Emotional Intelligence?

[YogiBird]

so i was sick over the weekend with a stomach bug... Rico didn't leave my side even one time. he didn't make a lot of noise, and i feel like he knew that i was sick. he was watching me the whole time, and he even preened me when i was sleeping. he picked the dead skin cells off my face as well very gently and cooed to me.

is this a sign of emotional intelligence? i know parrots and birds have the intelligence of a 3-4 year old and even more depending on species, but my GCC has not acted like this before. i have only had him for about 2 1/2 months and he already behaves like he has been with me forever.

so i guess the question is... does anyone else believe that parrots could potentially have emotional intelligence or is this more of a flock behavioral thing? is it because he views me as 'flock' and is concerned about me, or is it that he potentially feels this 'care' for me as a different species and shows it through small acts of kindness?

 

[sunnysmom]

I think they have emotional intelligence.

 

[Emma&pico]

I think they do too he’s looking after you

 

[AviaryByTheSea]

It’s a sign he views you as his mate. It’s innate behavior and he clearly saw a change in you. He didn’t magically sense it, saw it much the same way you see changes in his behavior and physical ques that would alert you his well being. He was doing exactly what he would do his mate in captivity.

if he was in the wild and his mate got sick… the flock would kill her… because that’s what birds do, sacrifice the sick to protect the the rest of the flock.
Birds don’t live as long in the wild as they do in captivity… there are no say 65 year old birds in the wild at least none that are known…. I wish someone would try to figure out the oldest known macaw in the wild. Sometime someone publishes a documented case.

 

[AviaryByTheSea]

I’ll eventually get to researching the resources at my disposal.

 

[Lady Jane]

@AviaryByTheSea This makes a lot of sense about the bird knowing his "Mate" is not feeling well. Is this the trend in most animals?

 

[Rebel]

The parakeet in the cage was ill. It had some kind neurological issues. The other birds knew something was wrong and would sit by his cage.

 

[AviaryByTheSea]

@AviaryByTheSea This makes a lot of sense about the bird knowing his "Mate" is not feeling well. Is this the trend in most animals?

I would never use the word trend because each bird is different.

it’s not uncommon if the bird owner influences the attachment the bird has by petting his back and neck over a long period of time… the issue is the handler is performing an action that imitates what a mate does to its partner. So come mating season the bird looks to the handler who was interacting with the bird in a way a mate would… so all the bird is doing is acting on innate behaviors (instinct) to mate and procreate. Or to instinctively help his mate.

Love has absolutely nothing to do with this. There are two major (top tier) categories of behavior. Innate (instinctual) and learned (trained) and both can be broken down into sub categories.

anyway… what I am telling you is actual fact based on what I know of this handler and bird. As it pertains to the circumstances in this case