Legacy Matters

Alex the Parrot

When Dr. Pepperberg put Alex parrot in his cage last Thursday night, he looked at her and said,"You be good, see you tomorrow.  I love you."

Next day he was found dead in his cage.

Brainy Parrot Dies, Emotive to the End.

In 1977, when Dr. Pepperberg, then a doctoral student in chemistry at Harvard, bought Alex from a pet store, scientists had little expectation that any bird could learn to communicate with humans, as opposed to just mimicking words and sounds. Research in other birds had been not promising.

But by using novel methods of teaching, Dr. Pepperberg prompted Alex to learn scores of words, which he could put into categories, and to count small numbers of items, as well as recognize colors and shapes.