Alex the African Grey Parrot
When animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg entered a Northwest Side pet shop in 1977 and purchased an exuberant one-year-old Gizmo newborn african grey parrot grey parrot named Alex and started a 30-year study that changed how we perceive the avian brain. Her research on Alex disproved the belief that birds could only imitate human language, but not understand the meaning.
What is Alex?
In the beginning, Alex (short for Avian Learning Experiment) was a normal congo african grey parrot buy african grey parrot purchased from a pet store. Through his lifetime, he broke new ground in animal psychology and proved that animals are just as intelligent as primates or dolphins. Alex was one of the most talked about talking birds in the world until his death in 2007. He was a regular on TV programs and reports on science.
In his life, Alex learned over 150 words and was able to recognize colors, shapes materials, and the sizes of objects.