On the fourth anniversary of Alex's passing...

Dr. Irene Pepperberg's famed partner, Alex the African Grey parrot, died unexpectedly four years ago today. In his memory, I'm reposting the full NOVA segment on Dr. Pepperberg and her work on animal intelligence with Alex. It runs just under twelve minutes:

Watch the full episode. See more NOVA scienceNOW.

The underlying scientific premise of my novel, Little Birdies!, is based on Dr. Pepperberg's work. You can read the opening chapters here: Little Birdies! excerpts. Check it out; if you're an Alex fan you'll love the book, I promise...

This post (from June 16, 2010) is also worth revisiting: 

In a rather moving interview, Dr. Pepperberg relates the story of Alex's passing, and the immediate, and unexpected public and personal reactions that followed: