May 21, 2008

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- Two weeks ago, police in Nagarey, Japan, a town near Tokyo, retrieved a pet African grey parrot that had flown away from home and gotten lost. After being rescued and sent to a local veterinary hospital, the parrot began to talk to the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to local policeman Shinjiro Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

While the parrot remained mute with police, the disclosed address details were passed along by the vet to the investigaters. They looked up the family name in the neighborhood indicated by “Mr. Yosuke” and sure enough the Nakamura family had lost their pet parrot. Apparently, they had been teaching Yosuke his name and address for more than two years.

This amazing story is indicative of why African grey parrots are considered to be the most intelligent of all domestic birds. When raised by humans, this particular species of parrot develops not only an extensive vocabulary, but also the ability to comprehend the meaning attributed to words.

In addition, they are thought to be the most accomplished mimics, re-creating owner’s voices and household noises perfectly. Utilizing proper tenses and word forms, African greys can be trained to speak in short sentences and phrases, as well as creatively employing the words they know during conversation. Scientists say that these birds can achieve the intelligence of a five-year old during their estimated 40-plus life-span.

One such example of the aptitude and intuitiveness of an African grey parrot is Alex. The pet of a psychologist and the subject of 30 years worth of studies, Alex could identify more than 50 objects, seven colors, five shapes, and numerical value up to six.

He also understood the conceptual difference between, “over and under,” “big and small,” and even displayed comprehension of emotion, as was made evident by his apologies to scientists after telling them he was “gonna go away” when bored of being tested.

N’kisi is another notorious African grey. His vocabulary consists of 1,000 words and he proved his extensive ability to understand meaning and convey emotion with his reaction when being introduced to famed chimpanzee scientist Jane Goodall. He asked her “Got a chimp?”

There is however, a down side to having such a clever bird. As with children, while they learn to communicate, they also often develop a mind of their own. African greys are known to be both strong-willed and manipulative. Take Kongo, for example, he recognized that when he did a trick or obeyed his owner’s command, he was praised and given a treat.

Thus, when he was in the mood to indulge, he would say or do something impressive, and after receiving his reward, tell his owner, “Good boy.”

Similarly, Mango, whose cage was right outside of the nursery, quickly learned that when the infant cried loudly, mom and dad would come running. As a result, he developed the ability to accurately mimic the baby’s noises, when he wanted the attention of his owners.

While in this case, Yosuke’s intelligence level and ability to communication brought him back home and his family back together, other African grey owners have had the opposite experience. Such was the case in London which happeneded a couple of years ago.

Ziggy wasn’t a fan of his owner Chris Taylor’s girlfriend, Suzy Collins.

So he started mimicking the girlfriend saying “I love you, Gary,” and making smooching noises when he heard Gary’s name. Ziggy effectively exposed the girlfriend’s affair with another man, so Taylor would break up with her. Sadly, in the end, Taylor had to break up with Ziggy, as well. It was just too upsetting for him to hear the name “Gary” over and over again.

The Associated Press, MSNBC.com and The Jamestown Press contributed to this article.

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