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Meet Apollo, the record-breaking parrot who is as smart as a human toddler!

By Vassiliki Bakogianni
Published

Apollo the parrot is a true genius! 🤩

The 4-year-old African grey parrot has become an Internet sensation with his awesome skills and cool personality...

He's a famous, successful and beloved pet with a soft spot for pistachios.  🤣

Oh, and he’s a star of Guinness World Records 2025, our next book coming out very soon!

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So, after identifying 12 objects, including 'bug,' 'book' and 'socks', Apollo set the record for most items identified by a parrot in 3 minutes.  

His owners, content creators Dalton and Victoria “Tori” Mason, commented:

"We’re proud to make this addition to our wall of achievements, alongside our gold YouTube plaque and our news articles."

Apollo’s new record title makes them super proud, but also sends an important message...

🔎 Dalton and Victoria are on a mission “to spread awareness of the natural intelligence found in animals”.  

But exactly how smart is Apollo? 🦜

Well, he is described as having the intelligence of a human toddler, as he recognizes colours, words and objects. He can count, communicate clearly and answer complex questions! 


He's also very curious and loves to ask questions himself, to understand the world around him or simply to ask for snacks. 😏

And this record proves that Apollo isn’t just a cute Internet star: he’s an enthusiastic learner, and he trains hard to discover new words! 

If we learn one thing from Apollo, is to never stop studying and learning new things. 🤓

His favourite reward when he wants to learn something new?

Pistachios, of course! 🤤


But who is Apollo, and how did he become Internet famous?  

In December 2020, Dalton and Victoria were at their local pet store to buy crickets for their leopard gecko when Apollo caught their attention...

It was love at first sight! ❤️

“He immediately got our attention, and we knew upon meeting him that we’d be taking him home,” they say.


Victoria and Dalton do their best to communicate with Apollo as they would to a little human kid.

With lively training sessions that keep him engaged, it's like he's being home schooled!

In his free time, Apollo also loves to spend his mornings playing with his toys until it’s time for a well-deserved meal.  

He also loves being out in the sun and spending time with his mum and dad, asking questions whenever he wants to earn a snack. 😉

His daily life is not that different to yours, is it?

“He will hang around while we work or relax, either talking to himself or sometimes asking us the same questions we ask him, like 'What’s that called?' or 'What colour'?” Victoria and Dalton say. 

And, like most parrots, he really loves... destroying things. 😆


So what is his personality like?

“He’s a bit of a show-off for new people,” Victoria and Dalton explain, “and he knows how to make himself the centre of attention.” 

Sounds like he's a bit of a diva! 💅

Of course, people are instantly amazed by Apollo’s skills... Who wouldn't be?

“Our friends have never seen another parrot do what Apollo does, so they knew it was a record not any other bird could beat,” Victoria and Dalton explain. 

“There’s no knowing what Apollo will learn, or what records he could break next,” the mum and dad say, confident that Apollo has what it takes to break more records in the future!

Congratulations Apollo, you are Officially Amazing. 🥳