Alex passed away

About a week and a half ago, Flippy and I were eating breakfast and discussing some tidbit of wisdom that had been called out by Blackjack, our African grey.  I think the chat was along the lines of how Blackjack used to spend her days saying, “I love you!” and “Gimme a kiss”, but now she spends her days saying things like, “No barking!” and whining in imitation of an overly-excited little dog.  It was indicative of the pandemonium our household has descended into.  During the conversation, Flippy wondered how Alex the incredibly brilliant and famous African grey was doing.

Yesterday I saw a link to a story about Alex in the New York Times, and I sent it to Flippy with an added note about the coincidence and timing.  I hadn’t read the article before I’d sent it.  I then continued reading and was shocked to find out that Alex had died suddenly on September 6th, which was right about the time Flippy mentioned him at breakfast.  If you don’t know about Alex, he was a very smart parrot who knew basic colours, basic counting, and was able to request things he desired, whether it was to eat a cherry or take a nap.  I know Alex was smart, but I also think he was still an average African grey, as we’ve noticed that Blackjack can make her own thoughtful and meaningful sentences by mixing and matching nouns and verbs.  These birds are incredibly, incredibly smart.  The research done with Alex helped build a whole new respect for parrots like African greys, and it’s now commonly believed that they have the intelligence of a 5 year old child.  Right now, Blackjack is in the bedroom watching Sesame Street and having a grand old time “singing” along and being exciting—she loves Sesame Street more than any other kid’s show on PBS.

I wanted to send my condolences to Alex’s handlers/owners/friends, as his death was completely unexpected and he’d seemed to be in perfect health.  Their sense of loss must be overwhelming on a personal level, not to mention that 30 years of research into parrot intelligence has now reached a conclusion.  I’m sure there are some people who would be opposed to the studies done with Alex, but I believe he had a wonderful, fulfilling life surrounded by people he loved, and he certainly enjoyed a lot of company and stimulation on a daily basis.  We’ll miss him, too.

Here’s a photo of our smart and funny Blackjack (with her duckie, which says “quack, quack”, as does Blackjack):

P1010015

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 09/17 at 11:06 AM

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

  1. My mom likes African Grays cuz her furiend had one that rode on the handlebars of her bicycle. Strange coincidence, thinking of Alex right then. Blackjack looks delish! I mean lovely. Really!

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat  on  09/21  at  09:28 AM

  2. Hi, I’m looking for a veterinary opthalmologist and I was linked to your site. I noticed you mentioned a doctor, Dr. Michael Brinkman and was wondering if you could possibly give me his information. I recently took my dog to the vet and he told me that nothing could be done about my dog’s lipid build up in his eyes but I would like to get a secondary opinion. None of the sites with his name seem to work and I figure since his name seems to come up a lot, he must be good at what he does. Anyway, if you could please email me at the given address, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

    Posted by Amber  on  09/21  at  11:54 PM

  3. Actually, if you could email me at this address, that would be better.

    Posted by Amber  on  09/21  at  11:55 PM
    4. Page 1 of 1 pages

Name:

Email:

Location:

URL:

Smileys

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

What is the sum of 5 and 1?

Next entry: Off to SuperZoo 2007!

Previous entry: The Cheerful Cemetary

<< Back to main