Schneider Lab
origin: 2002 July 9
updated: 2002 July 9
This story is related by Janet Kinzler:
The Budgie's name was "Blue Peter" because he was blue and there is a long-running children's show on TV called "Blue Peter". He lived in Manchester, England, 1976-1977. He liked to sort buttons and I saw him do it!
His cage door was left open all day long so he could get out of his cage at will. He didn't like to fly but he did like to strut around. So he'd come out of his cage and walk in a big circle all around "his" cage and table.
On the table there was a saucer with 4 or 5 kinds of buttons in it, all heaped together. He'd stroll around the saucer, leaning way over with his head sideways scoping out the buttons. (Their eyes are on the sides of their heads so when they do close work they have to pick one eye and look with just it.) He'd find the exact one he wanted, pick it up in his beak, worry it a little (the way they do) and carry it off to which ever small pile of buttons was the correct one. It would take a little while, because he liked to run the buttons around and around in his beak, (they were nasty, and covered in parakeet spit!) but he'd get them all sorted in little piles and then he'd squawk until his owner came back and gave him some apple or lettuce. The owner would then scoop the buttons back in the saucer and it would start all over again.
If no one was around to give him a treat he'd go back inside his cage and play with his bells and mirrors. It never occurred to him that he could re-sort the buttons if he wanted to...and Too many buttons or too many different buttons seemed to inhibit Blue Peter and took away his desire to sort the buttons - but the owner said Blue Peter liked to see a batch of new buttons and never tired of this simple game! I don't remember if the buttons always went back to the same pile in the same location. I do remember that he was a bit compulsive about the buttons and IF they were jumbled in the dish he could NOT ignore them but had to sort them out. The only way to stop the game and make him rest was to leave the buttons sorted.
My main excuse for keeping this amazing story on this web site is that Blue Peter was using a lot of energy (ie dissipating heat into the room) in order to decrease the uncertainty of the buttons. This might, of course, be considered to be a gain of information.
Schneider Lab
origin: 2002 July 9
updated: 2002 July 9