I'll Settle This Question Right Now

Via Andrew Sullivan, I read a piece evaluating the evidence on whether talking birds knew what they were saying. Well, let me clear this matter up right now. My parrot is just a Quaker parrot mind you, not one of the really smart kinds like the African Grey. Now he's heard us say "num-nums" to the cats when feeding them canned food twice a day for the last two years. Recently he began saying "num nums?" "num nums?" every time he sees us with a kind of food he likes, or whenever I approach his cage with water or food - even though I've never used the phrase to him.

So yeah, in some cases at least, birds know EXACTLY what they're saying.