Talking, not just parroting

. . . or so it appears, as reported at the BBC:

The finding of a parrot with an almost unparalleled power to communicate with people has brought scientists up short. The bird, a captive African grey called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of 950 words, and shows signs of a sense of humour.

He invents his own words and phrases if he is confronted with novel ideas with which his existing repertoire cannot cope - just as a human child would do.

N'kisi's remarkable abilities, which are said to include telepathy, feature in the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine.

N'kisi is believed to be one of the most advanced users of human language in the animal world.

As one of my professors used to say, "interesting if true." The telepathy claim sets the old BS detectors jangling, however.

Posted by David on January 26, 2004 6:37 PM