I had no idea...

Did you know that budgies can talk? Most people call them parakeets, which is the aboriginal term for "small parrot" but the technical name for this bird is budgerigar.We have shortened that to "budgie" but the name parakeet is most appropriate because this little bird is actually a small breed of parrot.

Most people already know that parrots can talk. Some people even know that parakeets have been known to talk. I knew that already. What I didn't know is that parakeets could have a big repertoire.  Here is a video of a bird named Disco who talks a lot:  Disco the Budgie. You can find more of his videos on YouTube.com by typing "Disco the Parakeet" into the search engine.

There is a lot of great information on this site if you are interested in further researching this amazing bird: Budgie information.

I just wonder...how much of his own speech does Disco understand? Alex, the parrot, was an amazing creature that was studied by the animal psychologist, Irene Pepperberg. He was an African Gray and displayed .a great understanding of language.  When asked what "matter" something was made of, he would reply "wood" or "metal." He would pick out something by shape or color that was requested. His comprehension of the English vocabulary was remarkable. I was amazed when I saw a video of him working with Dr. Pepperberg and he commented that he was hungry and wanted lunch.  What a character he was!  For more information on this phenomenal animal, click here.