Sam, an 18-year old African Grey parrot, has helped save the lives of five premature puppies. It is reported that in the middle of the night, Sam flew upstairs to his owner’s bedroom calling “Come on, come on!”, mimicking his owner’s frequent command to her dog, Sally.
In the eight years he had lived at the house, Sam had never before been in the bedroom.
Going downstairs with Sam, the owner looked in the kitchen and found Sally and her newly born premature puppies in distress on the floor.
The story of Sam is remarkable for many reasons! He was aware of the distress of the dogs – animals of a species different to himself. This ‘interspecies awareness’ can be used by animal scientists as an indicator of animal sentience.
The words “come one, come on!” are used to encourage action or a bit more speed from another, and often they imply some urgency. We don’t know in which context Sally’s owner uses these words to her, but the signs are that Sam the parrot chose these words deliberately to get the urgent response needed.
African Grey parrots are well known for their intelligence and quick wit, and here is yet another example of their abilities.
Dr Irene Pepperberg has carried out extensive studies of parrots’ abilities to understand. Reporting on her findings, she notes: “Given the evolutionary distance between birds and mammals, these results have intriguing implications for the evolution of intelligence, the study of comparative intelligence, and the care and maintenance of birds held in captivity in zoos and as companion animals.”
This short film featuring Irene with famous parrots Alex and Griffin gives a very interesting and though-provoking snapshot about these amazing birds.
Sources
Lancashire Telegraph, 8 November 2011. Darwen hero parrot helps saves premature pups’ lives
Pepperberg, I. (2006) Cognitive and communicative abilities of Grey parrots. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100: 77-86
Once a forager has found pollen or nectar they will return to the hive and perform an elaborate dance on the vertical surface of a honey comb. Karl von Frisch discovered that bees use this dance to communicate the location of food to others in their hive. If the food is relatively far from the hive (as it generally is) the bee will perform a “waggle dance” to communicate two items of information – the distance to and the direction of the food source.
