Apollo (parrot)

Apollo (hatched April 2020) is an African grey parrot and the subject of the popular YouTube channel "Apollo and Frens" run by Victoria (Tori) Lacey and Dalton Mason. Apollo has been described as having the intelligence of a "human toddler" and can answer numerous complex questions in English.

Early life
In December 2020, Victoria (Tori) Lacey and Dalton Mason purchased Apollo from Animal House Pet Center in Saint Petersburg, Florida, for $1,700. Apollo had been surrendered to the Animal House Pet Center by a previous owner who had clipped Apollo's wings. Since purchasing him, Tori and Dalton have not clipped Apollo's wings, allowing them to return to their natural form.

Tori and Dalton purchased Apollo with the intent to train him based on Irene Pepperberg's model/rival technique, and document the process through YouTube videos on their channel "ApolloandFrens". Their channel description says "Through showcasing the abilities and emotional intelligence of Apollo, we plan to pursue further legal rights for all parrots, much like those of dogs and cats." They also own two caiques named Soleil and Ophelia.

Training
Tori and Dalton train Apollo based on Irene Pepperberg's model/rival technique she developed to train her own African grey parrot, Alex.

In the technique, the student (parrot) observes trainers interacting. One of the trainers models the desired student behavior, and is seen by the student as a rival for the other trainer's attention. The trainer and rival exchange roles so the student can see that the process is interactive. When a student (human or parrot) answers a question about an object correctly, they receive that object as a reward instead of a food reward, which is often used in other training techniques. Irene Pepperberg said the reward system is crucial, because it is the only way that students can make the direct connection between the object and the label that they have used. Food rewards are also sparingly used. Trainers sometimes make intentional mistakes so the students can see the consequences of an incorrect identification. Upon making a mistake, the trainer is scolded and the object is removed. This technique helped Pepperberg succeed with Alex where other scientists had failed in facilitating two-way communication with parrots.

Pepperberg's research environment often presented barriers to Alex's learning, such as the contradictory need for repetitive evaluation (to obtain statistically significant results) and Alex's need for novelty (to keep him engaged). Although Tori and Dalton have partnered with some researchers at Eckerd College, they are more interested in Apollo's personal development than publishing his results in scientific journals. Likewise, they have avoided some of Pepperberg's training issues by raising him in their own home, "like a human child" and by choosing training directions based on Apollo's interests. In an interview, Tori said "[Apollo] lets us know what he wants to learn. What he’s interested in and we just progress in a path that he laid out for us."

Accomplishments
Tori and Dalton describe Apollo's general intelligence as that of "a human toddler". He can communicate in complete or nearly complete English sentences and knows the name of all the basic colors, a few materials, and many nouns. Apollo can answer questions such as "what's this?" "what color?" "what made of?" "what am I doing?" and can communicate outside of a question/answer structure.

On his YouTube channel, Apollo has been shown asking several questions and understanding the answers he receives. This makes him the second recorded non-human animal to have ever asked a question, the first being Alex. Apes who have been trained to use sign language have so far failed to ever ask a single question.