Tweet
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...ractive-092810
Updated: Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010, 5:06 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010, 3:57 PM EDT
TAMPA - We know parrots can talk. But can they really talk, as in know and understand nouns and string phrases together in context. In other words, can they communicate with us?
Michael Dalton of Clearwater thinks so, and has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to proving it.
When Dalton's 19-year-old blue and gold macaw, Arielle, is on her perch talking, he's inside wearing headphones and recording every word of it.
"The bird learns, in context, what particular words mean, and as a result has a tremendous vocabulary of words that she understand and puts together in her own sentences," he said.
Dalton says he doesn't consider Arielle to be a trained bird. He speaks to her as he would to another person.
"She is what I call an educated bird, because she learned her words and the vocabulary she knows very similar to that of a small child."
A vocabulary that's now approaching some 6000 words and phrases. Dalton says he discovered years ago that Arielle wasn't just repeating words. They were taking one of their daily walks when they came across a puddle.
"She'd just learned the word 'water,' and I figured for sure she's going to say 'water.' She didn't. She leaned into me and 'wet!' and I just about fell down."
More than a thousand hours of recordings later, Arielle has become his life's work, chronicled in his book, "Another Kind of Mind A Talking Bird Masters English."
He says it's not surprising that most people don't understand what birds like Arielle are saying.
"I have people who send me clips from around the world. They haven't got a clue what their birds are saying, and I listen to it and I say I get it," he said.
"People don't concentrate. They have a mental block in that they don't believe parrots can do this. If you don't believe it, you'll never find it."
Mike Dalton believes. He's determined to spread the word about what parrots like Arielle are trying to tell us.
"I'm hoping to stimulate greater interest in the bird community in the world in general."
And to convince us that there's so much more to our fine-feathered friends than just being a "pretty bird."
To visit Mike Dalton's website: www.parrotspeech.com
Updated: Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010, 5:06 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 28 Sep 2010, 3:57 PM EDT
TAMPA - We know parrots can talk. But can they really talk, as in know and understand nouns and string phrases together in context. In other words, can they communicate with us?
Michael Dalton of Clearwater thinks so, and has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to proving it.
When Dalton's 19-year-old blue and gold macaw, Arielle, is on her perch talking, he's inside wearing headphones and recording every word of it.
"The bird learns, in context, what particular words mean, and as a result has a tremendous vocabulary of words that she understand and puts together in her own sentences," he said.
Dalton says he doesn't consider Arielle to be a trained bird. He speaks to her as he would to another person.
"She is what I call an educated bird, because she learned her words and the vocabulary she knows very similar to that of a small child."
A vocabulary that's now approaching some 6000 words and phrases. Dalton says he discovered years ago that Arielle wasn't just repeating words. They were taking one of their daily walks when they came across a puddle.
"She'd just learned the word 'water,' and I figured for sure she's going to say 'water.' She didn't. She leaned into me and 'wet!' and I just about fell down."
More than a thousand hours of recordings later, Arielle has become his life's work, chronicled in his book, "Another Kind of Mind A Talking Bird Masters English."
He says it's not surprising that most people don't understand what birds like Arielle are saying.
"I have people who send me clips from around the world. They haven't got a clue what their birds are saying, and I listen to it and I say I get it," he said.
"People don't concentrate. They have a mental block in that they don't believe parrots can do this. If you don't believe it, you'll never find it."
Mike Dalton believes. He's determined to spread the word about what parrots like Arielle are trying to tell us.
"I'm hoping to stimulate greater interest in the bird community in the world in general."
And to convince us that there's so much more to our fine-feathered friends than just being a "pretty bird."
To visit Mike Dalton's website: www.parrotspeech.com
woorden dus kan er net zoals velen niet veel mee.
Comment