Alex the Parrot: He Asked What He Was

Chicago, September 1977

Irene Pepperberg was 27 years old and a newly minted PhD in chemistry. She walked into a pet store with a different idea: that an African grey parrot, given the right training and the right relationship, might be able to show genuine understanding of language, not just mimicry.

She pointed at a one-year-old bird in a cage. The store clerk picked him out at random. She named him Alex, which stood for Animal Learning EXperiment. Her colleagues at the university thought she was wasting her time. "Bird brain" was an insult for a reason, they said.

What Alex Could Do

Alex learned 150 words. He could identify 50 different objects by name, and tell you their color, shape, and material. He understood quantities up to eight. He understood the concept of "zero" before most four-year-olds demonstrate it. He grasped "same" and "different" as abstract categories, not just trained responses.

This was not a bird repeating sounds it had heard. Alex was answering questions about objects he had never seen combined in that specific way before. He was reasoning.

What Color

In one session, a researcher held a mirror up to Alex's cage. He stared at his reflection for a long time. Then he asked: "What color?"

He was not asking about the mirror. He was asking about himself. He knew the shape in the mirror was him, and he was using his vocabulary to ask a question about his own appearance. The answer, when they confirmed it for him, was grey.

No animal had done anything like that in a controlled research setting before. The mirror test had been used to assess self-awareness in other species, but asking for information about your own reflection was a different thing entirely.

September 6, 2007

Pepperberg left the lab that evening the same way she always did. Alex called after her as she went: "You be good. I love you. See you tomorrow." It was what he always said. She left.

She came back the next morning. He was in his cage. He was 31 years old. He was gone.

No last experiment. No special occasion. Just a Tuesday evening goodbye that happened to be the last one. His final words were exactly what he always said.

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For Bird Lovers

Read their story in Alex and Me by Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Or browse our bird collection for enrichment toys and gear.

Sources

• Pepperberg, Irene M. Alex and Me (Collins, 2008).
• Pepperberg, Irene M. The Alex Studies (Harvard University Press, 2002).
• The Alex Foundation, alexfoundation.org.

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