January 27, 2004

A suitable contender for the Republican nomination

Just kidding. . . . . The parrot's smarter

posted by Gyan 20 years ago
  • Wow, simply amazing. Still seems he is only associating phrases with images. That he can build sentences only means he's able to conceptualize actions as verbs to better convey what he observes as sounds. I still wonder how a wild parrot would need all those complex skills to survive. Thanks Gyan!
  • My language class last semester talked about another parrot, Alex, who is able to differentiate things like color and texture. Amazing stuff... but I don't feel like summarizing a semester right now in order to discuss it. :)
  • I put a link to Alex.org on the bottom of that Churchill's parrot thread. Alex is king.
  • Youcan listen to N'Kisi here (Realplayer).
  • Heh heh A link might help linky
  • Polly wants a cracker, with a Crottin de Champcol, So many uses for this versatile goats milk cheese. As close as you are going to get to an "AOC crotting de Chavignol" in the U.S. Pascal Jacquin put a lot of effort into this cheese so that it can be enjoyed from young, for salads And crostini, to old, for grating. Crottin de Champcol is made in the Loire around Sancerre and Berry, and is named for the Tiny village of Champcol. Crotin in French means horse or mule dung. Not a particularly appetizing description but nonetheless A rich a flavorful cheese. Crottin Jacquin are produced in Berry, near Cher. After 2 weeks of affinage the rind begins to Take on the molds that define this cheese and after 4 months it will be gradable and still very tasty. With age, the rind Thickens with mold while the interior begins to transform from the outside in. Distinct age layers are seen throughout this Process. The flavor will be complex, grassy and nutty with a great salty balance. The rind, except when young, should always Have mottled blue, white and gray mold. For serving, simply dust off the excess and then dig in. They may be ugly but they are Worth it! BWAAK
  • sorry, all, couldn't resist Definately amazing. When I was 19 I lived in an abandoned "cabin" in Petersburg AK. In the afternoon when I woke up (I worked grave, eviscerating fishes) I would wake to what I thought then, was native (read: indian) women singing. Not the Hi-ya-ya-ya of western movies, more...um, visceral, less rhythmic. Turns out it was ravens, which I later found out have a "voice" ability similar to parrots. I still wonder if the ravens were repeating what they had heard before.
  • Pfft. It doesn't take much intelligence to mindlessly repeat a few words.
  • Pfft. It doesn't take much intelligence to mindlessly repeat a few words.
  • :(
  • MoFi Talented Animals Agency proudly presents... N'Kisi, the AOL Chat parrot! N'Kisi: That's so cool! Aimee: Isn't it? N'Kisi: Can ya hear. There's a square. N'Kisi: Lemme try... Look, there's a square! N'Kisi: Can you see that? Aimee: Yeah! N'Kisi: Look! Aimee: Isn't it cool? N'Kisi: Lemme... the turquoise. Wow, there's a square. Fantastic. ...N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy... Uh-huh. Yup. O-kay. Oooh, is that Rupert Sheldrake? Eeeeeeexcellent.
  • Its true, N'kisi can read minds, I spent an afternoon with the parrot and he demonstrated the ability. Here's a transcipt. N'Kisi: I read your mind, you want to give me a cracker. Spooky: Actually I was hoping you could tell me what a gerund is. N'kisi: No, YOU WANT TO GIVE ME A DAMN CRACKER! DO YOU SEE THIS BEAK?! I CAN CRACK NUTS WITH THIS BEAK IMAGINE WHAT IT COULD DO TO YOUR NOSE! and thats when I realized I wanted to give him a cracker the entire time.
  • lol, spooky. Reading the transcript, it seems chatbots have better communication skills than parrots. Yet N'Kisi beats the hell out of Koko (Geocities).
  • The disconcerting part about the tape is that N'kisi has such a similar voice and intonation to his trainer that it's hard to tell their voices apart. It's not very flattering, but unless I was following the transcript, I had trouble telling which was which. (And before we start the jokes, we have to remember that she was speaking simply for the parrot's benefit.)
  • Animals are rubbish at talking. I repeat, Animals are Rubbish at Talking. Heh. Stupid animals. oh, and... clarification sought: quidnunc's "doesn't take much intelligence to mindlessly repeat a few words" double post - was that a very good joke, or the best mistake ever?
  • ;)
  • As seen on Metafilter today. Ha!
  • Metafilter. Eventually they get it :) Just correcting the link for the lazy, like me. Damn you Wolof! You made me click a whole two or three more buttons!
  • Sorry. Somewhere between the preview and the post, the server belched. Same thing happened to this character.
  • Ah, I've been lucky then.
  • homunculus is like, totally for the birds.
  • homunculous is a man of good hobbits and seems to be interested in elves and parrots.
  • I just wish there I could listen to one of the parrot's songs without having to buy the whole CD.
  • Starlings and other birds can also speak intelligibly -- does this mean their tongues are similar to parrots' tongues?
  • Some Greys can be quite affectioate -- they need gentle preening of their heads and necks by their owners, which means daily handling. They are not inclined to be nippy in my experience, if well-treated. If you want a snuggly bird, however, cockatoos are more generally inclined to indulge.
  • Bees, can we ammend that last to read SOME cockatoos? *Rubs scar on left ear
  • Were ye wearing an earring, BlueHorse?
  • No, t'was just a bird with a nasty streak that didn't git his Friskies fast enough.
  • Let's assume today is Think Like a Parrot Day; here are some tips on parrot psychology: 1. The dominant bird takes the high perch or postition. 2. A parrot will tend to run up the arm of a person holding it so it ends up perching on the persdon's shoulder. Which presents some implicit awkwardnesses for both parties. 3. Taller parrots are especial;ly to be discouraged from sitting on shoulders because the postition makes it very difficult to observe the bird and to controll it if necessary. 4. Parrots sitting side by side are often mates, they sit in parity (yes, in parroty), so to speak, at about eye level with one another. 5. Parrots feed one another if they are mated or very close -- sometimes by regurgitating food on you as a love token. Parent birds also do this with offspring. 6. Guess what the parrot may be thinking if it is sitting on your shoulder and you are feeding it? If it doesn't regard you as an inimate/mate, it may react oddly if you try to feed it when all then other signals are pro-intimacy, so to speak. 7. Am I talking parrot porn? Not quite -- but issues of sex probably enter into some of the bird's reactions in some situations. Because it leads an articficial life in captivity, it may fix on a person or persons as intimates/love objects. 8. They may come to regard people as potential mates, in short, if all they see are people. So I'm thinking it's possible, BlueHorse, that you may have been -- from the parrot's standpoint -- making unseemly advances, and all unwittingly, alas.
  • Should add: if the parrot is a lory it is probably going to bite you regardless of what you do, bite you just on lory principle, or because you are there. I don't know why it should be easier to think like a horse or a dog or a parrot than to think like a conservative, but so I find it.
  • *was bitten by a lori on Australia day*
  • Un-patriotic little bastards, them lorikeets.
  • Unseemly advances, huh? Remind me not to offer you a cracker.
  • Unseemly advances *thinks of snappy comeback having something to do with inviting other beings to sit on my finger, realises it's a minefield out there*
  • Oh my god, one was trying to climb my pants at my wedding!!!!
  • MonkeyFilter: Oh my god, one was trying to climb my pants at my wedding!!!! *revels in GramMa's inevitable jealousness ;)
  • nothing says love like a bit of regurgitated seed between your toes!
  • So the wedding's happenned? Congrats, dj, that's great!
  • OK, Pete, you win this one. But I'll get you yet, my pretty.
  • What happens in Vegas may not stay in Vegas after all. Goddamn mimic.