Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Parrot's oratory stuns scientists

By Alex Kirby

BBC News Online environment correspondent  
BBC
Monday, January 26, 2004

Feathered prodigy: N'kisi leads the
field

The finding of a parrot with an
almost unparalleled power to
communicate with people has brought
scientists up short.

The bird, a captive African grey
called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of
950 words, and shows signs of a sense
of humour.

He invents his own words and phrases
if he is confronted with novel ideas
with which his existing repertoire
cannot cope - just as a human child
would do.

N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which
are said to include telepathy,
feature in the latest BBC Wildlife
Magazine.

N'kisi is believed to be one of the
most advanced users of human language
in the animal world.

About 100 words are needed for half
of all reading in English, so if
N'kisi could read he would be able to
cope witha wide range of material.

Polished wordsmith

He uses words in context, with past,
present and future tenses, and is
often inventive.

One N'kisi-ism was "flied" for
"flew", and another "pretty smell
medicine" to describe the
aromatherapy oils used by his owner,
an artist based in New York.

When he first met Dr Jane Goodall,
the renowned chimpanzee expert, after
seeing her in a picture with apes,
N'kisi said: "Got a chimp?"

School's in: He is a willing learner
He appears to fancy himself as a
humourist. When another parrot hung
upside down from its perch, he
commented: "You got to put this bird
on the camera."

Dr Goodall says N'kisi's verbal
fireworks are an "outstanding example
of interspecies communication".

In an experiment, the bird and his
owner were put in separate rooms and
filmed as the artist opened random
envelopes containing picture cards.

Analysis showed the parrot had used
appropriate keywords three times more
often than would be likely by chance.

Captives' frustrations

This was despite the researchers
discounting responses like "What ya
doing on the phone?" when N'kisi saw
a card of a man with a telephone, and
"Can I give you a hug?" with one of a
couple embracing.

Professor Donald Broom, of the
University of Cambridge's School of
Veterinary Medicine, said: "The more
we look at the cognitive abilities of
animals, the more advanced they
appear, and the biggest leap of all
has been with parrots."

Alison Hales, of the World Parrot
Trust, told BBC News Online:
"N'kisi's amazing vocabulary and
sense of humour should make everyone
who has a pet parrot consider whether
they are meeting its needs.

"They may not be able to ask
directly, but parrots are long-lived,
and a bit of research now could mean
an improved quality of life for
years."

More at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm

Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti

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