An African Gray parrot named N’kisi seems to have a vocabulary of 950 words, as well as a sense of humor. He is currently being studied by chimp expert Jane Goodall, as well as by researcher Rupert Sheldrake. Alex Kirby reports in BBC News that when Nikisi first met Goodall, he asked her "Got a chimp?"
Goodall says that N’kisi exhibits an "outstanding example of interspecies communication."
Everyone knows that parrots can “talk,” but it’s been assumed they only copy what they hear, and don’t really communicate. But an African gray parrot named N’kisi has a huge vocabulary, as well as a sense of humor. He uses correct grammar and seems to know what he’s saying. He’s even telepathic. Warning: If you have a pet bird you love, don’t keep him in the kitchen or fumes from your Teflon pans could kill him.
N’kisi uses correct present, past and future tenses, and if he doesn’t know the correct tense, he?ll invent one, such as “flied” for “flew.” He’s been studied by the chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall, who says N’kisi’s language is an “outstanding example of interspecies communication.” When he saw a photo of her with her chimps, N’kisi said to her, “Got a chimp?” read more
People who keep parrots are as close to them as other pet owners are to their cats and dogs, so imagine how these pet owners feel when government officials, who are trying to control the spread of a deadly bird disease called Exotic Newcastle, come into their homes and kill their pet bird?often right in front of them. So far, the disease has killed 3.4 million birds in Southern California, many of them household parrots and parakeets. The state and federal government is talking to everyone from mail carriers to nosy neighbors, trying to identify the owners of sick birds. If a bird is suspected of having the disease, it’s killed immediately.
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