In Irene Pepperberg’s book Alex & Me — Pepperberg’s story of how a small bundle of feathers humbled a scientific community and showed everyone just how smart parrots really are — she writes: “How much impact could a one-pound ball of feathers have on the world? It took death for me to find out.”

When he died in 2007, his obituary in the world’s most esteemed news publications showed how far avian research has come — this was a bird eulogized alongside political leaders and celebrities. He broke all the preconceptions the world had about what happened inside a bird’s brain, and his death broke our hearts.

But Dr. Pepperberg’s work continued. After all, theirs was a partnership; while Alex was a media darling, it was Irene and Alex together who made those breakthroughs. And their research is not done. You may not know Griffin and Arthur, but they are continuing Alex’s important work, making new breakthroughs in avian language studies.

Check out this TV special featuring Dr. Pepperberg and Griffin:

Extraordinary Animals: Genius Birds

That’s why The Alex Foundation still needs your support. And right now, your donation to The Alex Foundation can count double! A generous donor is offering a matching gift for all donations of over $50 to Dr. Pepperberg’s foundation to support their continued research.

Visit http://www.alexfoundation.org/index2.html for details and to make your donation. The Alex Foundation also asks that you help spread the word about the matching gift, so please feel free to link to this post, to their website directly, and to blog, tweet or email the parrot lovers in your network.

Please donate today (the matching gift expires June 30).