How smart are parrots? And how good are they at . . . parroting?
Pretty darn smart, and pretty darn good.
Case in point: Einstein, a parrot who is a . . . master parrot.
What am I talking about?
WATCH THE VIDEO (Window Media Format).
Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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It’d be cool to get him to recite the creed in Latin.
Amazing . . .
That was wicked cool!
I live with pet birds.
My parents lived with pet birds.
My grandparents lived with pet birds.
I guess that makes me something of a bird brain.
African Grey parrots like Einsein can live 70 years. If you buy one as a pet, be prepared to set up a trust fund and put the bird in your will.
Unless you live attentively and patiently with a pet bird, you probably won’t get much insight into the Secret World of Birds. For some reason, people have a much easier time “getting” mammals such as dogs and cats and understand that each individual is unique, they can show affection, intelligence, etc.
Unless you want a lifetime companion that demands you exclusive attention, please do not buy a cockatoo for a pet. These birds really, really depend on their human for companionship as their flock and become psychotic and self-mutilate (not a pretty sight) if they feel rejected. And they can live 70 years.
My wife and I live with a pair of cockatiels (smaller parrot-like birds from Australia, the ones with orange circles on their cheeks and long tails; lifespan only 15-20 years so we hope to outlive them), and they normally sit on my lap for Vigils and Vespers. Our female bird has even laid an egg on my lap more than once. Sometimes I think they are smarter than me; sometimes my wife agrees.
I suggest the film “Winged Migration” for anyone interested in birds.