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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: parrot

parrot stories: 9 news summaries

 Polly Steals a Passport 

Winged New Zealand thief makes off with Scottish tourist's passport

May 29, 09 4:55 AM CDT
(Newser) - One of New Zealand's native parrots now has a British passport, the AP reports. The kea, one of a notoriously brazen species of alpine parrots, snatched the brightly colored bag containing the passport from the luggage compartment of a stopped tour bus and flew off into the rainforest with it.... More »

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thief • New Zealand • parrot • passport

(Newser) - Yes, it's an actual study: Parrots can dance. Really and truly dance. A painstaking review of lab video—and YouTube—revealed that the birds have rhythm, the Boston Globe reports. Frame-by-frame analysis of birds’ motion to music shows that they bob and weave in perfect sync to a beat,... More »

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YouTube • birds • dancing • Brandeis • parrot • scientific study • rhythm • Harvard University

super bowl

 Cardinals Not Cute Enough? 
 Try the Puppy Bowl 

A parrot will sing anthem, kittens in halftime show on Animal Planet's Super alternative

Jan 30, 09 6:09 PM CST
(Newser) - Those uninterested in watching hulking giants meet on the gridiron Sunday have a decidedly cuter alternative: the fifth annual Puppy Bowl. Animal Planet broadcasts the event, which will feature puppies engaging in football-like action, a parrot singing the national anthem, and a halftime show where kittens are just kittens, the... More »

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NFL • football • puppy • parrot • kitten • Animal Planet • Super Bowl XLIII • Puppy Bowl

Rawwk!
Polly Want
a Red Card?

Parrot booted from
UK soccer game for imitating ref's whistle

Jan 21, 09 2:25 PM CST
(Newser) - A rare parrot had to be thrown out of a British football match when he began imitating the referee’s whistle, the Daily Mail reports. The parrot’s call was so realistic it actually stopped play dead 10 minutes into the second half, and continued disrupting the game thereafter. The... More »

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soccer • parrot • red card

 Disabled Bite Back 
 Over Animal Guides 

Some suspect animal owners of abusing of special privileges

Jan 4, 09 2:09 PM CST
(Newser) - Miniature horses trek through supermarkets and monkeys queue up at restaurant buffets these days—all to guide the blind, the disabled, and the anxiety-ridden, Rebecca Skloot writes in the New York Times Magazine. But the increasing prevalence of wild and farm service animals among the civilized is reigniting the debate... More »

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disability • horse • parrot • psychiatric disorders • dog • animal • Americans With Disabilities Act • disability rights

 Birds Think Like Us 

New book chronicles the life and mind of Alex, the world's smartest parrot

Nov 22, 08 4:01 AM CST
(Newser) - In her new book Alex and Me researcher Irene Pepperberg explains how her work with the African gray parrot shed light on human intelligence, Scientific American reports. The author says Alex’s smarts demonstrate why scientists should examine how an animal’s brain works, not just how it looks, because... More »

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language • Irene Pepperberg • African gray parrot • cognitive development • parrot

 Polly Wanna Get Home:
 Here's My Address

Lost Japanese parrot tells vet how to find his home

May 23, 08 4:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - A vet in Japan was stumped on how to reunite a lost parrot with its owners—until the brainy bird told him his address and his owner's name. The well-trained African gray has been safely reunited with his human family, the BBC reports. The bird kept mum in police custody... More »

MORE ABOUT:
pets • Japan • birds • African gray parrot • parrot

Polly Want a Prozac?

Parrots are the latest pets to see spike in depression

Feb 26, 08 9:33 AM CST
(Newser) - With more pet owners working long days and leaving their furry and feathered friends alone at home, cases of animal depression are on the rise, writes the Daily Telegraph. A TV vet says the trend is hitting parrots especially hard, causing the talkative birds to pull out their feathers or... More »

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pets • depression • antidepressant • prescription drugs • Eli Lilly • parrot • dog • medicating pets

World's Smartest Parrot Is No More

Alex was no bird brain: He amused millions, aided science

Sep 11, 07 3:27 PM CDT
(Newser) - Brandeis researchers feel as though they’ve lost a colleague: Alex, the African gray parrot they studied for 30 years, died Friday. He helped them reach surprising new conclusions about the avian brain and “was extraordinary in breaking the perceptions of birds as not being intelligent,” according to... More »

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obituary • language • Alex • Brandeis • Irene Pepperberg • African gray parrot • cognitive development • parrot

9 Stories


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