Alex : Smartest African grey Parrot

Alex is a special African grey Parrot. For the last 22 years, Dr. Pepperberg has been teaching Alex to do complex tasks of the sort that only a few nonhuman species -- chimpanzees, for instance -- have been able to perform. But unlike those other creatures, Alex can talk, or at least, he can vocalize. And, Dr. Pepperberg says, Alex doesn't just imitate human speech, as other parrots do -- Alex can think. His actions are not just an instinctive response, she says, but rather a result of reasoning and choice. It can understand 100 words of English language which taught by the owner, Irene Pepperberg.

Alex able to make short conversation such as “ I want a X” or I want to go to Y “ with certain variation places and things. Beside that, Alex also able to identified 50 things, 7 colour, 5 shape, and counting to six. The owner, phycologist in Brandeis and Harvard Unversity, said that Alex able to show the emotions of 2 years old kids with intelligence of 5 years old kids. To dedicated for her bird, Irene Pepperberg open a website for Alex, http://www.alexfoundation.org. Before Alex died, it’s spoke “ You are kind, see you tomorrow, I love you” Alex died on it’s 31 years old.

If you thought being called a bird-brain was an insult, think again. Birds are not only proving far smarter than we ever thought, but studies of bird brains are turning all our notions of what makes intelligence on its head.

Here's some short conversation between Alex and Irene Pepperberg from http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s569163.htm

Assoc. Prof Irene Pepperberg: What shape?
Alex the bird: Four
Irene: Say more, what shape?
Alex: Corner.
Irene: Four corner, good bird.

Irene: How many?
Alex: Two
Irene: What’s different
Alex: Shape?
Irene: No, that’s what’s same. What’s different?
Alex: Colour.
Irene: Good Bird.

Irene: What colour, what colour bigger?
Alex: Green.
Irene: Very good. That was much better. Do you want something?
Alex: Want nut.

Irene: How many green block?
Boy: Four,
Irene: I don’t think so …
Boy: Five
Irene: That’s right.