Anyone remember the juvenile detective book series "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators"?* In one of these, the intrepid youths had to track down the owners of several parrots. Each of the birds had been taught to repeat part of a cryptic clue to the location of the treasure…or whatever it was they were looking for, I forget.
SS
*Afraid I may be dating myself here…does anyone actually read juvenile detective books any more?
Are parrots sort of like vultures? If so, the Zionists are up to their old tricks again.
Yes, I noted that the high kicks are unusual above, as well as the timing and rhythm. The nodding style of dance, however, is natural for parrots, for example:
While I was writing this post, my own budgie did the nodding dance thing too on his playground.
I’m not saying Snowball isn’t a star - just that some of his moves are natural even for untrained birds. The arrangement is special though.
I remember reading a while ago about someone’s attempt to teach a parrot bible passages and release it in the Amazon rainforest as a really really stupid attempt to convert the natives.
It didn’t work, it just reverted to going ‘Wraaaak!’ and none of the native people the attempt was aimed at spoke English anyway.
And I can’t find any cites for it.
I think that just qualifies as an impractical attempted use of a parrot though.
Oh, I can think of one actual practical sort of use that has been made- someone did attempt to use one as a murder witness but it didn’t stand up in court 
Well, if we’re debating parrot language use versus mimicry, anyone unfamiliar with Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s work might want to do some reading; many of these questions are stating to have factual answers.
No it’s not.
You could use one to annoy your roommate*, I suppose. The ultimate would be teaching it to say something that roomie says all the time, but denies saying. Look, you say it often enough that the parrot has picked it up.
Not a practical use, but one of my few parrot stories -
I knew one parrot owner who was sitting on his back porch one night while his wife did dishes. As he relaxed, his wife, thinking he was in the front room, started talking to him there. The parrot started making husband noises. “Uh-huh. Yes, dear. Sure. Uh-huh.” So that was why his wife had been annoyed with him for not doing things that he couldn’t remember agreeing to do.
*includes all live-in relatives
No no, h-he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’!
I’m not sure if you’re quoting Monty Python or you’re missing my “hilarious” joke. In case it’s the later, I’ll explain. When Polly the parrot dies, Polly is gone. Therefore, a polygon is a dead parrot.
all i can contribute is that my ex has a greenwing macaw that is scary-smart.
in recent months he and i have been speaking to one another again and i recently went over to visit for the first time in three years.
not only did she recognize me, she even called me by her pet name for me. i expected the dogs to remember me - not the bird. she also let me pet her and give her kisses - something she wouldn’t allow with his previous girlfriend (which made me smile evilly - just a little. 
) even he was surpised she allowed the familiarity. frankly, i was too. parrots generally are a one-person pet.
i’ve already told him i want the bird when he kicks off (parrots live darn near forever and will certainly outlast their owners in most cases).
Ahhh, I’ve seen the video of the parrot murder witness. All it could keep muttering was “let the bodies hit the floor”.
The most practical use for parrots is as Fox News pundits.
As is dancing in humans, too. It’s the rhythm and the continuity that makes it a human-style dance.
See “the hitchhiker”, “the swim”, “the jerk”, etc.
All of which I have already acknowledged. The point is that parrots - wild parrots - naturally do a nodding dance that is already quite rhythmic in nature.
Parrots can dance, parrots can talk, parrots can love you…useful? Hell yes! WTF do I need a man for?
Practical use for parrots?
Well, mine make sure no breadcrumb goes to waste…
Conceivably they might make good guard dogs…er… birds. It’s not uncommon for them to raise a ruckus when the doorbell rings or there’s a knock or just someone making noise outside. On the other hand, most bad guys would find the bark of a doberman more intimidating than the chirp of my cockatiels.
Hmm… time to teach the conure to bark…
The Roman Catholic Church is facing a vast shortage of priests.
I thought Catholics were opposed to anointing birds as priests?
The Parrot Max helped James Bond locate where Kristatos had taken the Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator…
“ATAC to St. Cyril’s, aawwwkkkk, ATAC to St. Cyril’s.”
for which they apparently let Max “watch” as Bond and Melina consumate the mission.