{"id":34656,"date":"2022-02-16T18:58:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T00:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=34656"},"modified":"2025-09-29T21:19:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:19:32","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"African
Athena quickly taps the correct cup on her trial. Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m sometimes asked if my parrots enjoy their tasks in the lab, or if they find their testing and training stressful. Do they have enough time just to “be parrots.” I think the answer to the first question is not too different from what it would be if the subjects were young children: It depends on the exact type of task that they are being given. As for the second question, a huge amount of time in the lab is devoted to play \u2014 by themselves or with the various students. Some days, they have about 10 minutes of trials and 50 minutes of tickles for every hour they spend with their human companions!<\/p>\n

But going back to the tasks. At the moment, one of our studies involves something called \u201cinference by exclusion.\u201d This means figuring out where a treat may be hidden after being given information about where it is absent. I\u2019ve previously written<\/a> about earlier versions of this task. Now we are giving a much more complicated version to Griffin, and running the simpler, earlier version with Athena (see figure below). They both really seem to enjoy these trials.<\/p>\n

Harder Tasks Reap Bigger Rewards<\/h3>\n

It may be a consequence of getting half a cashew per trial, which is a huge<\/em> bonus, as they generally receive only about an eighth or maybe a quarter of a nut for most correct answers. They really<\/em> have to watch what is happening, so we use the larger reward to keep them focused. When we run these sessions, we start with Griffin\u2019s trials. He gets only three per session, maximum, because they are so involved and require two choices (and thus the possibility of earning three whole cashews!)<\/p>\n

While Griffin is being tested, Athena sits on her cage, squawking for attention, often saying something that sounds quite a bit like, \u201cWhat about meee<\/em>!?\u201d She is really eager for her turn to start, and she gets five trials (they are much simpler, and therefore much quicker). Interestingly, when we tried to run her trials with organic, fruit-flavored cereal pieces, she wouldn\u2019t work at all. But once we started using cashews\u2026.<\/p>\n

\"African
Griffin gives “the look” and clearly does not care to participate. Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another one of our studies is about logic, and eventually, it will be quite complex. The first step, however, is very simple: to get both of the birds to tap one of two blocks with their beaks, depending on the alphabet letter attached. The command is either \u201cTouch A\u201d or \u201cTouch B,\u201d and the choice is, obviously, A versus B.<\/p>\n

Given the kinds of difficult tasks my parrots have previously solved, one would think this would be extremely easy and that they would succeed very quickly \u2014 that it would almost be like handing out free nuts. But that is very much not<\/em> the case. They simply will not score above chance (see image of Griffin giving me “the look” instead of working). Maybe it is the small reward (they temporarily paid more attention when I increased the size of the nut reward, but I drew the line at a quarter of a cashew for such an easy task). The situation is quite frustrating for me, and possibly for the parrots as well. Maybe we should follow each correct trial by a few minutes of tickles? Hmm\u2026.<\/p>\n

Training Challenges<\/h3>\n

Some tasks they will do correctly, if grudgingly. As I write this, we have only one human in lab at any given time (thank you, COVID: not!), so we can\u2019t do our normal two-person Model\/Rival training<\/a>. Therefore, I try to get Griffin to stand in for a human. It works, but not very well.<\/p>\n

If, for example, I ask Griffin to model color labels for Athena by asking, \u201cWhat color?\u201d he gives me a look that seems to say, \u201cYou already know that this thing is orange<\/em>. And you already know that I know it is orange<\/em>. And I know that you know that I already know it is orange. <\/em>So, what is the POINT???\u201d After I repeat the question a few times, he\u2019ll usually give me an annoyed feather flooff<\/em>, then respond. And Athena will often keep repeating a color she already can say, expecting a reward just for talking. Clearly, we all are looking forward to a return to standard training.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they really want to learn a new label and Alex, at least, was proactive. For whatever reason, he wanted to learn to say brown<\/em>, and he would, over and over, tap a piece of a cardboard box and ask me, \u201cWhat color?\u201d I\u2019d respond, \u201cbrown\u201d and then he would ask again. He hadn\u2019t quite mastered it before he passed away, but he was close.<\/p>\n

My friend and colleague, Leigh Ann (a former trainer in our lab), says that her birds, Pepper and Franco, whom we sometimes incorporate into our studies, really enjoy the challenges. Maybe it is because we generally ask them to do only the tasks that are the most \u2018”fun” like the inference trials. It certainly is NOT because they are otherwise bored. Leigh Ann is always thinking up new foraging toys or other types of enrichment for them. Maybe it is because they get to work with <\/em>her during the task? For whatever reason, they almost never seem to balk.<\/p>\n

Overall, my impression is that \u2014 at least for creatures as smart as African grey parrots \u2014 giving them various types of tasks is basically a form of enrichment and a form that, for the most part, they really enjoy.<\/p>\n

Remember that, in the wild, they would be flying about 60 kilometers (that\u2019s over 35 miles) per day to forage for various different foods and for water. They would constantly be on the lookout for predators and would also be interacting with many different members of their flock over the course of the day. It would therefore seem that asking our birds to do some tasks \u2014 birds who don\u2019t have to forage or avoid predators \u2014 would be seen as a way to keep them as mentally stimulated as they would be in nature. And if they find a particular task somewhat boring, well \u2026 they just have to wait a short while and something else will be on the schedule!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just “be parrots”?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":34658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,211,169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-editor-choice","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just "be parrots"?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just "be parrots"?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"528\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"headline\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training?\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1090,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/Griffin.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Behavior\",\"Editor Choice\",\"New\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/Griffin.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just \\\"be parrots\\\"?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/Griffin.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/02\\\/Griffin.jpg\",\"width\":528,\"height\":473,\"caption\":\"Griffin clearly does not care to participate.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\",\"description\":\"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\",\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/author\\\/irene\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just \"be parrots\"?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","og_description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just \"be parrots\"?","og_url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/","og_site_name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","article_published_time":"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":528,"height":473,"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/"},"author":{"name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"headline":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training?","datePublished":"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/"},"wordCount":1090,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg","articleSection":["Behavior","Editor Choice","New"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/","name":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training? – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-17T00:58:39+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-30T02:19:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg addresses two questions she is often asked: Do her African grey parrots, Griffin and Athena, enjoy the tasks they are given in her cognitive behavior research lab, and are they afforded time in their day to just \"be parrots\"?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Griffin.jpg","width":528,"height":473,"caption":"Griffin clearly does not care to participate."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-do-my-parrots-enjoy-their-tasks-training\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Do My Parrots Enjoy Their Tasks And Training?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/","name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","description":"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d","name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","caption":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D."},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/irene\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45491,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34656\/revisions\/45491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}