Since Jen last spoke to us in 2021, she has worked with fellow researcher Rébecca Kleinberger on a groundbreaking scientific study that made national news regarding how companion parrots respond to video calling other parrots. Seeking to increase parrot happiness, they monitored 18 parrots as they chatted with their parrot friends over screens. The parrots even got the opportunity to ring a bell to request a video call and choose to whom they talked (squawked?)! We’re happy to welcome Jen back to tell us about this exciting study.

Jen Cunha is an attorney, animal cognition trainer, writer, and international speaker, focusing on animal literacy and communication. A "parrot mama" for over 16 years, Jen has been developing cognition training techniques for almost a decade. Her training manuals have been translated and distributed throughout Europe, and she’s been featured in Bird Talk magazine. Jen has twice written articles for the International Association of Applied Behavior Consultants Journal and is a frequent lecturer at science conventions and companion bird gatherings around the world. Jennifer collaborates on animal literacy and communication projects with university researchers, and her research has been published in peer-reviewed scientific proceedings. Her birds, Ellie and Isabelle, have passed university-designed blind tests on phonics and reading comprehension skills and are considered the very first animals who have learned how to read. Learn more about Jen’s work at https://parrotkindergarten.com and https://myreadingpets.com/.

Read the published paper about this research at: https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3544548.3581166

Contact info@theparrotclub.org for a Zoom link.