Swearrots

Five African Parrots had to be removed from public view and split up after they started swearing just after being donated to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in eastern England.

Billy, Elsie, Eric, Jade and Tyson were given to the park by five different owners in the same week. Before being put on display they were quarantined together.

“They literally, within a very short period of time, starting swearing at each other,” chief executive Steve Nichols said. “‘F**k off’ is the most common one. I get called a fat t**t every time I walk past,” Nichols complained.

Because the swearing caused laughter from the staff, the parrots started laughing after swearing. The obscenities amused the park’s visitors, but due to concern for the younger patrons, it was decided to take the parrots off exhibit.

“We put them in an off-shore enclosure with the intention that hopefully they will start learning the other parrot’s noise that are around,” said Nichols.

You can read more here.

Cooper’s Talent Show

This is Waldo, the lead singer of death metal band Hatebeak. Hatebeak is the only band in the world to have an avian vocalist. The band never tours as the amplification required could harm Waldo.waldoWaldo is a a 21-year-old Congo African grey parrot. According to the band, “Waldo is quite talkative and has always responded to music in general. We can tell he likes metal because he stands on one leg when he’s happy. He gets very hyper and talkative when we play music he likes and we usually record his outbursts following an extended listening period. We take the best parts and track them with the rest of the music.”hbcompHere is Waldo rocking out:

Cooper’s book report

cosmoThis month’s book is Conversations with Cosmo – At Home with an African Grey Parrot. Betty Jean Craige tells of her relationship with her parrot, Cosmo. Cosmo has a vocabulary of over two hundred phrases which she uses to communicate with Betty Jean. Cooper found the book to be insightful and humorous. She loved reading about Cosmo’s jokes and antics, and found the bond between Cosmo and Betty Jean to be very touching. Of course, now Cooper wants an African Grey Parrot of her own.

Cooper’s book report

Alex and Me by Irene M. Pepperberg

Alex and Me is about the avian intelligence work of scientist Irene Pepperberg and her most famous subject, an African Grey parrot named Alex. Alex had a vocabulary of over 100 words and was able to distinguish and label colors, shapes and numbers. He also understood concepts such as “bigger”, “smaller”, “same” and “different”. Pepperberg’s groundbreaking research proved that parrots are not just mimics, but are highly intelligent and can understand the meaning of the words they use.

Cooper would highly recommend this book. His favorite parts were when Alex was being mischievous. He also thinks that the parakeets Dr. Pepperberg owned from childhood through college were the inspiration for her later success.