Parrot Intelligence

[Smilemaker100]

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Hello DVMs,

I normally don't post in this site. I once flirted with the idea of becoming a vet when I was growing up but took a different route (in dentistry). However, I am still fascinated by the fields of ethology and vet medicine. 👍

I visited this humongous local pet store a few days ago and had an unforgettable experience with a beautiful green-winged macaw 😍 . I had seen that bird on other occasions but I never paid much attention to it. I gave it little credit. I may have even been skeptical of its intelligence. In any case, this time around, I stopped as I saw many people gathered around the parrot.

The people seemed amused and I wanted to find out what the fuss was all about. One visitor was saying "Hello," and the parrot replied "Hello, love. How are you?" 😱 😀 The words were perfectly clear. I then started laughing and the parrot perfectly imitated my laugh. I laughed yet again and got out of control. I laughed so hard that there were tears in my eyes. The parrot kept laughing along with me- laughing with my pitch,intonation and loudness. Everyone around the cage found the laughing contagious.

Once the laughter settled down, I told the parrot "Hi pretty" and it replied "Pretty Pretty". I tried talking to it in French but I guess it wasn't used to the language (a unilingual parrot?)

I found out that the parrot was three years old, which is considered pretty young as these birds can live up to 80 years. They aren't able to mimic words in the first or second year of life. Many intelligence/memory tests conducted by psychologists have demonstrated that these birds are smart. After my experience with this parrot, I will refrain from insulting a stupid person by referring to them as having a "bird brain" !

One scientist said : "These birds have the emotional and social skills of a 2 and 1/2, 3 year old child. Their intellectual skills are more like a 5 or 6 year old child in some cases"

Are you taught about the care of exotic pets in your DVM program?

Any comments on parrot intelligence?

Is anyone aware of "The Alex Foundation" (founded by Dr Irene Pepperberg)?

Dr Pepperberg has been studying speech and intelligence behavior of African Grey parrots.

http://www.alexfoundation.org/support.htm

Have any of you heard of Victor, the budgie who apparently could pronounce 1000 words?

http://www.budgieresearch.homestead.com/

 

[zufuss]

Depending on how you view intelligence you will find some that argue that a few species of parrot are more intelligent than chimps. If your really interested there is a pbs special called "Pet Tech" and "Segment 3" is dedicated to Alex the parrot you refer to.

Anyway I'd go so far as to say that parrots do not make good pets unless you 100% realize the amount of time/effort/care/and 1on1 socialization that is required of taking care of a parrot that most likely is going to outlive you.

The biggest problem is people get parrots and don't spend enough time or give enough care and the parrot turns into Conan the Barbarian destroying everything in your home he can get his little beak on (Pretty much everything but the kitchen sink and I bet they could do a number on one of those too). Or worse he goes Conan on himself and gets invovled with things like self-mutilation (yeek!).

And the one thing I learned in Ornithology is that "Bird Brain" isn't such a big insult. Given the fact that they can fly they haven't had to use up thousands of years of evolutionary effort to avoid predation (Instead they got to spend all that time developing cool sensory abilities among other things). They can fly through the thickest of forests with dexterity and nimbleness we could never match. Peregrine falcons do reach break neck dive bomb speeds of ~180mph and nab their prey mid air (Now there is an air/air offensive system for ya!). Anyway birds rock. They aren't bright in the manner we consider ourselves but they have their own intelligence.

 

[zufuss]

Oh by the way....

1. If you are a promiscuous person by nature
2. Your boyfriend's name is Chris
3. Your lover's name is Gary
4. And Chris has a parrot....

You might want to think twice before bringing Gary back to the pad you share with your bf

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1550402.htm

It's a great story you should give it a read.

 

[birdvet2006]

Yes, I am aware of Alex and Irene Pepperberg (or however you spell it).

Yes, I am aware of the famous budgie who can speak umpteen words.

At my school, we're not taught too much about avian medicine. We get a couple of hours on clinical stuff and maybe one hour in anatomy/physiology. The most important thing is - if you want to become an avian vet, don't rely on your vet school education only. You must have the initiative and do lots of research and reading on your own. Join the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV at http://www.aav.org) and get involved!

Most people wouldn't know a budgie (budgerigar) from a conure or a macaw from a cockatoo.

Did you know that in general, macaws are not great talkers? I guess not when compared to greys or mynah birds.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I know my Indian Ringneck Parrot is certainly very bright. He knows around 50 words and phrases. Also he seems to have a knack for problem solving- example: he's learned to open cans of soda with his beak, among other things.

 

[mokadet]

Ever since taking an animal behavior class as an undergrad I have had great respect for the intelligence of birds. We didn't focus as much on parrots and the "vocal" birds, but instead studied crows. They are remarkably clever and arguable use tools more aptly than chimps. I couldn't find links to any of the videos but here is a PBS site about bird intelligence that talks about crows (http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/). The two videos I’m thinking of were amazing.

In the first a crow is in an experiment where she is placed in a room with a small basket (it has a handle on the top) of treats (something yummy). This basket, however, is in a tall clear tube that is open on top, but he cannot reach the treats. The only other thing she is given is a long straight wire. The crow tries unsuccessfully to stab at the treats with the wire and then within 30 seconds takes the wire, stands on one end of it next to the tube and pulls the other end around to make a hooked end. She then uses the hooked end to lift the basket out of the tube and gets the treats!
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/09/crow.betty/index.html

The second video was a combination of crows in the wild and in experimental situations. First, was a clip of a crow next to an ice fishing hole where there was an unattended line in the water. What the crow does (and apparently this has been widely observed) is pull up on the line with his beak, stand on the line, pull up another section, stand on it, etc until he has reached the fish. In the experiment version of this the crow is on a horizontal pole with many strings hanging below him, some have food on them and some do not. He will only exhibit the “fishing” behavior if there is food on the end.
This link talks about a bunch of birds smarts stuff, including the fishing: http://www.all-birds.com/brain.htm

 

[Smilemaker100]

Yes, I am aware of Alex and Irene Pepperberg (or however you spell it).

Yes, I am aware of the famous budgie who can speak umpteen words.

At my school, we're not taught too much about avian medicine. We get a couple of hours on clinical stuff and maybe one hour in anatomy/physiology. The most important thing is - if you want to become an avian vet, don't rely on your vet school education only. You must have the initiative and do lots of research and reading on your own. Join the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV at http://www.aav.org) and get involved!

Most people wouldn't know a budgie (budgerigar) from a conure or a macaw from a cockatoo.

Did you know that in general, macaws are not great talkers? I guess not when compared to greys or mynah birds.

Yes, I figured that avian medicine was a subspecialty. The vet hospital I used to go to with my dog only seemed to care for dogs and cats.

Yes, apparently, macaws only exhibit mimicry when in captivity. They are funny birds! Even though they are cute, I doubt that I would adopt one because they are high maintenance and will most likely outlive me ! 😱 I personally believe those birds should not be caged. I rather see them in their natural habitat.

I'll stick to dogs. 😍

 

[Smilemaker100]

Ever since taking an animal behavior class as an undergrad I have had great respect for the intelligence of birds. We didn't focus as much on parrots and the "vocal" birds, but instead studied crows. They are remarkably clever and arguable use tools more aptly than chimps. I couldn't find links to any of the videos but here is a PBS site about bird intelligence that talks about crows (http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/). The two videos I’m thinking of were amazing.

In the first a crow is in an experiment where she is placed in a room with a small basket (it has a handle on the top) of treats (something yummy). This basket, however, is in a tall clear tube that is open on top, but he cannot reach the treats. The only other thing she is given is a long straight wire. The crow tries unsuccessfully to stab at the treats with the wire and then within 30 seconds takes the wire, stands on one end of it next to the tube and pulls the other end around to make a hooked end. She then uses the hooked end to lift the basket out of the tube and gets the treats!
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/09/crow.betty/index.html

The second video was a combination of crows in the wild and in experimental situations. First, was a clip of a crow next to an ice fishing hole where there was an unattended line in the water. What the crow does (and apparently this has been widely observed) is pull up on the line with his beak, stand on the line, pull up another section, stand on it, etc until he has reached the fish. In the experiment version of this the crow is on a horizontal pole with many strings hanging below him, some have food on them and some do not. He will only exhibit the “fishing” behavior if there is food on the end.
This link talks about a bunch of birds smarts stuff, including the fishing: http://www.all-birds.com/brain.htm

Impressive, but I still find crows very annoying. 👎

 

[Smilemaker100]

Oh by the way....

1. If you are a promiscuous person by nature
2. Your boyfriend's name is Chris
3. Your lover's name is Gary
4. And Chris has a parrot....

You might want to think twice before bringing Gary back to the pad you share with your bf

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2006/s1550402.htm

It's a great story you should give it a read.

That story is HYSTERICAL ! 👍

Gosh, if I ever had a parrot I wouldn't be able to swear to myself anymore ! But it would be very flattering to come back home to a bird that says the following EVERY DAY : "Hello, love. Nice to see you. " "You're pretty!" "I love you" 😀

 

[birdvet2006]

Yes, I figured that avian medicine was a subspecialty.

Actually, it's a true specialty. I know a few clinics/hospitals that only treat birds. There is the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in the USA that governs the avian practice specialty, while there's the European College of Avian Medicine and Surgery in Europe.

 

[HeartSong]

I don't think we are taught much in classes themselves. That's something we would learn more about in an extracurricular meeting. At a ZEW (zoo, exotics, wildlife) meeting, an exotics vet talked to us and said that he sees a lot of problems with parrots that come just from people not knowing how to care for them. We take this animal that is used to flying around in flocks, eating all day and then we stick them in a cage too small for them to fly, all alone and feed them in meals. Of course their going to go crazy and pull out all their feathers if the owners don't do something to fill everything that's missing in their lives.

This is a really good site http://www.positivelyparrots.com/ by a well-known avian behaviorist.

 

[Smilemaker100]

I don't think we are taught much in classes themselves. That's something we would learn more about in an extracurricular meeting. At a ZEW (zoo, exotics, wildlife) meeting, an exotics vet talked to us and said that he sees a lot of problems with parrots that come just from people not knowing how to care for them. We take this animal that is used to flying around in flocks, eating all day and then we stick them in a cage too small for them to fly, all alone and feed them in meals. Of course their going to go crazy and pull out all their feathers if the owners don't do something to fill everything that's missing in their lives.

This is a really good site http://www.positivelyparrots.com/ by a well-known avian behaviorist.

I agree. I don't think these exotic birds belong in cages. There is nothing more beautiful to me than seeing a large group of green-winged macaws flying freely in the Amazon. I would only adopt such exotic birds if I had my own "Never land" where there would be enough green space for the creatures.

I remember reading somewhere that parrots can get really disruptive,aggressive, destructive and moody in their "adolescence" phase. This has also been observed in chimpanzee pets. Sadly, this is the time when some owners decide to give their pets away.

Don't they clip the wings of parrots raised in captivity? I personally think that is cruel. 👎

 

[birdvet2006]

If you are keeping a pet parrot properly, you have it outside of its cage at every time you are able to monitor it (they are like kids and will get into everything if left un-watched). At the same time, the parrot needs training to learn to stay in a "safe zone" (vs. wander the house, get under people's feet and into trouble). My bird is outside of his cage for at least 5 hours each day! He enjoys being with people (they are his "flock").

Wing clipping is generally done for the safety of the bird. I don't think it is cruel at all, unless it is done improperly and the parrot falls often (leading to fear issues and actual health problems). A bird that can fly can easily get into a lot of trouble inside a home. For example, I have heard of birds landing on hot frying pans, boiling water, and getting chopped up by ceiling fans or flying into windows (head trauma). This is not uncommon! Wing clipping is something that should only be done by trained individuals, and sadly I have seen the results of bad trims (even some vets don't clip the wings properly).

Another thing: these hand-raised birds often have never flown. They don't understand or seem to miss flying at all. But if I had my way, I would build a flight cage outside for my bird so he could get some exercise (which is great for them).

That said, I don't expect birds to be the perfect pet for everyone. I also don't believe you should agree to see birds as your patients as a vet if you don't believe in keeping them as pets or in captivity.

 

[Smilemaker100]

If you are keeping a pet parrot properly, you have it outside of its cage at every time you are able to monitor it (they are like kids and will get into everything if left un-watched). At the same time, the parrot needs training to learn to stay in a "safe zone" (vs. wander the house, get under people's feet and into trouble). My bird is outside of his cage for at least 5 hours each day! He enjoys being with people (they are his "flock").

Wing clipping is generally done for the safety of the bird. I don't think it is cruel at all, unless it is done improperly and the parrot falls often (leading to fear issues and actual health problems). A bird that can fly can easily get into a lot of trouble inside a home. For example, I have heard of birds landing on hot frying pans, boiling water, and getting chopped up by ceiling fans or flying into windows (head trauma). This is not uncommon! Wing clipping is something that should only be done by trained individuals, and sadly I have seen the results of bad trims (even some vets don't clip the wings properly).

Another thing: these hand-raised birds often have never flown. They don't understand or seem to miss flying at all. But if I had my way, I would build a flight cage outside for my bird so he could get some exercise (which is great for them).

That said, I don't expect birds to be the perfect pet for everyone. I also don't believe you should agree to see birds as your patients as a vet if you don't believe in keeping them as pets or in captivity.

Thanks, for that info.

Although macaws/parrots seem like delightful company, I doubt I'll ever adopt one given what I know about the species now. If I ever have a solarium, I'd probably like to have some red and yellow canaries. Canaries are such a delight when they warble. 🙂

"Mary Had A Pretty Bird

Mary had a pretty bird,
Feathers bright and yellow,
Slender legs, upon my word
He was a pretty fellow.

The sweetest notes he always sung,
Which much delighted Mary,
And often where the cage was hung,
She stood to hear Canary."

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it
has a song.
Maya Angelou

 

[HeartSong]

I don't disagree with owning birds. I could say the same things about dogs. We take these predatory animals that are used to running free over vast areas defending their territory and fighting with anyone who challenges them. Then we stick them in a small box we call a home often leaving them alone all day sometimes even in a crate and feed them superdehydrated food that couldn't run away if it wanted to. Then of course we are going to have bored pets that bark or destroy to try to burn off energy and they are going to naturally bite if someone bothers them. Birds make just as good a pet as dogs. But people make just as bad of owners. Generally speaking of course. It is great when people who know how to own a pet do so. I can't wait until I can spend most of my time helping people become better owners.

 

[verbal_kint]

dogs have been domesticated. birds have not been.

 

[Smilemaker100]

dogs have been domesticated. birds have not been.

Exactly! If you trace the early days of modern man, the presence of domesticated dogs were already in existence.

 

[Smilemaker100]

dogs have been domesticated. birds have not been.

Exactly! If you trace the early days of modern man, the presence of domesticated dogs were already in existence. The same cannot be said about birds, particularly of the exotic variety.