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The African grey parrot: the smartest bird?
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Amazon parrot on a perch.
There is a lot of hubbub about what species of bird is the smartest. Some say Amazon parrots (Amazona ssp.) are the smartest, but the Congo African grey (Psittacus erithacus) wins on most people’s scorecards.
Amazons are the best talkers. They can learn up to 150 words. My Amazon could only say about five words, but he could laugh several different ways.
African greys do not only speak, but can also imitate sounds. Amazons speak in their own voice. When an African grey speaks, he can speak in your voice!
I put on PBS every morning for my African grey, but he has not learned a thing. He can ring exactly like my phone. The only way you know it’s not the phone is that he only rings once. My parrot can also sound like a smoke detector, which often scares people in my house. My neighbors must think that I burn everything I cook because my “smoke detector” goes off daily. My African grey can make fax machine noises, microwave sounds, whimper like my dog and even belch his own name! His former owners must have taught him that one.
African grey parrot.
My parrot whistles all of the time. He knows several songs and can learn a short group of notes in just a few days. He has taught himself to whistle the little song at the end of the Lysol commercial. He even added his own flourish of whistles at the end of the song.
Just don’t curse around your African grey! They pick up on words that are emphasized. Once they learn something and get a reaction, they will continue to make that noise or say that word.
Having an African grey is like having a five year old human. They constantly crave attention. But then how can you deny them, when they are so cute!?
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