The Parrot Who Owns Me

Author : Joanna Burger
Publisher : Villard
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2001-07-03
Category : Pets
ISBN : 9781588360274

Get Book

The Parrot Who Owns Me by Joanna Burger Pdf

“Birds are my passion,” says Joanna Burger, “but parrots are my weakness.” Fifteen years ago, when se adopted a neglected, orphaned thirty-six year old parrot named Tiko, she entered on of the most complex relationships of her life. Sullen and hostile when he entered Dr. Burger’s home, Tiko gradually warmed as she carefully persuaded him of her good intentions. Eventually he courted her, building nests inside household furniture during mating season and trying to coax her into them. He nursed her vigilantly through a bout with Lyme disease, regularly preening each strand of hair on the pillow as she slept. For a while he even fought her husband for her attentions, but eventually theirs became a relationship of deep mutual trust. The Parrot Who Owns Me is also the story of the science of birds, and of parrots in particular (America’s third most commonly owned pet, after cats and dogs). Woven into the narrative are insights and fascinating revelations from Joanna Burger’s work — not only about parrots, but about what it means to be human. By turns delightful, hilarious, touching, and enlightening, The Parrot Who Owns Me introduces us to an unforgettable bird and his human companion, whose friendships tells us much about ourselves.

Author : Irene Pepperberg
Publisher : Scribe Publications
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2013
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781921372728

Get Book

Alex & Me by Irene Pepperberg Pdf

'A moving tribute that beautifully evokes the struggles, the initial triumphs, the setbacks, the unexpected and often stunning achievemnets . . . [while] uncovering cognitive abilities in Alex that no one believed were possible.'Publishers WeeklyOn September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were 'You be good. I love you'.What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous - two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.The fame that resulted was extraordinary. Yet there was a side to their relationship that never made the papers. They were emotionally connected to one another. They shared a deep bond far beyond science. Alex missed Irene when she was away. He was jealous when she paid attention to other parrots, or even people. He liked to show her who was boss. He loved to dance. He sometimes became bored by the repetition of his tests, and played jokes on her. Sometimes they sniped at each other. Yet nearly every day, they each said, 'I love you'.Alex and Irene stayed together through thick and thin - despite sneers from experts, extraordinary financial sacrifices, and a nomadic existence from one university to another. The story of their thirty-year adventure is equally a landmark of scientific achievement and of an unforgettable human-animal bond.

Author : Stephanie Spinner
Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page : 48 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2012-10-09
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9780307975676

Get Book

Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird by Stephanie Spinner Pdf

In 1977, graduate student Irene Pepperberg walked into a pet store and bought a year-old African grey parrot. Because she was going to study him, she decided to call him Alex--short for Avian Learning EXperiment. At that time, most scientists thought that the bigger the brain, the smarter the creature; they studied great apes and dolphins. African greys, with their walnut-sized "birdbrains," were pretty much ignored--until Alex. His intelligence surprised everyone, including Irene. He learned to count, add, and subtract; to recognize shapes, sizes, and colors; and to speak, and understand, hundreds of words. These were things no other animal could do. Alex wasn't supposed to have the brainpower to do them, either. But he did them anyway. Accompanied by Meilo So's stunning illustrations, Alex and Irene's story is one of groundbreaking discoveries about animal intelligence, hard work, and the loving bonds of a unique friendship.

Author : Michael Steven Smith,Debby Smith
Publisher : OR Books
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2022-05-24
Category : Nature
ISBN : 1682193136

Get Book

Parrot Tales by Michael Steven Smith,Debby Smith Pdf

Charlie Parker is an African Grey Parrot. He entered the life of the Smith family three decades ago when they first encountered him in a downtown Manhattan bird shop and found him so irresistible, they had to bring him home. Charlie is many things in the Smith family, articulating them all in an astonishingly diverse and colorful vocabulary. He can be demanding, squawking imperiously "Clean my cage" or "Want some water." He can be very direct, warning an aggressive business associate who had been yelling at Debby "I'm going to kick your ass, you sonofabitch" He can be mischievous, making meowing noises to a neighbor's confused dog in the elevator. He is a survivor, who ended up recovering on an IV after the collapse of the World Trade Center filled the Smiths neighboring apartment with toxic dust. He is often the entertainer, with a songbook that extends across the opening bars of "Home on the Range" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas." Most of the time he is affectionate, as when he hangs upside down against the side of the cage and asks for his tummy to be tickled. In hearing Charlie's tales in this charming book, we come to realize that parrots are intelligent, sociable and loving creatures, to an extent that, as the renowned avian scientist Professor Irene Pepperberg insists in her introduction, they cannot meaningfully be owned by humans but should rather be enjoyed as companions.

Author : Karen Keilt
Publisher : She Writes Press
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2019-04-16
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781631525728

Get Book

The Parrot's Perch by Karen Keilt Pdf

The Parrot’s Perch opens in 2013, when Karen Keilt, age sixty, receives an invitation to testify at the Brazilian National Truth Commission at the UN in New York. The email sparks memories of her “previous life”—the one she has kept safely bottled up for more than thirty-seven years. Hopeful of helping to raise awareness about ongoing human rights violations in Brazil, she wants to testify, but she anguishes over reliving the horrific events of her youth. In the pages that follow, Keilt tells the story of her life in Brazil—from her exclusive, upper-class lifestyle and dreams of Olympic medals to her turmoil-filled youth. Full of hints of a dark oligarchy in Brazil, corruption, crime, and military interference, The Parrot’s Perch is a searing, sometimes shocking true tale of suffering, struggle—and survival. Karen Keilt lived through the darkest days of Brazil’s military dictatorship. In her courageous and compelling memoir, Keilt narrates an emotionally honest reckoning of her desire to find true happiness. Forbidden by her wealthy family to even mention her imprisonment, torture, and rape, Keilt is forced to make a change that will affect the rest of her life. Seen through her testimony to the Brazilian National Truth Commission at the UN, readers become witnesses to both her vulnerability and her quiet strength.

Author : Katherine Rawson
Publisher : Arbordale Publishing
Page : 18 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2006-01-01
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9780976494393

Get Book

If You Were a Parrot by Katherine Rawson Pdf

Imaginative pictures illustrate how young readers would look and act if they had the same physical characteristics and behaviors as parrots.

Author : Sally Blanchard
Publisher : PBIC Incorporated
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Education
ISBN : CORNELL:31924097772556

Get Book

Sally Blanchard's Companion Parrot Handbook by Sally Blanchard Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Albert Whitman
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2007-01-01
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 0807550590

Get Book

The Rich Man and the Parrot by Anonim Pdf

Once there was a wealthy merchant who loved all his possessions, but his favorite was the talking parrot that he kept locked in a golden cage. One day the merchant left for India. His parrot asked that he deliver a message to his brothers in the jungle.

Author : Bruce Thomas Boehrer
Publisher : University of Pennsylvania Press
Page : 219 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2010-03-09
Category : History
ISBN : 9780812221046

Get Book

Parrot Culture by Bruce Thomas Boehrer Pdf

Exploring the presence and meanings of these birds in the art, literature, and history of Western civilization, Parrot Culture traces the unusual history of parrots from their introduction in the Graeco-Roman world, through the great age of New World exploration, to the contemporary ecological crisis of globalism.

Author : Catherine A. Toft,Timothy F. Wright
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 366 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2015-11-16
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780520962644

Get Book

Parrots of the Wild by Catherine A. Toft,Timothy F. Wright Pdf

"Parrots of the Wild is an exhaustive compendium of information about parrots, from their evolutionary history to their behavior to present-day conservation issues. A must-have for anyone interested in these amazing creatures." —Irene M. Pepperberg, Professor at Harvard University and author of Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process "If you like parrots then you'll love this book. From their evolutionary past to their modern-day love lives, Parrots of the Wild presents a suitably captivating read. I thought I knew a lot about parrots--until I delved into these pages." —Tony Juniper, author of What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? and Spix’s Macaw: The Race to Save the World’s Rarest Bird Parrots of the Wild explores recent scientific discoveries and what they reveal about the lives of wild parrots, which are among the most intelligent and rarest of birds. Catherine A. Toft and Tim Wright discuss the evolutionary history of parrots and how this history affects perceptual and cognitive abilities, diet and foraging patterns, and mating and social behavior. The authors also discuss conservation status and the various ways different populations are adapting to a world that is rapidly changing. The book focuses on general patterns across the 350-odd species of parrots, as well as what can be learned from interesting exceptions to these generalities. A synthetic account of the diversity and ecology of wild parrots, this book distills knowledge from the authors’ own research and from their review of more than 2,400 published scientific studies. The book is enhanced by an array of illustrations, including nearly ninety color photos of wild parrots represented in their natural habitats. Parrots of the Wild melds scientific exploration with features directed at the parrot enthusiast to inform and delight a broad audience.

Author : Ruskin Bond
Publisher : Penguin UK
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2015-02-06
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9788184750591

Get Book

The Parrot Who Wouldn’t Talk & Other Stories by Ruskin Bond Pdf

‘I think everyone has at least one eccentric aunt or uncle in the family. I had more than one. My boyhood days were enlivened by their presence.’ India’s best-loved children’s writer Ruskin Bond introduces us to some of the most endearing and adorable characters he has ever written about—his grandfather, with his unusual ability to disguise himself as just about anyone; the eccentric Uncle Ken, with his knack for trouble; the stationmaster Mr. Ghosh and his amazing family; and the unforgettable Aunt Ruby and her hilarious encounter with a parrot! Heart-warming, funny and delightful, The Parrot Who Wouldn’t Talk and Other Stories features some old favourites as well as refreshingly new stories. Marked by Bond’s inimitable style and trademark humour, and embellished with lively illustrations, this book will be a firm favourite with children.

Author : Mira Tweti
Publisher : Penguin Books
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2009
Category : Human-animal relationships
ISBN : 0143115758

Get Book

Of Parrots and People by Mira Tweti Pdf

Award-winning journalist and parrot expert Tweti explores the extraordinary world of parrots and the environmental calamity of the inhumane parrot trade. b&w photo insert.

Author : Bonnie Munro Doane,Thomas Qualkinbush
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2008-04-21
Category : Pets
ISBN : 9780470331132

Get Book

My Parrot, My Friend by Bonnie Munro Doane,Thomas Qualkinbush Pdf

My Parrot, My Friend is a straightforward book that addresses a growing need for parrot owners and their birds. When difficulties develop in the home, or a clash in avian and human natures makes for unhappy birds and angry owners, many times the sad consequence is painful termination of what could have been a long-term, joyful relationship. Happily, there is an effective remedy and it lies in a program of behavior modification. That program is fully detailed in this well-written, wonderfully detailed text. In addition, the text helps readers to find the right bird so problems can be sidestepped altogether, and it explains which birds not to consider and why. My Parrot, My Friend shows how parrots grow and develop, and how behavioral problems can start. The book explains behavioral modification, how it works, and how to apply it in specific situations. Case studies and an examination of pertinent issues add considerable interest to the text. These and other special features make this one of the most indispensable reference books you will ever use. My Parrot, My Friend is the first book to approach the subject in such depth for the lay reader. It will make a significant difference in how pet owners view and relate to their birds and will point the way to happy endings where once there were none.

Author : Chris McKimmie
Publisher : Ford Street Publishing
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2019-08-27
Category : Boys
ISBN : 1925804291

Get Book

I NEED a Parrot by Chris McKimmie Pdf

But what does a parrot need?A book about wanting and needing what a child wants and what a wild bird needs.

Author : Georgi Abbott
Publisher : CreateSpace
Page : 146 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2013-04-09
Category : Pets
ISBN : 1482678128

Get Book

Pickles the Parrot by Georgi Abbott Pdf

Everyday life with an African grey parrot by his owner including her perspectives on animal intellect and unique insights into nature.