CAGs and their smarts

DRB

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2016
1,024
75
Ohio
Parrots
Perjo - Female CAG hatch Nov 2015
So parrots are smart in general, some smarter than others, some with tendencies others don't have.

I'm not concerned whether a CAG is considered the smartest of the parrots, but I've read some things on this site since I joined that got me thinking.

Some parrots are known for their ability to mimic or talk and others for being escape artists etc. So if a CAG is considered to be so smart and able to speak in context why wouldn't they also be noted for figuring out how to escape their cage? Maybe they are and I just have not read it yet.

I'm just trying to make sense of how a bird can be so smart, but not be as capable as other birds in certain areas.
 

Taw5106

New member
Mar 27, 2014
2,480
25
Texas
Parrots
Buddy - Red Crowned Amazon (27 yo)
Venus - Solomon Island Eclectus (4 yo)
Buzz CAG (2 yo)
Sam - Cockatiel 1997 - 2004
Tweety - Budgie 1984 - 1987
Sweety - Budgie 1985 - 1986
All birds are different. My CAG, Buzz won't leave his cage, but my Ekkie Venus, look out! I've FT. Knoxed her cage because she loves breaking out!


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OutlawedSpirit

New member
Apr 12, 2016
1,020
21
Northern Illinois, USA
Parrots
Bo - DYH ~ Gus - CAG ~ Twitch - Linnie ~ Apple - Pineapple GCC ~ Goliath - Quaker ~ Squish - Peach face Lovebird
I think as far as escaping the cage, some birds just have more of a desire to do so. CAGs tend to be cautious birds and the cage is often a safe place. Due to this, even if they are capable of escaping, that doesn't mean they have the desire to do so.

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Anansi

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Dec 18, 2013
22,301
4,211
Somerset,NJ
Parrots
Maya (Female Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Jolly (Male Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Bixby (Male, red-sided eclectus. RIP), Suzie (Male cockatiel. RIP)
Perhaps it's a matter different types of intelligence? Or natural tendencies as OutlawedSpirit implied? Some birds seem more inclined toward tricks, and pick them up quickly. Others, meanwhile, show more of a tendency toward the mechanical. There are quite a few posts on the forum about a blue throat macaw named Zoe who is known for taking her cage apart! Literally unscrewing it bolt by bolt! Others yet are gifted talkers or skilled puzzle-solvers.

Maybe some intelligence types are more celebrated than others for whatever reasons, when in truth they should be considered different aspects of the same thing. A prolific contextual talker, for instance, might be more readily labeled as brilliant than a bird who is great at figuring out foraging toys. But I don't think that measure of intellectual valuation is either fair or accurate. Neither is necessarily greater or worse than the other. Just different.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

Well-known member
Apr 14, 2015
6,315
Media
4
3,034
Connecticut
Parrots
Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
When I got Smokey,she was an escape artist. I had to put little locks on every door on her house. I don't know how many times I would come home from work,and find her on the kitchen table,or walking around in the living room :rolleyes:

And she KNEW if a door was locked or not! As she got older,and knew she was being let out of her house everyday,she stopped with the Houdini stuff.

Amy too..I can finish feeding her and close her food/water/nummy bowl doors,but she knew if I failed to slide the lock/latch to the doors. Again, I'd get up in the morning,just to find her sitting on BB's roof < thank God she didn't venture out like Smokes did lol.


Jim
 

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