Irene Pepperberg with Alex When Alex died suddenly in September 2007, the story was reported in newspapers around the world, including the New York Times (Carey, 2007; Talbot, 2008). Over 30 years of research, Pepperberg and Alex revolutionized ideas about avian intelligence and animal communication. Along with his remarkable language abilities, Alex also displayed an understanding of simple concepts, including an understanding of bigger and smaller, similarity and difference. Shown a green block and a green ball and asked “What’s the same?” Alex responds, “Color.” Alex could even accurately label quantities up to the number six (Pepperberg, 2007). To learn more about Pepperberg’s ongoing research with gray parrots Griffin and Arthur, visit www.alexfoundation.org.