Read the book: «National Geographic Kids Chapters: Parrot Genius: And More True Stories of Amazing Animal Talents»

Imagine you’re at the zoo. You hear a tiger growl. That’s not surprising. Lots of zoos have tigers. But what if you’re nowhere near the tiger exhibit? Next you hear a chimp screech. But there are no chimps around. And then a pirate says, “Arrgh!” Is it some kind of trick? Not if you’re at the Knoxville (sounds like NOX-vil) Zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A. It means you’ve just found Einstein, one of the most amazing parrots in the world!

Did You Know?

Albert Einstein was a German-born scientist. He was considered a genius and won a Nobel Prize. He also owned a parrot named Bibo.

Einstein joined the Knoxville Zoo more than 20 years ago. The zoo wanted to put together an animal show. It hired an animal talent scout. That’s someone who looks for awesome animals that can learn to perform. When the talent scout heard about a very smart five-year-old parrot named Einstein, he knew he had to meet her.

Einstein is an African gray parrot. In the wild, African grays live in large groups called flocks. Some flocks have 100 birds. Living in such large groups makes them social, or friendly, with each other.

African gray parrots live in the rain forests of Africa. But Einstein was not born in Africa. She was hatched in California. Einstein’s owners could tell that she was extra smart. That’s why they named her after the scientist Albert Einstein. He was so smart that people called him a genius!

The talent scout drove over to meet Einstein. Would she be as brainy as her namesake? He hoped so. The breeders introduced him to Einstein. Einstein turned her head this way and that. Then she said a few words to him. That’s right—she spoke!

All African gray parrots can mimic sounds. But not all African grays choose to do so. The scout could see that Einstein was naturally chatty. She would be easy to train. He took her to the Knoxville Zoo to try her out for the show.

Let’s talk parrots:

• There are over 350 types of parrots in the world.

• Parrots usually live in tropical areas. But one type (above), the kea (sounds like KEE-eh), lives in the snowy mountains of southern New Zealand.

• Most parrots are brightly colored. Macaws (sounds like muh-KAWS) are some of the most colorful.

• All parrots have curved beaks.

• Most parrots eat seeds and fruit. Some eat flowers and bugs.

• Parrots have four toes on each foot. Two toes point forward and two point backward.

• The biggest parrots are the macaw (left) and the large cockatoo.

The trainers at the Knoxville Zoo put Einstein in her new home. They knew that like some people, parrots can be afraid of new places. But Einstein wasn’t an ordinary parrot. She was curious. She checked out the parrot cage. It was big enough to hold a couple of large dogs. She saw that it had several perches, or branches. It also had three bowls. One was for water. Another was for food—berries and seeds. The third bowl was empty. Soon Einstein would find out what it was for.

In no time, Einstein made herself at home. Zoo trainers put toys in her cage. They gave her shiny beads to play with. They gave her bells to ring. Sometimes they hid food inside tubes. She liked to figure out how to get the food out!

It didn’t take the zoo long to decide that Einstein would be good in the show. But she had to be trained. Scientists say that African grays are as smart as five-year-old children. But they behave like two-year-olds. That meant Einstein had a lot to learn.

Teresa Collins became her first head trainer at the zoo. Teresa knew the first thing Einstein needed to learn was to trust her. So she dropped treats into the third bowl in Einstein’s cage whenever she walked by. Sometimes she tossed a peanut into the treat bowl. That was the best. Einstein loved peanuts! Einstein soon learned that Teresa made good things happen.

After a while, Teresa tried something new. Instead of dropping a treat into the bowl, she pinched the food between her fingers. She held it out to Einstein. African gray parrots have strong beaks. Teresa wanted Einstein to take the food gently. Einstein had learned that Teresa was her friend. She knew better than to bite the hand that fed her.

One day, Teresa put her hand into Einstein’s cage. She hoped Einstein would climb onto it. It would mean that Einstein trusted her. Trusting a human can take time, so it’s a big step for a parrot. But not for Einstein. Einstein went to Teresa right away. She even let Teresa pet her chest.

Did You Know?

Sometimes African gray parrots will shrink the pupils in their eyes, bob their heads, stretch their necks, and throw up. It’s a sign that they love you!

Now Einstein was ready to learn some new words. How quickly would she learn? Teresa wondered. We say that African gray parrots “talk.” But actually, they mimic, or copy, sounds. They have a lot of muscles (sounds like MUH-sels) in their necks. They use them to change how the air goes through their throats. That makes different sounds. It’s kind of like playing a flute.

African grays can make 2,000 different sounds. It’s fun for them. But it also protects them. In the wild, some large birds, like hawks, owls, and eagles, feed on parrots. If one grabs an African gray, the bird makes a loud noise. Screech! The large bird lets go of the parrot. Imagine you are about to take a bite of pizza. Suddenly, it screams. You’d drop it pretty fast, too!

Teresa wanted Einstein to copy her. She would speak a word to Einstein. Sometimes Einstein said the word right away. Sometimes Teresa had to repeat it over and over. Teresa discovered that Einstein liked saying lots of words. But sometimes she refused to repeat a word. Parrots will only make sounds they like.

Einstein didn’t copy just the sounds her trainers made. She copied any sound she liked. She loved the sound of water running. So she taught herself that sound. Once she heard an embarrassing sound. Oops. Someone passed gas. Einstein copied that sound too. Maybe she needs to learn, “Excuse me!”

Parrots can feed themselves with their feet. But this brainy bird can do a whole lot more!