All About Parrots

I sense a disturbance in the ether. In Argentina, police spent five days interrogating a parrot before it finally cracked and spilled the goods. Closer to home, a coke addicted polly got caught up in some nefarious underworld dealings. Meanwhile in Australia, weak-minded orange-bellied wild parrots have been manipulating the legal system for personal gain. Appalling.

Some believe that sophisticated language use proves that parrots have advanced cognitive abilities. I'm not so sure. I think a lot of parrot speech can be explained by fortuitous vocal capabilities and simple operant conditioning.