this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
78 points (94.3% liked)
science
23578 readers
240 users here now
A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.
rule #1: be kind
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Just want to remind people of Alex the parrot who had a strong grasp on English, could do math, and was very much a bird. Without any of the in-built brain molding that we, as humans, have for human language, Alex did pretty well. Given how common social behavior is among birds, I’d be surprised if none could communicate beyond “fuck you!” or “fuck me!”
I don't know if I'd go quite so far, but yes, Alex the African Grey knew an impressive amount of words and could directly demonstrate that knowledge via familiar objects. Koko the gorilla was also something of a contemporary IIRC, who could form simple English sentences.
RIP, Alex and Koko.