May28
Parrot Arrested, Not Talking to Cops
Posted at 11:22 AM | Permalink
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Comments (11)
OK, so maybe he wasn't really arrested. But either way, Yosuke the parrot ended up in police custody earlier this month after being rescued from a rooftop near Tokyo. Doing his best stool pigeon impersonation, he didn't talk to the cops. Yosuke was eventually transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital, where he started talking to the vet that cared for him.
Interestingly enough, what he said was his full name—Yosuke Nakamura—and address. The vet checked up on the address and found that it was inhabited by the Nakamura family, which gladly welcomed him back home.
It's not much of a logical leap to assume that Yosuke feels emotions, has desires of his own, and has a meaningful investment in his happiness—as all animals do.
You can see CNN's full story about Yosuke here.
—Sean
Posted by Sean Conner, Laboratory Investigations Special Projects Coordinator
TAGGED:
parrot yosuke nakamura
Comments
You are correct, it isn't a logical leap. What is logical is that parrots are remarkable mimics. The mockingbird in my yard has a repertiore of about ten calls, but I doubt he is sapient.
Posted by: Christopher Cochran MD | May 28, 2008 12:10 PM
Just love it!!
Posted by: Carla | May 28, 2008 01:55 PM
If you look at the article, it says they were teaching him his name and address for two years. That doesn't mean he had any idea what that meant!
However, parrots, like other birds and mammals, do have emotions, and they are likely to be as strong as those of more cognitively advanced humans.
And since when did ethical concern rest on cognitive ability? Why not choose some other characteristic, like skin color?
Posted by: Mark Devries | May 28, 2008 04:08 PM
Chris, you might find this interesting, mockingbird's songs were recently analyzed and a computer could not distinguish sound waves from a mockingbird versus those from the original source (be it bird, cars or alarm clocks!)
Although I am very much against exotic animals being kept as pets, I'm always happy to see when a guardian cares enough about his companion to ensure his safety. This is a very cute story.
Note: if you want an exotic pet, adopt from an animal shelter, and learn how to properly care for it!!
Well said by Mark! It is terribly anthropocentic to say that parrots are "speaking English" and understand it. They are imitating sounds.
Much more impressive is their ability to fly, to survive in the tropics and to find food. Anyone human out there want to try surviving in the jungles of Brazil naked and with no tools? Good luck!
These birds are admirable all on their own, and should be left in the wild! ;)
Posted by: Maya, CVT | May 28, 2008 04:43 PM
Chris I suggest you watch the film "Why dogs smile and chimpanzees cry". Yes the repetition of certain phrases is well documented in birds. Who cares if they can "speak" or not? That is not the point. They deserve respect because they are sentient and do experience emotions. I have seen plenty of evidence to back this up.We evolved from animals,we are animals. The abilities we have that are considered solely ours are not so.They are present in many other species even if they do not pronounce themselves in the same way as ours.
Very sweet story.I still dislike the notion of caged birds though. Have you seen the article about the cat who is a train station warden in Japan?
Posted by: Annalena | May 28, 2008 05:25 PM
Oh, and also African Grey's are well documented for their sense of awareness. I also suggest the article "Animals Minds" by National Geographic. It covers the "human" abilities found in animals from primates and border collies to parrots and birds.
Posted by: Annalena | May 28, 2008 05:28 PM
Christopher,
He has all the sapience he needs to live, move and survive within his own world. We can't judge or define the sapience of other animals based upon our own narrow, understandably self-centered, perception of the world.
Whether we ourselves deserve the self-applied moniker "homo sapiens" is often a debatable issue.
By the way, congratulations for calling the mockingbird a "he," rather than an "it."
Posted by: Mike Quinoa | May 28, 2008 06:07 PM
Mike, I called the bird a he because it is a male bird. This is the convention in English. My original point was that you can't make the leap, as the author has, that an animal is sapient simply because it has evolved a talent of sorts of being a remarkable mimic.
Posted by: Christopher Cochran MD | May 29, 2008 09:17 AM
I will address the "mimic" issue in another post...
I just want to say I saw a pic of this little guy, and he was in the most horrible, rusty cage.
Only a portion of the cage was shown, but that was enough.
:(
It also looked very small and he was standing on the floor. I didn't see any perches in the backgound.
I only hope this was a temporary cage that he was in at the veterinarian.
If a bird has to be in a cage, it should at least be clean, not rusty and have a place for him to perch and lots of toys to keep his brilliant (yes, African Greys, and ALL birds are) mind satisfied.
Posted by: Tamara | May 29, 2008 10:32 AM
Christopher C,
You know that to understand what you do about medicine requires extensive study. The same is true of animal cognition.
To automatically assume that birds are only capable of mimicry shows a lack of understanding of them. Cognitive ethologists and others dedicated to research into the minds of animals are revealing amazing mental abilities in other species. And we are only in the early stages of understanding the natures of other animals.
Posted by: lynda downie | May 30, 2008 11:17 PM
There is more to birds that we know.
A beautiful book called "The Birds in My Life" showed they know so much! They hate being relinguished, just like dogs. They want to find a loving home, just like dogs. They fall in love, make friendships...everything.
Posted by: Soliel | May 31, 2008 03:57 PM