Studies conducted by Professor Irene Pepperberg, into animal behavior and communication between animals and humans, give detailed information about birds' speaking and comprehension skills. Only recently have scientists begun to understand the complexity of their communications.

Of all the talking birds, the African grey parrot is known to be the most talented in respect to understanding and learning. Next come the Amazon parrots, especially yellow napes, the blue fronts, red loreds, and the double yellowheads. Macaws also have vocal learning, but usually vocalize in a loud and rough manner. Unlike the macaw, the cockatoo, another of the parrots with vocal learning, has a sweet voice. But neither species can be taught as easily as the African grey parrots or the Amazons. Mynahs are also known to be particularly good at speaking. One mynah, for example, when approached by a child, can say "Hello." And if the child responds with the same greeting, the bird can ask, "How are you?" Even more interesting, it can continue by asking, "What's your name?"12

One of parrots' striking abilities is that they can relate their speech to subjects or movements. For example, a parrot greeted with "Good morning" every time the cover is taken off the cage can, one morning when the cover is removed, say the phrase of its own accord. You have probably heard from several owners that their birds can say, "Hello" when the phone rings or "Who is it?" when some one rings the doorbell. What's more, most birds can do this without being taught, since they can make connections between events and what is said at the time.

Alex, the parrot trained by Professor Pepperberg, was able not only to produce and conceptualize phrases; but could understand categories such as quantity, color and dimension. This high consciousness that we see in animals is inspired by God in living creatures.

For a long time, it was believed that parrots and other talking birds simply imitate what they hear, but recent research has shown that these creatures have surprising cognitive abilities. Only recently have scientists begun to understand the complexity of the bird's communication system. Studies conducted since 1977 by Professor Irene Pepperberg on the subject of animal behavior and animal-human communications give detailed information about birds' skills in speaking and comprehension. In one of her most important works, the study was conducted with four African Grey Parrots. The oldest of them, "Alex," could communicate with the researchers, use specific words, express his wishes, knew the concepts of "same" and "different," could count and identify objects, colors, shapes and materials.13 According to scientists, these skills were not automatic, but the results of learning, which in turn is a sign of a high level of consciousness.14 Naturally this is the inspiration of God. It is ridiculous to imagine that a small piece of flesh composed of insentient atoms can exhibit such complex talents of its own accord. God shows us His incomparable creative art in the talents He has inspired in living creatures.

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• 12.http://www.alexfoundation.org/research/articles/birdsusa.html; Irene M. Pepperberg, Ph.D., Robyn J. Bright, Birds, USA, 1990 Annual.
• 13.http://www.alexfoundation.org
• 14.Lesley J. Rogers & Gisela Kaplan, Songs, Roars and Rituals, Communication In Birds, Mammals and Other Animals, USA, 2000, p. 72