Alex, The Famous Talking African Grey Parrot Has Passed Away
72Alex, the African Grey parrot who played a pivotal role in ground-breaking cognition research, has passed away at 31 years. His tragic loss has sent shock waves through the scientific community and in avian circles.
Alex--Remarkable Cognition and Talking Ability
Doctor Irene Pepperberg conducted experiments into avian intelligence. She worked extensively with Alex, an African Grey parrot that proved to be a remarkable student. Pepperberg's Alex Studies forever changed perceptions about avian intelligence.
Alex was purchased from a pet store by Pepperberg. She remembers how bright he truly was. Alex quashed the notion that parrots are mere mimics.
Dr. Pepperberg says that Alex was at the emotional level of a 2-year-old child. If Alex became tired, he would fling objects off trays, signaling he had had enough, and he would state, "Want to go back."
Alex could identify 50 objects and he understood the concept of larger-smaller. He would occasionally "butt in" on other experiments with parrots, adding his insights or counting when other parrots refused to do so. Pepperberg said Alex had the intellectual capacity of a 5-year-old.
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Alex's Abilities
- Alex could identify objects and say what they were
- He learned to identify 5 Shapes
- Alex recognized 7 Colors
- He understood the concept of same and different
- He knew that objects were bigger and smaller
Dr. Pepperberg With Griffin, Einstein & Alex
![Nature: Parrots...Look Who's Talking [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31acZJDxdFL._SL75_.jpg){kind=small} | Amazon Price: $14.95 |
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Alex starred in the famed PBS Nature series called “Look Who’s Talking.”
This popular movie shows parrots in the wild and explores the amazing abilities of pet parrots that talk, sing opera, play catch, dance, and get into all kinds of mischief.
Look Who's Talking is one of the most entertaining parrot movies ever made.
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Alex's Legacy
- Knowledge about cognition and communication gained from Alex has been used to help children with learning disabilities, based on the rival-model technique.
- Alex was featured worldwide on numerous science programs, BBC, NHK, Discovery and PBS.
- Alex interacted with Alan Alda in an episode of Scientific American Frontiers on PBS.
- The Alex Studies are Pepperberg's comprehensive review, chronicling decades of "learning about learning" from Alex.
Alex's Death
All good things come to an end . . .The last thing that Dr. Pepperberg heard Alex say was, "You be good. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."
Do you Think Alex Died Naturally?
See results without votingThe beautiful song, You Raise Me Up, incorporated into the tribute to Alex (video below) is performed by Celtic Woman
Alex's name was an acronym for the research project, Avian Learning EXperiment.
Alex
June 1976-September 2007
If you would like to support avian research, please consider making a donation in Alex's memory to:
The Alex Foundation, c/o Dr. Irene Pepperberg, Department of Psychology/MS-062, 415 South Street, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454.
Goodbye To Alex
Alex Links
- The Alex Foundation- Home page
The Alex Foundation supports research that will expand the base of knowledge establishing the cognitive and communicative abilities of African Grey parrots as intelligent beings - The Alex Foundation - Dr. Irene Pepperberg
The focus of Dr. Pepperberg's work is to determine the cognitive and communicative abilities of parrots. - NOVA | Profile: Irene Pepperberg & Alex
One woman's 30-year relationship with an African gray parrot transformed our understanding of bird intelligence. - Alex The Grey Parrot, Colleague of Irene Pepperberg, Dead at 31 : Living the Scientific Life (Scient
Yesterday, I received the devastating news that Alex the African Grey parrot, who was both a study subject and colleague to Irene Pepperberg, died unexpectedly at 31 years of age.
Alex and Me
Would You Like to Own an African Grey Parrot?
See results without votingAfrican Grey Parrot
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Good-Bye to Alex
Alex has passed away but this remarkable African Grey parrot left a lasting legacy.
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I have a parakeet (mounted) that was owned by my Aunt and Uncle. It died in 1958, and had learned over 100 words during its lifetime, and could recognize other family members that visited. My Uncle would broadcast on his Ham radio (K4GVU), and the parakeet would frequently start talking also, sometimes bursting into laughter when my Uncle would laugh. It is amazing what some of the avians are capable of learning with human contact.
Hi Drax,
Actually, for those who are part of the avian world, parrots' remarkable abilities are known and accepted. There's a whole field of avian behaviorism, which recognizes that parrots are intelligent and sensitive creatures.
I will share some of my insights, since I've had the opportunity to share my life with 4 parrots. Each bird demonstrated remarkable skills but my observation is that those skills are brought to the fore when a human spends much time going one-on-one with a parrot--especially when the bird is young.
My Grey parrot Bailey started talking at 2 months and would form entire sentences. If he learned how to say something that we had worked to teach him, he would change it around until he had made it his own. Bailey would comment on people and had an innate ability to read them. He was learning to count and would actually ask us questions. Imagine having a pet you can have a conversation with!
Bailey showed me that animals are far smarter than we give them credit for.
I suppose the only problem here is that Alex was so unique and we see few parrots jumping up, as it where, to fill his shoes...
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Alex's death is a great loss because this African Grey parrot demonstrated remarkable cognitive abilities and proved that parrots are capable of reasoning and communicating their thoughts, over just mimicking sounds.
I also owned a Congo Grey and his ability to ask questions, convey his feelings and identify people and objects showed me how remarkable these creatures are.
What is the big deal about a parrot's death?
I've included new videos of Alex and Dr. Pepperberg.
Thank you for your comments.
I clicked on the video and it seems it is no longer available. I will try to find other Alex videos. His passing may have been the reason for the video being pulled.
This is an interesting read and sad at the same time the the parrot has died. On a technical note, the page is interesting with well place ads and links to other posts. I wish that the video had been present because I would have enjoyed seeing Alex in motion. Thank you for showing me.
Athlyn Green Hub Author 11 months ago
Hi Billy,
This doesn't surprise me. Parrots are incredibly creatures. thanks for sharing. The parakeet sounds remarkable and it must have been missed.