Video Memorial of Alex The Parrot

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Alex was a famous African grey parrot who could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials. He died about five weeks ago, after 30 years of helping researchers better understand the avian brain. This streaming video below the fold has a wonderful tribute to Alex and his many talents. [2:39]

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tags: Alex, African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, cognition, learning, speech disabilities, Irene Pepperberg Alex, the African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus and his colored blocks. Image: EurekaAlert. [wallpaper size] As you know, I have spent my life researching, breeding and living with…
tags: Alex, African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, cognition, learning, speech disabilities, Irene Pepperberg Alex, the African grey parrot, Psittacus erithacus, who worked with Irene Pepperberg for more than 30 years. Image: Illustration by Andrew Kuo, Photograph by John Woo. An article…
I'm already so excited to read and review this! Irene Pepperberg's memoir, tentatively titled "Alex and Me," covers her 30 years with the parrot that could count to six, identify colors and even express frustration with repetitive scientific trials. It will be released this fall by Collins, an…
Well, just heard that the necropsy of Alex was performed and that no discernible cause of death could be found. This is puzzling and sad, since it would have been better to have some sense of closure, but I suppose we may never know what killed Alex. I was also sent the official obituary of Alex…

This is actually the first time I have listened to
Alex talk, after reading much about him over the years. Thank you for posting this tribute on your blog.

By biosparite (not verified) on 29 Oct 2007 #permalink

I don't like how they describe Alex as some kind of parrot genius. He wasn't selected for high intelligence, he is just an average parrot who got to live in a very stimulating environment. There are likely to be lots of potentially smarter parrots out there being bored to death because their owners just leave them in a cage.

Irene actually emphasizes the fact that she chose Alex precisely because he was average, nothing special. She didn't want to get the criticism later that Alex wasn't representative of what a Grey parrot was capable of.