Apollo’s Learning to Count

We tried filming some of our normal chaotic interactions with the birds.
Apollo is our Talking African Grey parrot, hatched April 2019, we've had him since December 2020.
Founder of Shrock and renowned GLASS connoisseur.
Follow us to see what happens when you raise a talking parrot as a human!
Become a Patron & join our Discord: / apolloandfrens

[@nancyb9996]

Apollo is right. Those black grains of rice do look like bugs 😬

[@cristinap.morais6878]

they also look like mice's poops😂😂😂

[@kerriethompson2073]

I was going to say that!

[@priscillamoore5736]

​@@cristinap.morais6878- Exactly what I thought!

[@abarette_]

what even is that rice

[@MustardSkaven]

@@abarette_ Black rice. High in protein.

[@thermalXTX]

"What's this called?" "Rock?" "It's made of rock" "s h r o c k"

[@theel1na]

😆😆😆😆 died there aswell

[@ReTeVol]

killed me xDDD

[@sempersolus5511]

"I know exactly what a B L O C K is, but I've never seen this specific one before, so it is obviously going to attack me."

[@kristinrustadhiseth7911]

Haha

[@sweptashore]

Kind of a Trojan Block. Do not trust.

[@Rutherford_Inchworm_III]

Excellent illustration of his natural neophobia. He doesn't even want to LOOK at the scary new thing, he wanders away and finds something familiar he can ID instead, the glass bowl.

[@Mywayinak]

My daughter was wearing the manga glass shirt yesterday and I couldn’t believe how many people were like It’s APOLLO!!

[@rotciv1492]

*G L A S S K*

[@PawsOfJupiter-ef4zh]

Hat

[@TheSillyFrog742]

GlassK

[@CoffeeQueen707]

I think of this bird every time I eat a pistash

[@the_newt_nest]

But did you earn it?

[@yamsilman]

Gotta answer four questions

[@Jonathan-Shadow]

You’ll get your pistash when you tell us… *Whats it made of*

[@iodine-53]

​@@Jonathan-Shadowrock?

[@Jonathan-Shadow]

@@iodine-53 wrong…. *S H R O C K*

[@piratekit3941]

Solei looks like she had an existential crisis the moment the hat descended. And then her brain rebooted.

[@master106]

My favorite Apollo clip is the one where he says "Touch Purple" over and over again. I find myself repeating "Touch Purple" when I'm out and about.

[@ChristinaTodd1970]

Same!!

[@childofcascadia]

Ha! Yeah, us too. Also playing a video game if theres a prompt to 'pull lever', "pull lever" gets repeated in the same Apollo voice as when he says "pour water".

[@ShoshanaS]

I find myself saying glass in Apollo's voice. And metal!

[@GabbeMan123]

I love the one where he is offered a bug, says its a plant, "no its not a plant", leans into the camera and goes "its a bug"

[@melodysmash]

Sometimes I'll say to myself, "WoOOoOoow! That's the wow."

[@KryssMef]

- What's this called? - Like - What's this made of? - Love

[@samiboii9930]

- Wanna earn a snack? - Four?

[@SethKolbePrefect]

@UnknownMaster21Rock. S H R O C K

[@kaik168]

Its funny how when you started to cohnt the rice, you started with "one" and Apollo immediately said "four". He knows the two words are associated, despite not having the order, which is cool!

[@priscillamoore5736]

Goodness, it's like 3 toddlers roaming around on the kitchen counter. 😂

[@Whammytap]

As someone who has owned birds, yes, very much so. Perpetual toddlers that can outlive you. Def not a pet for everyone, LOL. Much respect to Apollo's owners/trainers for their commitment and the high level of care they give to their birds.

[@birdonline2751]

When you put the "hat" on soleil she didnt move or even blink for like 6 full seconds lol

[@tracibrooks3402]

Yes, I didn't realize she was capable of sitting still that long

[@YariAzQuran]

Every time I see anything made of glass now I immediately think "GLASS" in the deadpan way Apollo says it 😂 It's the cutest thing 🥰

[@AuRelixRa]

I love the girls walking up like 👀 as soon as Apollo cracked open that walnut

[@szalary]

Then Apollo tries to lie and say it's a bug

[@Catherinzsl]

Throw bottle + Fire = Molotov cocktail

[@musicingflowing]

Made of squawk!

[@faithowens2698]

Apollo *REALLY* loves the number four 😂

[@SnazzySnezz]

My budgie could really count to four and he never made a mistake..

[@kenzieuchiha1191]

Him saying hat is so stinking cute

[@ThefamousMrcroissant]

1:01 actually caused me to laugh out loud. The way his fellow bird moves into the frame and having Apollo explain them the walnut he's holding is a bug.

[@mihagomiunik2758]

1:50 I love how he has a ''task failed to execute'' sound

[@Max-vi7uu]

Idk if you guys will even see this, but you guys should make sure that tank is somewhere it doesn't have any overhang. Hanging off the edges like that causes stress points and the tank will eventually crack!

[@priscillamoore5736]

@Max-vi7uu ~ If you address your comment directly to them, they're more apt to see it. 😊 (Had that issue myself, on another KZbin channel.)

[@Here_This]

☺Apollo answered correctly "bowl" , so cute . He searched for a familiar object .A pistash for it .

[@Here_This]

@Everyoneaddround257 When he was asked whatt the black stoneblock is . He turned around , saw the bowl and answered this .

[@the_nikster1]

I love how much Apollo gets fixated on certain words. it seems that he is currently fixated on "four" and "it's a bug", which is super cute! 😍maybe he wants 4 bugs? 🐛🐛🐛🐛

[@Justicia007]

He seems to be a bit afraid of bugs, which makes him sensible! Lol

[@goaway5297]

"ya make the wrong sounds" true parrot owner

[@merryprawn]

Apollo dancing to "pop popop pop pop" is what makes my day without fail ❤

[@ææaaæ]

Typical Apollo acting like a lens cap at the beginning of the video

[@sarielgrace]

He's helping with the zoom focus

[@tammid8423]

​@@sarielgracenah he just wanna chew

[@aaahwubadugh]

When your comment is so good they make a short referencing it:

[@ææaaæ]

​@@aaahwubadughi did not expect that

[@ææaaæ]

​@@aaahwubadughbut then removes the referenced clip and changes the title of the said short:

[@arvetis]

You're asking for trouble leaving a book about how to make slingshots open around Apollo.

[@Xantilanthi]

I love Apollo's thumbnails; He's reading a book about counting to number 4, lol.

[@creamsmoothie2020]

Loved seeing soleil and ophelia! More of them would be awesome!

[@jakestilgard4145]

1:58 Apollo knows a Borg cube when he sees one.

[@liamchisari2191]

Resistance is futile. Your shrock will be assimilated.

[@Iggystar71]

@@liamchisari2191literally the best comment ever!!! 😂😂

[@AlisonRuttenberg]

Your shrockilogical distinctiveness will be added to our own

[@brotherofmelody]

Apollo doesn’t want to earn a Snack, he wants to earn FOUR 😂

[@Duny4-ni6gu]

I cannot with his facial expressions; His eyes are just staring into my soul, I feel violated LMAO 😭

[@Mayayapayapa]

He doesn't have the usual brown bird eyes it does look a lil unusual

[@angelstyro]

Cannot what? I'm Australian and don't understand you 😂

[@Duny4-ni6gu]

⁠@@angelstyro That’s fine! When I said ‘I cannot’, I kind of meant ‘I cannot handle _____’ [thing I’m talking about]; like, maybe it’s so cute or sweet or just silly that I cannot keep functioning at a normal pace because of it. I hope that cleared it up. (I’m sh!t at explaining things)

[@Justicia007]

​@@Duny4-ni6guThat was a good explanation of an odd expression we use

[@Duny4-ni6gu]

@@Justicia007 Thanks :D

[@dphilnok]

I think it’s amazing that he knows 4 is a number.Tori said 1… and then Apollo said 4. He’s really a very special little guy.❤

[@TheGeoff]

The thumbnail is GOLD

[@jacquelynne423]

I'm so glad he's back online! I missed him! ❤

[@Pigwa99]

I have a suggestion about teaching apollo how to count. During my psych education in uni I've been very interested in numerical cognition and in animal behavior. Humans and other animals intuitively perform subitizing - they can immediately and accurately tell the quantity of something, if the number is small enough. For humans, it is up to 4, max 5. Some birds can do it for larger quantities. This happens without any counting involved. Therefore, Apollo should already be able to distinguish quantities. However, teaching him ordinal numbers will likely prove much harder. I think that Apollo would more eagerly learn to answer the question 'How many?' after being shown 1-4 items (maybe even more), but will have trouble learning that after one comes two, then 3, then 4 and so on.

[@collin82684]

We may need a compilation of Apollo saying “metal”

[@maryarmeli5188]

I don’t think I can say the word in a non-Apollo way anymore

[@diaryofjaneVa]

The way he says "hat" is my favourite! 🥰

[@TripnotizeVM]

it's really adorable, mine is when he says "book"

[@janhill2079]

Never seen a parrot "shake" before

[@janhill2079]

@@roachybill awesome 🦜🦜🦜

[@annerink4327]

You should see Einstein the grey parrot "shake" (also YT)

[@TheTwistedTraceur]

its a constant joy watching the amount of energy you guys put into your kids, i mean birds

[@mandyknowles4618]

Solei with the hat just made my afternoon

[@twistedaxles9126]

1:02 "its a bug" Apollo found a glitch in the nut

[@flyingsquirrel111]

He's such a charming birb. Getting smarter and smarter every day.

[@mumbakankulu]

Really missed Apollo and sisters! What a wonderful trio they are ! I so enjoy these videos , thank you for sharing 😊❤

[@fonem-v2d]

3:39 apollo took that personally

[@birbluv9595]

I am genuinely in love with Apollo’s voice

[@Aquawolf-Animations]

He is so smart!!!❤

[@marciafallon7653]

So;ie; looks lovely in her hat!

[@user-zh6ho8fk3o]

Apollo!!!!! ❤❤❤

[@lilygg8018]

I love the way all your birds get along!

[@InventorZahran]

Can I hire Apollo as my bookkeeper? He really knows how to handle a book!

[@JagoShogun]

my mom always made fun of my birds nice flat head too, said it made them dumb. But apollo has one too, and both are intelligent birbs. I like how he mistakes the rice for bugs, just like how I do lmao

[@TeddyEnjoyer]

3:26 aww so cute

[@DukeDude129]

2:32 yo what the bird on the right doin😂

[@jamesferguson8379]

Damn I love that bird!

[@bonecreator_]

I just discovered this channel and wow this is amazing! It is so cool how you teach them and how intelligent they are!!

[@saniainez]

Ophelia and Soleil are so cute 🥹

[@shanaknibbs3790]

I LOVE how Apollo told Soleil the walnut was a bug 🐛 and ran away with it so he didn't have to share! 😂 ❤❤❤

[@BigCrow119]

0:16 "you got games on your phone? "

[@Mayayapayapa]

0:55 there is NO THOUGHTS goin in that smooth brain

[@lucsei]

The fact he nods every time you ask something and you're correct is crazy

[@Smokeybluetheraccoon]

I loved Soleil accepting her hat fate

[@KCbricks21]

Apollo is scared of the *BOX*

[@InevitableUniverse]

Any time any sort of insect is mentioned now, my mother says "It's a BUG"

[@BumbleBee-Bread]

You can tell Tori is a bird mom, she knows all the birds favorite sounds and how they like things. It’s perfect that her name means bird in Japanese

[@d2undead22]

fun fact: Lots of animals can count to four but not any more. Try this experiment: Ask a friend to draw 2 to 8 dots on some paper, then show it quickly and you try to count them, you'll find it's easier with 1-4 or 1-3 dots, after that you count them by 3 or 4. Brains have a special area designed to process numbers up to 3 or 4. That's why IV exists instead of IIII.

[@Ecobride-s1v]

Apollo was scared of block 🦜🕋

[@registeredjademark]

I really love these style of videos, thank you for sharing! Your whole channel is the best demonstration of what life is like with birds, of all the bird channels I've seen so far. You don't edit out the mess, the noise, the hours of mental stimulation and cost of destructible items. I adore birds, and too many channels make them look "easy" when they need a lot of work and love

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

I just fall about the way Apollo thinks about it and says ' metall ' !

[@MsKirbyFan]

1:25 : "what's this made out of?" "AAÆŒœÖÖÖë"

[@Lishadra]

I love how he keeps trying “four” because of how excited it made you the first time

[@John-kj7tv]

"it's made of rock" ,"shock..."

[@HelenArrowsmith-br1he]

❤Apollo is a very clever birdxx❤❤❤

[@therese6030]

😂 I love that the bird have same accent as there owner ❤ keep up the good work stay healthy ❤

[@antoinepetrov]

The way he said "Shrock" wanting to say Shrek again...

[@Tacksevasion-h4s]

Caiques are adorable also the favorite parts are when she is like solei has a bottle ooooo solei and and she drops the bottle like oh crap am I in trouble

[@citrus.airways]

Babe wake up, there's a new Apollo vid

[@Lacey1027]

If it's not a rock but made of rock it's Shrock! 😂 He's is too cute! Smarty pants!

[@anjachan]

Shrock 🤣 amazing how smart an animal can be! 💜

[@Cuckoorex]

Apollo was just "hitting the book" like any good student.

[@DarknoorX]

"Rock?" It is made of rock... "Shrock??" 😂😂😂

[@Cloudfetti]

Soleil and her tiny hat 😭💕

[@amyjackson8063]

Cute

[@-mv]

I love watching Apollo he's so cute 🥰

[@theresarandall7448]

❤❤🎉🎉❤❤🎉🎉❤❤Soleil's expression when wearing the "hat""

[@Fedaygin]

Always fun to watch what's up with Apollo & other birdies 🙂 I like the way you interact with them. Good week 🧘🍵

[@Saturday8pm]

Those two Amazon Parrots are too cute.

[@stephaniewood6133]

They are all so cute ❤❤❤❤❤

[@paolac.1678]

❤ the other birds are very adorable too 😍 soooo beautiful!!!

[@kthom4595]

Throw Bottle. 😊 my 2nd fave. Shrock is my favorite 😊

[@sarielgrace]

Apollo is a great big brother with the walnut

[@MonicaEGolak]

ALL ADORABLE ,APOLLO OPHILIA AND SOLEY I LOVE THEM SO INTELIGENT !!

[@alexisauld7781]

"What's that made of?" *Ding!* "Ow."

[@tildessmoo]

I'll never understand animals' fascination with paper. Apollo seems to love the texture, but also every dog and cat I've ever known would rather lay down on paper than pretty much any other material. And, of course, cats love unrolling paper towels or toilet paper.

[@nekrataali]

There's a video on KZbin of some zoo that put cardboard boxes in each one of their big cats' enclosures. And every single one immediately went into their new box (including the tigers who both tried to fit at the same time but couldn't).

[@lizc9326]

Sometimes after watching Apollo videos, I automatically start talking to myself, asking myself what things are made of and what I'm doing.. and I answer myself like "pour water.. that's right! pour water!" as I pour myself some water

[@CrustyMusty101]

Hahah here in Brazil people take years to learn how to do the “th” sound, biting tongue and stuff! I’d love to see Apollo learn “Throw”

[@sempersolus5511]

It is really hard to make that sound without any teeth. No wonder Apollo has so much trouble

[@ttcan6320]

In general, English is a very difficult language to pronounce (and spell), while Spanish is very easy. I speak as someone who has studied both languages.

[@noodlefeather]

right!!! I took 6 years to figure it out!

[@leteshalove]

"I'm famous now, I can chew on whatever I want!!"

[@meisteryogurt1460]

I cannot believe how good Apollo looks with glasses. Propably one of the few carbon based lifeforms to which this applys.

[@BritishBeachcomber]

Meanwhile, the girls look on in amazement. He's a god to us. We worship him.

[@beaverdctor]

Awwww the little beak grab❤

[@AIvey-qs1so]

He just called his parrot sister a bug lol We think of you every time we eat pistash for snacks too Apollo! ❤

[@bigkomikus]

Man, i just lost my steam account cuz i fogot the name and im pretty sad but the second i saw apollo climbing and chewing on the camera my day is instantly 20x better