holy shit dude
If you don’t know Alex, I suggest you read up on him. Because yeah, sure, any parrot can mimic, but Alex was one of the first to prove on many occasions that he understood the meaning behind the words he said.
With that in mind, just think about what he said for a sec. Alex had to understand on some level that death means leaving. That’s fucking mindblowing.
Alex also was shown to have the intelligence of a young child, anywhere from 3 to 5 years old. He could do basic addition and subtraction, and independently taught himself the concept of zero (something that most CIVILIZATIONS couldn’t do!) He had a vocabulary of thousands of words, some of which he made up himself, and had deep interpersonal bonds with many scientists and trainers, as well as other parrots.
Alex the parrot is basically the coolest bird ever.
NO NO NO NO I CAN’T DEAL WITH THIS OH GOD.
*hides face in hands and runs away sobbing*