▁handle ▁complex ▁problems ▁related ▁to ▁language ▁and ▁understanding ; ▁birds ▁were ▁not ▁considered ▁to ▁be ▁intellig ent , ▁as ▁their ▁only ▁common ▁use ▁of ▁communication ▁was ▁m im ick ing ▁and ▁repeating ▁sounds ▁to ▁interact ▁with ▁each ▁other . ▁However , ▁Alex ' s ▁accomplish ments ▁supported ▁the ▁idea ▁that ▁birds ▁may ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁reason ▁on ▁a ▁basic ▁level ▁and ▁use ▁words ▁cre atively . ▁Pe pper berg ▁wrote ▁that ▁Alex ' s ▁intelligence ▁was ▁on ▁a ▁level ▁similar ▁to ▁dol ph ins ▁and ▁great ▁ap es . ▁She ▁also ▁reported ▁that ▁Alex ▁seemed ▁to ▁show ▁the ▁intelligence ▁of ▁a ▁five - year - old ▁human , ▁in ▁some ▁respect s , ▁and ▁he ▁had ▁not ▁even ▁reached ▁his ▁full ▁potential ▁by ▁the ▁time ▁he ▁died . ▁She ▁believed ▁that ▁the ▁bird ▁possessed ▁the ▁emot ional ▁level ▁of ▁a ▁two - year - old ▁human ▁at ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁his ▁death . ▁ ▁Early ▁life ▁ ▁Animal ▁psych ologist ▁I rene ▁Pe pper berg ▁bought ▁Alex ▁at ▁a ▁pet ▁store ▁while ▁working ▁as ▁a ▁research er ▁at ▁Pur due ▁University . ▁She ▁bel ieves ▁that ▁Alex ▁may ▁have ▁had ▁his ▁wings ▁cli pped ▁when ▁he ▁was ▁young , ▁which ▁could ▁have ▁prevent ed ▁him ▁from ▁learning ▁to ▁fly . ▁ ▁Training ▁ ▁Alex ' s ▁training ▁used ▁a ▁model / rival ▁technique , ▁in ▁which ▁the ▁student ▁( Alex ) ▁obser ves ▁train ers ▁interact ing . ▁One ▁of ▁the ▁train ers ▁models ▁the ▁desired ▁student ▁behavior , ▁and ▁is ▁seen ▁by