'There really is no limit': TikTok famous parrot achieves Guinness World Record

Four-year-old Apollo is now officially a Guinness World Records title holder. Credit: Guinness World Records

A TikTok famous bird has showcased his intelligence by achieving the Guinness World Record for the most items identified by a parrot in three minutes.

Four-year-old Apollo, an African grey parrot from St Petersburg, Florida, secured the record after successfully identifying 12 items, including a block, a rock and a sock.

His “proud parents” Dalton and Victoria Mason, both 25, hope the achievement highlights the “natural intelligence” of animals, which may sometimes go unnoticed.

“Our mission is to spread awareness of the natural intelligence found in animals. We hope that our title can change the meaning behind the phrase ‘bird brain’,” the couple said.

The record was broken by Apollo in 2023 and as of Wednesday he officially became a Guinness World Records title holder.

Apollo's owners first saw him in December 2020 at a local pet shop and said they knew he would be part of the family.

Others seem to be interested in the antics of Apollo, as he boasts roughly 2.8 million followers on TikTok and 1.37 million followers on YouTube via the account Apollo and Frens on both platforms.

Apollo successfully identified 12 items, including a block, a rock and a sock. Credit: Guinness World Records

They try to keep Apollo as stimulated as possible through training sessions or giving him his favourite treat – pistachios – and said they have taken inspiration from animal psychologist Dr Irene Pepperberg’s model-rival method, which saw her work with an African grey parrot called Alex.

The method involved two trainers – one who would give instructions, and one who would model correct and incorrect responses and act as Alex’s rival for the trainer’s attention.

Alex displayed a high level of intelligence and Dr Pepperberg showed a parrot’s communication skills are able to go beyond mimicking sounds.

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Apollo has also shown his brainpower, with his owners saying: “Once he started to learn his first object labels, colours and materials, we knew that he would be able to achieve many of the incredible things that Alex did and potentially much more.

"There is really no limit to what we hope Apollo will learn."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…