Parrot criminals stopped in Uganda

This video says about itself:

Alex, the talking research African Grey parrot passes away

CNN’s Jim Clancy speaks with Dr. Irene Pepperberg, whose research parrot, Alex, was discovered dead last week. Alex was 31 and appeared to have died of natural causes, said Dr. Irene Pepperberg, the scientist who trained and studied him for three decades. RIP Alex.

From the Monitor in Uganda:

Uganda: Flying Away to Freedom

Edgar R. Batte

7 August 2011

The African grey parrot is a beautiful, intelligent and unique creation. But for these attributes and more, this parrot is one of the most sought-after for its social nature and high intelligence.

Last week, 204 formerly confiscated African grey parrots flew into the wild from domestication by Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). These popular beauties had been impounded from poachers at the Mpondwe customs border post in Kasese and at a private farm at Kawuku along the Kampala-Entebbe highway. The poachers were preparing to sell them across the borders.

A new study adds support to two earlier reports that songbirds and parrots are each other’s closest relatives (Psittacopasserae), indicating that vocal learning abilities appeared in this group of birds 30 million years earlier than originally assumed: here.

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