my parrot is smarter than your honor student

Alex, the famous african grey, passed away suddenly recently. The following is from the NY Times:

"Alex's advanced language and recognition skills revolutionized the understanding of the avian brain. After [Dr. Irene] Pepperberg bought Alex from an animal shop in 1973, the parrot learned enough English to identify 50 different objects, seven colors, and five shapes. He could count up to six, including zero, was able to express desires, including his frustration with the repetitive research." (full article here:http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Alex-the-Parrot.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1190260611-KqUmaI1WvJj0KzKrlX2YyA)

Anthropromorphism? I don't think so. So here's the wonders of just one of my bird's intelligence:

Samson's favorite things in the world are grapes. He loves grapes. Everyday when I bring him his fresh fruits and veggies, he yells at the top of his little lungs, "BREAKFAST! GRAPE! GRAPE! MMMMMM!" *insert smacking noises here* Now, you could call this mere repetition or conditioning, or even coincidence if it didn't happen everyday. But one day, I ran out of grapes. I knew Samson would be dissappointed. So here I come with his dish, and there he goes waxing eloquent about his beloved grapes. Only there was no grape. He looked at me. He said, "GRAPE???" I said, "Sorry, Samson, no grape today." And those cute little black eyes looked up at me, and he said, "NO???....GRAPE???" That's when I knew he knew. I put two words he knew together, and they took on a whole new meaning for him. He proceeded to look in his dish one last time before climbing up onto his highest perch and turning his back to me. I had officially been snubbed. Needless to say, I felt aweful. Who knew a little green feathered thing would rule my life so completely?