Bird Nerd

A gifted African Grey parrot that was said to have the brain of a typical 5-year-old child died unexpectedly inside his Brandeis University science lab cage last week, leaving researchers mourning the bird's death.

Scientists said the bird, named Alex, had advanced language and speech recognition skills, and had helped reshape their understanding of the avian brain during the course of 30 years of research.

"It's devastating to lose an individual you've worked with pretty much every day for 30 years," scientist Irene Pepperberg told the Boston Globe.

The parrot, purchased in 1973, eventually learned to identify 50 different objects, seven colors and five shapes, the newspaper reported. He also learned to count quantities up to six, including zero, and was able to articulate certain desires.