As you know, I have spent my life researching, breeding and living with birds, especially parrots. I have also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Irene Pepperberg several times, both at professional meetings as well as at avicultural meetings. However, yesterday, I received the devastating news that Alex the African Grey parrot, who was both a study subject and colleague to Irene Pepperberg, died unexpectedly yesterday, 7 September 2007, at 31 years of age.

Even though Alex was a research animal, he was much more than that. This species of parrot generally lives to be 50-60 years old, so Alex was only middle-aged when he died. According to some reports I have read, it is possible that Alex might have succumbed to Aspergillosis, a fungal infection of the lungs that he has battled in the past. However, the cause of death will not be known until after a necropsy has been completed on Monday. A necropsy is an autopsy that is performed on an animal. Alex's veterinarian is returning from vacation to personally conduct this necrospy.

Irene Pepperberg purchased Alex from a Chicago pet store in 1977, when he was approximately one year of age. Alex, being quite a character, quickly took over Pepperberg's life by teaching her all he knew about cognition and communication. As early as 2002, Alex had a vocabulary of more than 100 words and in 1999, he could "identify 50 different objects and understand quantities up to 6; he could distinguish 7 colors and 5 shapes, and understand the concepts of 'bigger', 'smaller', 'same', and 'different', and he was learning 'over' and 'under'," according to the New York Times.

Alex's abilities were not limited to the lab, however. As a television guest star, Alex deftly upstaged Alan Alda in an episode of Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. Later, in 1999, Pepperberg published The Alex Studies, which is a comprehensive review of her decades of learning about learning from Alex. Pepperberg has applied her decades of learning about cognition and communication to help children with learning disabilities.

Pepperberg's work continues with Alex's two avian companions, both African grey parrots, Griffin and Wart. If you would like to help support her research, please send a donation in Alex's memory to;


The Alex Foundation
c/o Dr. Irene Pepperberg
Department of Psychology/MS-062
415 South Street
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454

Joel in blue (playing devil's advocate somewhat ) :

[quote] Alex's veterinarian is returning from vacation to personally conduct this necrospy. I sure wish there would be a few independent A.V.s present while doing this necropsy - I would trust more the results if so - sorry, but that is just me. ... Btw, it is my opinion that when a bird or human or any other animal is suffering from any condition or disease (this vet of course must have known about the aspergillosis etc.) , that creature/being should then be living (asap) in a set-up that causes the body & mind as little stress as possible - so that the body can have the best chance of fully battling whatever the condition may be, with or without meds. Would Alex still be alive today if once his condition was diagnosed, the vet instructed Pepperberg to retire Alex into a more natural, yet safe, full-flight set up outdoors - in a tropical environment if necessary? Maybe so, maybe not but I think Alex would have had the best chance at recovery if that was done?

Irene Pepperberg purchased Alex from a Chicago pet store in 1977, when he was approximately one year of age. Alex, being quite a character, quickly took over Pepperberg's life by teaching her all he knew about cognition and communication. As early as 2002, Alex had a vocabulary of more than 100 words and in 1999, he could "identify 50 different objects and understand quantities up to 6; he could distinguish 7 colors and 5 shapes, and understand the concepts of 'bigger', 'smaller', 'same', and 'different', and he was learning 'over' and 'under'," according to the New York Times. Really interesting stuff for us humans but I bet Alex could have cared less about all these things he could do - I think he would have much rather enjoyed life flying around outdoors in a huge aviary and maybe even raising a family. Again, don't mind me, I even feel for the poor rats in all the research labs throughout our country and the world.

Alex's abilities were not limited to the lab, however. As a television guest star, Alex deftly upstaged Alan Alda in an episode of Scientific American Frontiers on PBS. Whoop-te-do!! I bet ya Alex was soooo proud of himself then. .... Later, in 1999, Pepperberg published The Alex Studies, which is a comprehensive review of her decades of learning about learning from Alex. Pepperberg has applied her decades of learning about cognition and communication to help children with learning disabilities. Great for the human children, sad for Alex IMO.

Pepperberg's work continues with Alex's two avian companions, both African grey parrots, Griffin and Wart. If you would like to help support her research, please send a donation in Alex's memory to; I personally wouldn't send anyone a donation that didn't allow the birds to be birds (if that is the case during the lives of these birds while they are being experimented with) - at least during the hrs. that they are not being experimented with. Best of luck to Griffin & Wart for a long healthy life.

Now please don't anyone get bent out of shape regarding my personal feelings and comments above. JMO and "food" for further thought - nothing more.

[quote=~J~;64442]Joel in blue (playing devil's advocate somewhat ) :

I couldn't agree more with Joel. Of course lol. Not to diminish the sadness of Alex's passing but I think enough research was done WAY WAY BACK in the first couple of years to prove that African Grey Parrots communicate and have high IQ.s.

Research labs need funding to keep in business so the people trying to get the funding have to keep doing public appearances and submitting grants and stuff or no show. Unfortunately I never approve of any animal for any reason living in a research facility or even being a subject of research at all. No exceptions no caveats. And yes if I needed to sacrifice my life for not taking advantage of an animal's I'd totally say yes in that hypothetical that everyone always says. Medical research on animals doesnt work on humans anyway it's an antiquated rule of the government.

One exception I "might" have to my harsh opinions is dogs pulled off the euthansia line to be hearing assist dogs. Because the ones who do it GENERALLY love it, like terriers. Problem with this exception is that they are at the mercy of HUMANS who overdo it and could take advantage but that goes for all pets so at least these guys get "trained" for something fun. Hearing the phone and making alot of noise about it LOL. Versus the stress of being dragged around ground zero, or having to be responsible 24/7 to predict some human's seizures, or having to HOLD UP a 6 foot man to steady his walk from Parkinsons. Disgusting.

Anyway, ambassador? Perhaps. But not really because out of the 100 people in my office I guarantee you about 3 only heard of him and vaguely. And could care less it's just entertainment to non bird people.

I feel for the guy especially if he's been battling Asper AND STILL WORKING. And it's work. He doesnt get to chose his activities, hours, family, or lifestyle.

I read that that lab had two others who were dismissed because they had "ADD Attention Deficit Disorder" but I forget what they did with them. So I guess Alex has lived alone all these 30 years without a bird family.

No Joel, no money from me either. And I'm going to try and find what monumental contribution to humans was made by a parrot's cognative skills.

Until there aren't any birds in rescues, my money goes there. Along with other targeted programs like supplying an outside dog with a warm dog house and bale of straw for a mere couple hundred dollars.

Thanks Joel for your compassion and caring about birds.

BTW once again THANK YOU Parrot Chatter for encouraging opinions at both ends of every spectrum. This is what makes a forum so valuable IMO.

That was an e-mail sent to me from one of the bird groups I belong to on yahoo...It was uh interesting lol....But I agree with you joel

Here's an interesting excerpt:

Thus we are trying to get him to sound out refrigerator letters, the same way one would train children on phonics. We were doing demos at the Media Lab for our corporate sponsors; we had a very small amount of time scheduled and the visitors wanted to see Alex work. So we put a number of differently colored letters on the tray that we use, put the tray in front of Alex, and asked, "Alex, what sound is blue?" He answers, "Ssss." It was an "s", so we say "Good birdie" and he replies, "Want a nut."

Well, I don't want him sitting there using our limited amount of time to eat a nut, so I tell him to wait, and I ask, "What sound is green?" Alex answers, "Ssshh." He's right, it's "sh," and we go through the routine again: "Good parrot." "Want a nut." "Alex, wait. What sound is orange?" "ch." "Good bird!" "Want a nut." We're going on and on and Alex is clearly getting more and more frustrated. He finally gets very slitty-eyed and he looks at me and states, "Want a nut. Nnn, uh, tuh."

Not only could you imagine him thinking, "Hey, stupid, do I have to spell it for you?" but the point was that he had leaped over where we were and had begun sounding out the letters of the words for us. This was in a sense his way of saying to us, "I know where you're headed! Let's get on with it," which gave us the feeling that we were on the right track with what we were doing. These kinds of things don't happen in the lab on a daily basis, but when they do, they make you realize there's a lot more going on inside these little walnut-sized brains than you might at first imagine.

Took all of 5 minutes on google.

Edge: "THAT DAMN BIRD"

I believe it's slightly overstated about Alex research doing anything for children. "Pepperberg has applied her decades of learning about cognition and communication to help children with learning disabilities." I saw one paper in 2002 and maybe another one that could be applied to humans but all the documentation says it proved he had cognitive skills Like children and monkeys. The site says there is no federal funding and that Dr Pepperberg no longer has an academic appointment for research so it's all private under her foundation. I'm sure she's terribly upset and it will be interesting to see what happens next with the foundation. Her homepage says: The mission of The Alex Foundation is to improve the lives of parrots in captivity and preserve those in the wild. And for that I applaud the foundation.

Yes, thank you Parrot Chatter - I'm with Cindy.

Btw, IMO, todays award goes to Ms. Cindy for her above quoted-by-me post.

Hey Cindy, based on all your posts/bird-related experience(s)/research and even your intelligent opinions - on every issue I can remember you posting about, I feel you may have missed your calling = An Investigative Reporter.

I just dont think this is the appropriate time to debate anything regarding Alex. And I think it should be a separate thread. Not to challenge the opinions here for which most I agree with, I just dont think its fair. Let his spirit rest a day. Please.

Sorry Leigh, but we all have a different view on appropriate I guess. I "could have" said things a bit more extremely but chose to be diplomatic. At least for me, that was diplomatic LOL.

I think the best tribute to Alex is to advocate for his and other parrots' compassionate treatment while on earth. Happily now he doesnt have to use his math and color skills wherever he is to earn a lousy nut and funding grants. I'm sure his spirit is soaring with other animals and not making do with walking around in Phillips lighting. (no offense to Phillips and thanks for the great CRI lol)

Well I like reading. And MAPS. Take a peek out your back window...right past the moat....next to the Everglades Airboat.....

(nice knees )