushed too much. a bird (i've seen this on many occasions with my own birds, every species does it even budgies and canaries, always die overnight because they will try to hide their (possible disease(s),
animals are really smarter than we think! My lil shitzu knows what time it’s dark and time to go out on our daily walk and always gets our attention when he knows it time! Idk how he picked it up but he always lets us know at the exact time at 7:00 even with changing back our clocks recently lol
I remember reading about this in a national geographic when I was younger, but I forgot the names of her and the bird and also the magazine. On thursday, I was taking a state test at school and one of the things I had to read was an excerpt from that same article. Finally, I was able to look something up about them.
They should not compare animal intelligence with that of human children, but I understand why they do. That is an analogy most people can understand. But children's intelligence is still developing, while an adult animal is already fully developed. Not to mention children are dumb as fuck. Even animals we consider dumb, like rabbits, can easily outwit a child. Put a child in nature and see how long it survives.
Did he had any kids, That would be a good contribution in their evolution if he had. If you can connect their knowledge with their survival skills they would evolve very quickly.
She wasn't wasn't his owner. She was his friend. That's an important distinction. I watched a baby Orang utan interact with a human baby. It changed my life. WE are animals. Naked apes.
I've seen much evidence that these and other parrots know absolutely what they're saying but more and more over time like children they start by mimics ....then learn meanings....
Animals and birds just as humans learn languages its all done through interaction but humans find it difficult to learn animal language because we dont interact with animals in their natural habitat
In 1988 the person who impacted science the most who died was Dr. Richard Feynmen .Feynmens death had a huge impact to the world even to those who were not connected to physics in any way.
Jess D not saying it’s reasonable or my response is correct but given it was so far ago, the information they had about care may have been different or limited compared to now. So they might’ve been misguided. If someone knows better, please chime in
@@Anna-lp8xs This was in 2007. Information about parrot care was nearly identical to how it is now. This wasn't in 1917, Anna. The world wasn't being torn apart by World War I, we weren't using shillings, and you weren't trying to get a date with young Johnny Johnson despite your parents saying that you were a country girl and you weren't good enough for a city man.
Got me too. My Grey only gets "charming" when petulant isn't working for him. In honor of Alex, I always put him to bed (in his sleeping cage right next to my bed) with, "I love you. You be good. See you tomorrow." I read those were Alex's last words.
5 or 6 year olds don't have bedtimes? If they ran out into the street in the middle of the night, you wouldn't fetch them and confine them right back to that tiny room?
An interesting side note, this was Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s first TV show. The line he opens this segment with will someday apply to him, but he didn’t know it yet.
Our dogs don't speak, but they understand english. I started w KB as a pup. Figured if I told her what was going on, she would understand. She does! Groomer for some reason makes her sad. I am happy my method did get result fm a tiny shih tzu/chihuahua x
That isn't small! No one toy?Alex worked/learned 8-10 hours/day!!For What?He 'read' the e-mails with Irene instead. :) Sadly :( ,Irene's another Grey passed away too..Wart (Arthur) died in 02-27-2013.He was only 14 years old.. She works with Griffin and has a baby girl Grey..April. :) God Bless Them!Dr.Pepperberg is Wonderful Lady!I Wish Good Health to Her,Griffin and little April and the Whole Lab too! Rest In Peace Alex and Wart! :(( Too soon,Dears.. With Love,from Hungarian Grey Fan, Agnes
I'm sad to say that was not a happy Bird....he was feather plucking or over preening most likely out of frustration... To leave him in that stark cage each night is devastating ....birds can often be heard playing....talking....and eating during nighttime ....and her other Bird died at 14 yrs old....something is going wrong here.....very sad😔
You find out that an animal is intelligent and that's what you want to do with it? : < That aside it probably wouldn't be impossible. Pidgeons were being trained to steer missiles in WWII: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon
Oh my he looked in such a bad condition when you see the feathers. 8-12 working hours per day? Plus stating that he clearly showed signs of not wanting to work at times. Why then such a tough 'gruelling' regime? Money? Ambition? I don't know..that doesn't look like a true loving relationship. In the end he was a lab rat that died an early death in a bad physical condition. A smart, interesting, cute, scholarly important lab rat but still 🥺
Ambition truly. The gray parrot back in 2011 was talked about abuse in bird circles. Unfortunately, this type of media is more normalized as nobody reprimands such behavior in this day and age. Look at the most recent comments. Almost none of them mention what you just said.
When birds tear out feathers something isn’t right. This is sad in that Alex was used for her study but he wasn’t happy. Depression among parrots leads to plucking feathers and they get sick. This is sad in that no one let this bird be just a parrot. The size of that cage was well too small. This is truly abusive.
Yes, i also noticed the shedding. He must have been under stress. He deserved better. Ms. Pepperberg, when an animal tells you in your own language he loves you, how does that make you feel now? Should have given hi m a better life like a larger cage and some time for him being just a bird. Sorry.
@@hospitalller You realize that was just the bird's sleeping cage, right? He didn't spend his days in it, he spent them outside, playing with toys and participating in experiments. Watch videos of Alex. He even asks to go back to his cage when he's tired.
If you notice the birds feathers. It looks like he has been plucking or over preening. I understand this is a sign of stress or unhappiness. It’s a common when a bird is emotionally neglected.
I've seen a video of a gorilla asking Mr. Rogers in sign language "What's that flower?" when motioning to his sun shaped cuffed link. Sure they confused a sun shape with a very similar flower shape, but that to me is a legitimate question. (No this wasn't a made up thing for the show, he was invited to come in to a lab to visit a gorilla who was being taught communication. Apparently the gorilla had been shown him on tv before too and enjoyed seeing him. ;p) ua-cam.com/video/cn79Lgfh1hw/v-deo.html
I think it was a remarkable bird but it had nowhere near the understanding of problem solving that the trainer tried to present. The answer to the more complex "How many?" questions was always 4. She never had an uncut, unedited video of a string of questions and answers. There was always preparation and coaching prior to each question and exercise that was never included in the films she distributed. As much as I want a bird to communicate and understand complex tasks, there has never been one. It would change the way of communication if you could tell a bird to fly to a location and relay a message. The closest thing that has ever came to animal-human communication are primates being taught sign language. Koko was the most exceptional animal ever to attempt communication with a human. There are aquatic animals that are smarter than primates but they have no way of communication with humans.
Then you have not watched enough videos. The answer in all these videos is not always four. Other people were invited to ask questions as well. You would have to argue that there was a very big conspiracy and cover-up if you want to say Alex was coached to give certain answers and that he cannot give answers about the quantity, color, and shape of objects within an array.
@@nvh119 i mean, sure, he said a phrase that we know of as a question, but parrots also say "go fuck yourself", i don't think those parrots know what they're actually saying and i don't know if this one does either.
@@Machinae_overture Do your research. It's very clear that the bird knew what he was saying, you can watch videos of him and come to that conclusion on your own. He was not taught the way pet parrots are taught to talk, he was taught the way you teach a child to talk, and that made all the difference. I was skeptical as well at first, but I'm fully convinced after reading into him and watching videos of this bird. The biology of the bird also checks out; birds have far more neurons packed into their brains than other animals of the same brain size. In fact, it's comparable to how many you'd find in an ape brain. Furthermore birds, especially "higher" birds like parrots and songbirds do posess a dedicated language part of their prain. We know it's a language centre because we've used MRIs on them. Why on earth would they have a language centre if they can't comprehend language? It most definitely isn't just mindless mimicry.
Poor parrot, he seemed so stressed, the way he looked towards the end plucking his feathers which is a sign of being under extreme stress perhaps due to his grueling training!
If Irene understood God the creator then she would have understood all animals are smart but limited. They have their existing abilities created by God, just as human has the highest intelligence created by God. Alex is smart not more special than Parrot's existing ability. Adam was to look after all the animals of the earth and plants and gave them names.
This horrible woman is stealing birds, who she knows are intelligent, to lock them in a gaol for her own ego? she is literally a monster, if you thought about her doing what she is doing, to people.
+Frank Wilson though look at what we did before we accepted that other animals are intelligent (and we still do because not everyone knows or cares). we raise them in miserable conditions and slaughter them as our food. we keep them in prisons in what we call zoos and aquariums for money. I mean, human slavery was officially abolished ~100 years ago. but now we know that other animals are clearly intelligent, what's our excuse from now on?
lauroflorin Did you know zoos and aquariums are most of the time for conservation matters? Also, Irene had to move a lot because she needed a grant for this project and a job. She didn't use Alex. Alex was happy with Irene, and they both loved each other. But alas, you are not informed of parrot brains.
She got it from a pet store, meaning it already couldn't possibly live in the wild and the birds that are there not getting a home would be pretty terrible for them. I understand the argument that buying them encourages stores to keep selling them though.
@@lauroflorin human slavery still exists. America also still has cartel. They are not any better than. Non law enforcement cartel in other countries. Only thing is they are called police .
Given the size of a parrot's brain, I guess "bird brain" should really mean "someone who can do a lot with very little".
I agree even if it reminds people of how terrific and incredible Alex was 👍
Clever.
To aid with flight, birds' genomes have evolved to be more compact and small; smaller DNA, smaller cells, lighter bird. A side effect of this is smaller neurons, which allows bird brains to be denser.
omg never thought i would cry over a bird
I think Irene's work is amazing. I was very touched by this story. Who would have ever thought that a parrot would be as smart as a 5 year old child in many aspects with the brain size differences one would assume that the bird wouldn't have a chance. But you know the saying assuming something makes a ass outta you and me.
So birds have many more neurons per square inch than other animals which makes up for there smaller brain size. A dog has about 500 million neurons a cat 250 million and alexs species, a African grey parrot has 3 billion! So in a lot of ways they are smarter than other animals. Humans have about 86 billion by comparison
I love birds especially Alex because he was a member of a loving family and he was so lucky to be chosen by Irene pepperberg
R.I.P Alex 😥
Rest in peace little buddy. I'm just now finding out about him but it doesn't change how amazing and sad his story is.
To the commentor Sharona, you don't put toys in their bed box or in their bed cage. There daytime cage should be separate from their nighttime cage. My wife's parent Mishka, has a huge daytime cage with all kinds of toys and "jungle Jyms" but in her night box she has a heating pad with a small carpet over it and her sleeping perch and that's it.
"Think of bird brain as a compliment" Idk, I still think getting called a 5 year old intelligence wise is insulting.
she also said he was the Albert Einstein of birds
Matthew C You realize this means that the bird's brain is more impressive, right? Alex's brain was the size of a walnut, a child's brain is just under three pounds.
Patrick Lofstrom you need to take brain to body mass ratio into consideration(and other factors too)
+Matthew Cmon it was supposed to sound cool! -.- now youve ruined it.
+Matthew C if intelligence was measured by brain size then animals like elephants or whales would be on top of the food chain. Well they kind of are in the wild.
So kick ass.
Wait… did she claim that Alex would ask questions?
IM GOING TO PURDUE whaaaaaat
He certainly contributed more to humanity that Michael Jackson ever did LOL.
+Pacal Votan Think again.
You're right, okaymckay. Michael Jackson contributed nothing of importance what so ever.
Beautiful music isn't important?
They didn't give him sunlight and proper exercise. Also fed with seeds for treats all the time. That was a sad parrot, a plucker, they also clipped his wings. They basically tortured him. He had to die to be finally free to fly to heaven. A parrot is not made to live in a laboratory.
First of all, the pet shop clipped his wings, not Irene. She states this in another video. It wasn't her decision. Secondly, he was fed with fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts all the time. He asked for them specifically, too! There are other videos where Alex's food is prepared and he asks for certain fresh foods. I've never heard Alex ask for seeds, ever. I do not know enough about how he was exercised or how much sunlight he received.
why was he in a small cage and with not one toy?
Dr Irene gave him 8 hours of supervised roaming every day, a free flow of food and water, and he was able to have anything (fresh fruits, nuts, toys) upon vocal request so means he gets toys when he's awake, but his cage is only for his sleeping hours.
I’m still not convinced about the cognitive part. Almost all animals memorize better than humans, and they were drilling this parrot eight hours a day, six, even seven days a week FOR YEARS. In my humble opinion, he was displaying memorization. He even got some answers wrong, and she found a way, an aspect of the item, that had she have meant it in that way, he as correct, so she played it off. All of these findings need to be discovered and displayed using a different bird AND A DIFFERENT handler in another facility, otherwise, it’s just a fluke,
Not the most convincing documentation. Almost everything they show here, could also simply have been learned. I trust a learned scientist will make sure this is not the case when proving intelligence beyond learning by heart but this documentary does not show that nor is it commented as in e.g. "no matter what shape, color, size relation, previously known or unknown to the bird, the results were the same".
Also, a 5 or 6 year old child? There is no denying that Alex or parrots in general may be quite intelligent for an animal that size but only because after more than 15 years of training, it shows a few feats of what a 5 year old accomplishes naming that evidence of intelligence of the level of a 5 year old human is a huge overstatement. Either that or, as discussed, this scienty documentary does a bad job.
And as for his popularity: people love cute animals that can do nice, impressive or inexplicable tricks. Why the need to compare it with Michael Jackson or Einstein??? Even comparing the latter two just by name dropping would make no sense.
Sebastian watch the other video where he differentiates different materials for same objects, is able to count specific amount of color in a group, and count specific shapes in a group along with specific colors. He says when he wants water and food as well.
Thanks for your armchair analysis I’m sure it will be very beneficial to the scientific community 😆
Sebastian the Asshole.
The "yummy bread" part was so cute!
…and made perfect sense❗️ 💚🦜🤗
Its pretty sad that Alex's last words to Irene were "I love you". Especially because he could have lived for another 30-40 years.
browndd he was 31. his species only has a life span up to 45 years
@@ironicplantactivist6768 actually 40-60 years in captivity*
*if not endlessly tortured to forward an academic career.
@@tedmich What part of his model/rival routine, fed organic veggies no less, constitutes "endless torture"?
Have you ever met an untrained parrot? That beak is a dangerous weapon lol, they can fend for themselves if they have to.
HorseGirlb look how tiny his cage is. and they worked with him continuously for 8-12 hours a day- far too long for a parrot. he asked to go back to his cage and they did not let him. he had feather destructive habits. he clearly was not happy.
@@horsegirlb7120 He was obviously either very stressed or sick. She cared more about getting published and grants then Alex. The condition of birds feathers are one of the best ways to tell if a bird is stressed, sick or depressed. Just look at Alex's feathers, a healthy happy African Grey or any parrot does not look like that. Most likely he is destructive plucking because of stress/depression. Not to mention at 1:32 the cage has absolutely no toys for him to play/destroy so he could let out his stress and frustration. Also he died pretty young, a well taken care of grey can easily live to 50 years some even lived to 80-90 years.
He could tell the bigger number,
That must've took a lot of time.
He could just confused big with its size, but he actually did choose the bigger number.
That's fascinating.
The worst part about watching this video is the section about when Alex died. Having an African Grey myself, it makes me want to break into tears. Greys really are amazing animals both with their intelligence and as companions.
I still grieve for Alex and the abilities undiscovered .😞
My wife's African gray whose name is Mishka is only seven years old and she is extremely smart! And getting smarter by the day. It's funny how she picks up on things without even being trained or taught. She tells mommy when it's time for bed right at 10 PM every single night no matter if it's daylight savings or standard time she knows when it's bedtime
My 10 month old budgie says "Bedtime birdos!" at 9:30pm every night and will screetch at me if I don't turn off the light, and she says "Here you go!" at breakfast time while waiting in front of the food bowls. She also chases her tail though... and sometimes she likes to just stare at her feet for no reason.
Then Alex is no special African grey parrot! I guess all are as smart as him! Just like yours
Parrots are mostly from tropical regions where days and nights are 12/12. A routine they can count on is important for them.
@@vedantsridhar8378 African gray are the smartest birds in the world. It been said they have the Brian of a small human child. So based of that alone like a kid sooner or later will see things just like a human kid and act just as that
@@vedantsridhar8378 lol when I finished the video lol it does mention the kid thing on here
that poor girl playing the "rival" :D
but RIP to a great scientific icon :(
These kinds of things are why I don't want to get a parrot as a pet--they're such smart birds, but they're also like children. I'd be constantly worried that if I make one mistake, I'd ruin the poor thing's mind forever.
They're smart enough that they won't be ruined for a lifetime.
My gray parrot Khaleesi is very smart. She is only 2 years old and can get almost 50 tricks. She learns a lot in a few minutes.
Just because an animal has a smaller sized brain doesn’t mean that they have less mental capacity. You could train a goldfish to do tricks if you took the time to train. Give animals a chance and they are going to teach you more than you ever could have imagined.
I have ALWAYS thought that animals are MUCH smarter than they've been given credit for. I have seen it with my own eyes with my own pets. I don't mean cats and dogs, although they are smart and I had dogs who could do many things and respond to many things.
I mean reptiles, guinea pigs etc. Animals that you wouldn't think were smart. I had an iguana I could communicate with by head bobbing. If you give them the patience and earn their trust, you see amazing things.
Even an animal like a toad. In the summer, my outside buddies come out after the rain. The toads will come out if it's just me. If the kids are running around they will hide until the coast is clear. Like how do they know that ? I can pretty much hand feed them insects, even stink bugs 😄 The neighbors call me Sue Doolittle or the toad/snake lady. Patience and trust are the most important things. But I have always been fascinated by animals. Not just the fuzzy ones. They all need our understanding and help to leave them some wild places. We invaded their homes, NOT the other way around. The least we can do is leave them some space since we have taken over so much of their former homes.
My family used to have a parrot in Dominican Republic. He was very smart and used to tease children. He assisted in collecting potable water in the mornings by turning off the connection leading towards the other homes. No one showed him how to do this and I was told he did it out of his own accord. Unfortunately, this task was also very dangerous and at some point he died while doing so.
wooooow. That's horrible
The parrot probably "teased" children because he had been "teased' by them. NEVER "tease" a pet parrot. They don't understand it is a game, and they will fear and distrust people for the rest of their lives.
Alex was amazing! And so is Dr. Pepperberg! I hope she is able to continue her work for a long time. It is fascinating.
And even before bedtime when it's dinner time she tells mommy it's dinner time. She tells mommy when she wants to take a shower. She tells mommy I love you at the appropriate times. And so many other things I could never say in the short little comments
If you want to get to know the relationship between Alex and Dr. Pepperberg more, look for the book "Alex & Me" by Dr. Pepperberg herself. It details a lot more of Alex's personality, as well as some instances as to why he may look plucked.
Speech therapist here.. I teach children how to talk.. this is facinating
Do you employ similar methods to what Pepperburg used with Alex?
@@dogman9291 I am reading the book right now. It's very good by the way. There is alot of similar parallels when reading how the burd learns to what I see when children are learning.
A birds brain is small but dense with synapses. They are so personal. I am so very greatfull for Irene and Alex.
If parrots had any incentive to somehow record and teach one another learned knowledge.... I wonder how far would they get?
I honestly did not expect to come across Roach Dogg Jr on any video not related to Oney.
She over work him and he do not look well taken care he don't receive enough love. He was only the means for her to shine. I feel sorry for Alex. Clear by his fethers he was Lakin good care.
My families African Grey "GreyStone" passed away about a month ago! And GreyStone's Nickname was "Gracy" we called he that a lot! Gracy and my Mom were very much bonded together! And after Gracy passed away from multiple secures my Mom just broke down in tiers for about an hour! We now have a new African Grey "Paco" we still miss Gracy very much but Paco has bonded with the family just as much as Gracy did.
RIP Alex, a truly amazing bird. I only hope for the best with Irene and her future of animal science.
It makes me wonder, though -- Alex was clearly plucking for a considerable amount of time during his life, and his cage did appear too small and under-stimulating... additionally even in these video clips he does beak-wiping, which is a behaviour seen in parrots when they are displacing aggression. Yet, he was constantly given love, affection, stimulation, and attention. I would have thought that such a life would have been okay for a parrot. Parrot minds are so complex, as we now know from Irene and her research, I can't help but wonder if there was maybe just something wrong with Alex. perhaps from his being raised in and coming from the pet store / parrot mill environment?
In any case, we now know much more about the complexity and wonder of these amazing animals thanks to Irene and her lab.
He actually was not a plucker. He had a fungal infection that caused his feathers to fall out. He was being treated by the best vets for that disease.
Angus Gibson I'd have to agree though that the cage does look rather stark. Also, why was Alex left all alone in the lab at night? That might be stressful to be left alone night after night. Perhaps other birds were there with him in separate cages?
BradZanders A bird demonstrating such intelligence may have had a hard time socializing with the other birds if that had been the case.
Just speculating.
+Neil Dees
meh, Alex was randomly picked from a pet shop. they're all intelligent, it's just that we're blind and anthropocentric
Irene had to go away for weeks at a time sometimes. Alex plucked when his "person" wasn't there. A small, unadorned "sleeping cage" is not unusual. He had a lot of out of cage time during the day.
This is incredible
Rip Alex....I m so sad...
The bird looks stressed u can see it of the body language and feathers. you have to quit in time give those birds a break. I think she pushed too much. a bird (i've seen this on many occasions with my own birds, every species does it even budgies and canaries, always die overnight because they will try to hide their (possible disease(s),
animals are really smarter than we think! My lil shitzu knows what time it’s dark and time to go out on our daily walk and always gets our attention when he knows it time! Idk how he picked it up but he always lets us know at the exact time at 7:00 even with changing back our clocks recently lol
My cousin's African gray just meows and barks XD
I remember reading about this in a national geographic when I was younger, but I forgot the names of her and the bird and also the magazine. On thursday, I was taking a state test at school and one of the things I had to read was an excerpt from that same article. Finally, I was able to look something up about them.
They should not compare animal intelligence with that of human children, but I understand why they do. That is an analogy most people can understand. But children's intelligence is still developing, while an adult animal is already fully developed. Not to mention children are dumb as fuck. Even animals we consider dumb, like rabbits, can easily outwit a child. Put a child in nature and see how long it survives.
Did he had any kids,
That would be a good contribution in their evolution if he had.
If you can connect their knowledge with their survival skills they would evolve very quickly.
She wasn't wasn't his owner. She was his friend. That's an important distinction. I watched a baby Orang utan interact with a human baby. It changed my life. WE are animals. Naked apes.
I've seen much evidence that these and other parrots know absolutely what they're saying but more and more over time like children they start by mimics ....then learn meanings....
Animals and birds just as humans learn languages its all done through interaction but humans find it difficult to learn animal language because we dont interact with animals in their natural habitat
Schweiger on est la ou pas?
Team schweiger
@@Wasgehtab89 faut qu'il soit en top commentaire
I wish Alex could have allowed Alex to fly in a caged big space and or get sunshine .
In 1988 the person who impacted science the most who died was Dr. Richard Feynmen .Feynmens death had a huge impact to the world even to those who were not connected to physics in any way.
Now the word bird-brain should never be an insult for being stupid, after the research showing how intelligent birds are.
How did he die? He was so young still! 😢
Her Birds do not look healthy, though.
he could say the differences between objects ... wow o.O
Alex should have been able to live his life out in the wild.
This bird trained the entire day everyday 🙈🙂
This is the coolest.
Irene Pepperberg, You are awesome.
I love parrot
Why did he die??
What caused Alex's death and why did he die so young?
Jess D not saying it’s reasonable or my response is correct but given it was so far ago, the information they had about care may have been different or limited compared to now. So they might’ve been misguided. If someone knows better, please chime in
I think it had something to do with his arteries hardening suddenly.
@@Anna-lp8xs This was in 2007. Information about parrot care was nearly identical to how it is now. This wasn't in 1917, Anna. The world wasn't being torn apart by World War I, we weren't using shillings, and you weren't trying to get a date with young Johnny Johnson despite your parents saying that you were a country girl and you weren't good enough for a city man.
Ryan Gallagher weird response overall... granted, he died in 2007 but his care might’ve been lacking since the 70s.
Reportedly killed by a jealous rival.
It is worse when Alex died compared to Michael Jackson
Corvids are also very smart, but don't have the same vocalization ability.
Corvids are capable of mimicry, actually, though they don't always master it like parrots do.
Corvids can talk. They do have the same vocalization ability. Most famously ravens and crows, but other species like magpies can also learn to speak.
Mike Tyson had a kid?
Anyone know Alex' cause of death as parrots live long.
i feel sorry for Alex. they almost tore all his feather😡🤬
unbelievable!!!!
mike tysons baby!
WoW
"I love you too"
**locks him in a cage and leaves**
it breaks your heart dont it....
And I guess when we put a 1.5 year old child to bed in a crib with high sides he cannot get out of and say “Good night baby boy.” That’s cruel too.
Got me too. My Grey only gets "charming" when petulant isn't working for him. In honor of Alex, I always put him to bed (in his sleeping cage right next to my bed) with, "I love you. You be good. See you tomorrow." I read those were Alex's last words.
5 or 6 year olds don't have bedtimes? If they ran out into the street in the middle of the night, you wouldn't fetch them and confine them right back to that tiny room?
It is not cruel to put your bird to bed in his cage!!! Birds see there bedtime cage as their safe place. Does anyone commenting this own birds????
It's Red! :D at 10:23 :D
How sad. R.i.p.
lol
amazing bird
TT
An interesting side note, this was Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s first TV show. The line he opens this segment with will someday apply to him, but he didn’t know it yet.
He didn't die.
Melissa0774 right, he didn’t, I just like this guy
could you at least take the damn bird at home. all he does is stay in this cold lab for nights. a bird needs space
+sig muuu Oh just fuck off
Nightowl no
yes :-(
I mean... They fed a bird cake... That can't be healthy
depends ... I've seen bird-cake.
He was allowed to taste the cake. It's not healthy for you either
@@horsegirlb7120 food can be much worse for animals. but I don't think the owner would give something dangerous.
@@anjachan This is true, small amounts have more impact on tiny bodies. But I agree, I think the animal care staff were on top of it
it was a special cake with things that aren’t bad for birds to eat i think
Our dogs don't speak, but they understand english. I started w KB as a pup. Figured if I told her what was going on, she would understand. She does! Groomer for some reason makes her sad. I am happy my method did get result fm a tiny shih tzu/chihuahua x
That isn't small! No one toy?Alex worked/learned 8-10 hours/day!!For What?He 'read' the e-mails with Irene instead. :)
Sadly :( ,Irene's another Grey passed away too..Wart (Arthur) died in 02-27-2013.He was only 14 years old..
She works with Griffin and has a baby girl Grey..April. :)
God Bless Them!Dr.Pepperberg is Wonderful Lady!I Wish Good Health to Her,Griffin and little April and the Whole Lab too!
Rest In Peace Alex and Wart! :(( Too soon,Dears..
With Love,from Hungarian Grey Fan,
Agnes
I'm sad to say that was not a happy Bird....he was feather plucking or over preening most likely out of frustration...
To leave him in that stark cage each night is devastating ....birds can often be heard playing....talking....and eating during nighttime ....and her other Bird died at 14 yrs old....something is going wrong here.....very sad😔
"All organic, of course." ..except "organic" wasn't a thing back then.
In 2007?
Yes it was ?! My mom was into organic food since the 70ies.
@@darionclub2158 Of course not. This guy wasn't even alive in the 70s, he definitely knows what he's talking about.
Alex ?
She doesn't look like taken good care
great. now train one to control a robot vacuum for me and watch my food cooking so i don't burn it as often.
You find out that an animal is intelligent and that's what you want to do with it? : < That aside it probably wouldn't be impossible. Pidgeons were being trained to steer missiles in WWII: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pigeon
The parot was under a lot of stress that's why he was missing feathers.
Oh my he looked in such a bad condition when you see the feathers. 8-12 working hours per day? Plus stating that he clearly showed signs of not wanting to work at times. Why then such a tough 'gruelling' regime? Money? Ambition? I don't know..that doesn't look like a true loving relationship. In the end he was a lab rat that died an early death in a bad physical condition. A smart, interesting, cute, scholarly important lab rat but still 🥺
Ambition truly. The gray parrot back in 2011 was talked about abuse in bird circles. Unfortunately, this type of media is more normalized as nobody reprimands such behavior in this day and age. Look at the most recent comments. Almost none of them mention what you just said.
When birds tear out feathers something isn’t right. This is sad in that Alex was used for her study but he wasn’t happy. Depression among parrots leads to plucking feathers and they get sick. This is sad in that no one let this bird be just a parrot. The size of that cage was well too small. This is truly abusive.
Yes, i also noticed the shedding. He must have been under stress. He deserved better. Ms. Pepperberg, when an animal tells you in your own language he loves you, how does that make you feel now? Should have given hi m a better life like a larger cage and some time for him being just a bird. Sorry.
@@hospitalller You realize that was just the bird's sleeping cage, right? He didn't spend his days in it, he spent them outside, playing with toys and participating in experiments. Watch videos of Alex. He even asks to go back to his cage when he's tired.
If you notice the birds feathers. It looks like he has been plucking or over preening. I understand this is a sign of stress or unhappiness. It’s a common when a bird is emotionally neglected.
He had a fungal infection which was being treated by vets. It does look like plucking but Alex wasn't doing that, thankfully. :)
@@kimifur What about the new one? It looks bald too?
It is actually disheartening that she spends all of her time looking for funding. billionaires pls.
Why are all of Irene's birds self-mutilated? Self mutilation is a sign of extreme stress 🙁
One thing no animal who can communicate has ever done.... Ask a (legitimate) question.
I've seen a video of a gorilla asking Mr. Rogers in sign language "What's that flower?" when motioning to his sun shaped cuffed link. Sure they confused a sun shape with a very similar flower shape, but that to me is a legitimate question. (No this wasn't a made up thing for the show, he was invited to come in to a lab to visit a gorilla who was being taught communication. Apparently the gorilla had been shown him on tv before too and enjoyed seeing him. ;p) ua-cam.com/video/cn79Lgfh1hw/v-deo.html
Actually it is documented that Alex asked Dr. Pepperberg what color he is by saying "What color Alex?"
pls take all animals off menu . pls !!!!!
no. chinese shill.
@@CC-hx8gj And last time I checked, people aren't eating parrots.
I think it was a remarkable bird but it had nowhere near the understanding of problem solving that the trainer tried to present. The answer to the more complex "How many?" questions was always 4. She never had an uncut, unedited video of a string of questions and answers. There was always preparation and coaching prior to each question and exercise that was never included in the films she distributed. As much as I want a bird to communicate and understand complex tasks, there has never been one. It would change the way of communication if you could tell a bird to fly to a location and relay a message. The closest thing that has ever came to animal-human communication are primates being taught sign language. Koko was the most exceptional animal ever to attempt communication with a human. There are aquatic animals that are smarter than primates but they have no way of communication with humans.
Then you have not watched enough videos. The answer in all these videos is not always four. Other people were invited to ask questions as well. You would have to argue that there was a very big conspiracy and cover-up if you want to say Alex was coached to give certain answers and that he cannot give answers about the quantity, color, and shape of objects within an array.
love only real between the same sex. right Richard?
i think it's weird to conclude that alex was "inquisitive" when he simply repeated questions he was asked 100 times a day.
He asked a question about his color - being literally the only animal to do so, what else do you want?
@@nvh119 i mean, sure, he said a phrase that we know of as a question, but parrots also say "go fuck yourself", i don't think those parrots know what they're actually saying and i don't know if this one does either.
@@Machinae_overture Do your research. It's very clear that the bird knew what he was saying, you can watch videos of him and come to that conclusion on your own. He was not taught the way pet parrots are taught to talk, he was taught the way you teach a child to talk, and that made all the difference. I was skeptical as well at first, but I'm fully convinced after reading into him and watching videos of this bird. The biology of the bird also checks out; birds have far more neurons packed into their brains than other animals of the same brain size. In fact, it's comparable to how many you'd find in an ape brain. Furthermore birds, especially "higher" birds like parrots and songbirds do posess a dedicated language part of their prain. We know it's a language centre because we've used MRIs on them. Why on earth would they have a language centre if they can't comprehend language? It most definitely isn't just mindless mimicry.
@@dogman9291 yeah i've done research, same as you, not convinced. but it's cool you are
Poor parrot, he seemed so stressed, the way he looked towards the end plucking his feathers which is a sign of being under extreme stress perhaps due to his grueling training!
30 years getting grants to train this animal. What a scam
If Irene understood God the creator then she would have understood all animals are smart but limited. They have their existing abilities created by God, just as human has the highest intelligence created by God. Alex is smart not more special than Parrot's existing ability. Adam was to look after all the animals of the earth and plants and gave them names.
Sigh.
Adam was hella busy
The only species that considers humans the apex of intelligence... is humans.
This horrible woman is stealing birds, who she knows are intelligent, to lock them in a gaol for her own ego? she is literally a monster, if you thought about her doing what she is doing, to people.
She actually got him at a shelter and asked the person working at the shelter to give her a random one so people wouldn't think he was already trained
+Frank Wilson
though look at what we did before we accepted that other animals are intelligent (and we still do because not everyone knows or cares).
we raise them in miserable conditions and slaughter them as our food. we keep them in prisons in what we call zoos and aquariums for money.
I mean, human slavery was officially abolished ~100 years ago.
but now we know that other animals are clearly intelligent, what's our excuse from now on?
lauroflorin Did you know zoos and aquariums are most of the time for conservation matters? Also, Irene had to move a lot because she needed a grant for this project and a job. She didn't use Alex. Alex was happy with Irene, and they both loved each other. But alas, you are not informed of parrot brains.
She got it from a pet store, meaning it already couldn't possibly live in the wild and the birds that are there not getting a home would be pretty terrible for them. I understand the argument that buying them encourages stores to keep selling them though.
@@lauroflorin human slavery still exists. America also still has cartel. They are not any better than. Non law enforcement cartel in other countries. Only thing is they are called police .
I kinda hate how Irene talks to me (the audience) like I'm a 5-year-old.