How Intelligent are Indian Ringneck Parakeets?

Indian Ringneck Parakeets are considered one of the most intelligent parrot species and highly curious birds. In this article, we’ll explore the cognitive abilities and behaviors that demonstrate the notable intelligence of this popular pet bird.

Read our article on the Overview, Characteristics and Care of Indian Ringneck Parakeets

Indian Ringneck: Basic Intelligence

Indian Ringnecks possess some core abilities that showcase basic intelligence:

• Mimicry – They have an impressive capacity for vocal mimicry and can imitate a wide variety of sounds, including human speech, other birds, and noises in their environment. Some Ringnecks have vocabularies of up to 50-100 words and phrases.
• Association – Ringnecks understand the meaning of certain words and sounds through associating them with context. For example, they learn “step up” means to climb onto a hand through continued conditioning.

Funny Story: An Indian Ringneck named Jasper learned to call his owner’s dog by name and command ‘come.’ The dog would run over when Jasper did this trick.

Advanced Cognitive Abilities of Indian Ringnecks

Beyond basic skills, Indian ringnecks demonstrate some impressively advanced intellectual capacities:

• Problem Solving – They are adept at using tools and props like sticks, boxes, or chains to obtain out-of-reach food or toys. One study found they could discriminate between functional versus non-functional materials for pulling in a reward.
• Object Permanence – Ringnecks understand objects still exist even when out of sight. For example, they will search for hidden food underneath cups shifted around in an observation test. 
• Insight – They have the ability to infer solutions to new problems and understand abstract concepts. One experiment showed they could discriminate between same vs different and relative size differences.
• Self-recognition – Ringnecks can recognize their reflection in a mirror, indicating self-awareness. They may use mirrors to explore parts of their bodies.

Funny Story: One owner shared how her ringneck, Luna, figured out how to open her cage door. Luna watched the owner lock and unlock the cage each day. After several days, Luna tried the lock herself and succeeded in opening it.

Complex Behaviors of these Parrots

Indian Ringneck Parrots exhibit complex behaviors you might not expect from a bird:

• Counting – They can count up to quantities of 6 and differentiate between sets of objects. One study found they could order quantities from smallest to largest.
• Categorization – Ringnecks sort items by characteristics like color, shape, and texture. They can also categorize by functional properties like “food” or “toy.”
• Deception – They sometimes pretend to hide food in one place while secretly hiding it in another spot to save it for later. 
• Memory – Their episodic memory allows them to recall specific past events, similar to humans. They remember solving tasks, locations of hidden items, and even human faces.

Funny Story: One Reddit user described how their ringneck, Gandalf, pretended to bury nuts in his food bowl while actually hiding them behind the cage when the owner was around. He didn’t want to share.

Comparison to Other Species

So how does the Ringneck intelligence stack up?

• Ringnecks outperform many other parrot species like cockatiels, conures and budgies on tests of cognition. 
• They demonstrate similar benchmark intelligence to dolphins, elephants, and even chimpanzees on assessments of problem solving, communication, self-awareness and more.
• However, some research found African grey parrots and Amazon parrots scored higher on certain intelligence tests. But ringnecks were comparable on many cognitive measures.

Read our article on the Different Colors of Indian Ringnecks

Conclusion

With their capacity for mimcry, communication, problem solving and complex behaviors, Indian ringnecks demonstrate that parrots are far more than “bird brains.” Their intelligence is undoubtedly impressive in the animal kingdom. Have you witnessed examples of your ringneck’s smarts? Share your stories in the comments!