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Famous Talking Parrot Alex Dies

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By BENEDICT CAREY, The New York Times

Published: September 12, 2007

He knew his colors and shapes, he learned more than 100 English words, and with his own brand of one-liners he established himself in TV shows, scientific reports, and news articles as perhaps the world's most famous talking bird.

But last week Alex, an African gray parrot, died, apparently of natural causes, said Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Brandeis University and Harvard who studied and worked with the parrot for most of his life and published reports of his progress in scientific journals.

The parrot was 31.

Scientists have long debated whether any other species can develop the ability to learn human language. Alex's language facility was, in some ways, more surprising than the feats of primates that have been taught American Sign Language.

In 1977, when Pepperberg, 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.

Using novel teaching methods, Pepperberg coached Alex to learn scores of words, which he could put into categories, to count small numbers of items, and recognize colors and shapes.

Other scientists, although praising the research, cautioned against characterizing Alex's abilities as human. The parrot learned to communicate in basic expressions - but it did not show the sort of logic and ability to generalize that children acquire, they said.

Pepperberg used an innovative approach to teach Alex. African gray parrots are social birds, and pick up some group dynamics very quickly. In experiments, Pepperberg would employ one trainer to, in effect, compete with Alex for a reward, like a grape. Alex learned to ask for the grape by observing what the trainer was doing to get it; the researchers then worked to help shape the bird's pronunciation.

He demonstrated his skills on shows, including programs on PBS and the BBC. He famously shared scenes with the actor Alan Alda on the PBS series 'Look Who's Talking.'

Even through last week, Alex was working with Pepperberg. As she put him into his cage for the night last Thursday, she recalled, Alex looked at her and said: 'You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you.'

He was found dead in his cage the next morning, Pepperberg said.

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