NY Parrot Astounds with Language Skills

by Jennifer Dolphin

N'kisi, a six-year-old African grey parrot bred in captivity, has astounded scientists with his 950 word vocabulary, humorous expressions and apparent telepathy.

N'kisi, the companion of New York artist Aimee Morgana, is said to be the first parrot of his kind to go beyond mimicking speech to develop other language skills.

He uses words in context, with past, present and future verb tenses.

Grace Roselli, N'kisi's teacher, says he invents novel words outside his existing vocabulary, including "flied" in place of "flew." Creativity in describing new ideas is a trait typically exhibited by children.

The parrot is also able to link pictures to real people or objects. N'kisi first saw primate expert Dr. Jane Goodall in a photograph with apes. When the two were later introduced to each other, he greeted her with "Got a chimp?"

He also seems to have a sense of humor. Observing a fellow parrot suspended upside down on a perch, he quipped: "You've got to put this bird on the camera."

Dr. Goodall says N'kisi's willingness to learn words is an "outstanding example of interspecies communication."

Morgana spends six hours a day conversing with N'kisi, describing what she does as she does it. She also teaches him vocabulary using a child's touch-tone telephone and other toys.

The World Parrot Trust's Alison Hales says communicating with companion parrots could be extremely beneficial for the birds' quality of life.

"N'kisi's amazing vocabulary and sense of humor should make everyone who has a pet parrot consider whether they are meeting its needs," Hales says. "They may not be able to ask directly, but parrots are long-lived, and a bit of research now could mean an improved quality of life for years."

Scientific studies also seem to suggest that N'kisi could possess mind-reading abilities.

Morgana says she was prompted to contact Rupert Sheldrake, a former Royal Society researcher at Cambridge University, when N'kisi began to show signs of telepathy.

Morgana alleges that whilst she was looking at a picture of a purple car, N'kisi called out 'Oh, look at the pretty purple' from across the room.

Sheldrake conducted a double-blind experiment in controlled conditions to assess N'kisi's abilities.

N'kisi and Morgana were separated and filmed as Morgana, out of N'kisi's view, opened 71 random envelopes containing picture cards.

During the trial researchers discounted indirect responses including "Can I give you a hug?" when a card showing a couple embracing was drawn out, and "What ya doing on the phone?" for a card depicting a man with a telephone.

Even so, N'kisi guessed at directly relevant keywords for 23 of the cards, three times as often as would be expected to result by chance.

"The parrot seems to be able to pick up her owner's thoughts with an amazing degree of accuracy," said Sheldrake. "In the case of N'kisi, there's a very strong connection between her and Aimee."

Eleanor O'Hanlon, of BBC Wildlife Magazine, witnessed the videotape of the experiment. The findings of the study and O'Hanlon's own report on the subject are included in February's edition of the periodical.

O'Hanlon points out that various studies in this area are causing a rethink of intelligence in animals.

Professor Donald Broom, of the University of Cambridge's School of Veterinary Medicine, also commented: "The more we look at the cognitive abilities of animals, the more advanced they appear, and the biggest leap of all has been with parrots."

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.