An interesting video captures a Goffin’s cockatoo skillfully using a stick to push a marble into a hole.
Among animal species, even among higher animals (excluding humans), the proficient use of tools is quite rare in nature. Most species capable of tool use are primates, benefiting from their hands to easily create and manipulate tools.
However, few would think that a parrot, specifically the Goffin’s cockatoo, can also adeptly use tools to achieve what it desires, which is to retrieve a marble from inside a box.
Alice Auersperg, the head of the Goffin Laboratory at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, was also surprised to be the first to discover this through observing Figaro, one of the cockatoos in the laboratory’s aviary.
The wooden cage is designed to be enclosed on all sides, with only one side open with wire mesh and a small hole for the parrot to observe and manipulate. In the uploaded video, the parrot can be seen using its beak to pick up the marble and drop it through a round hole, then using the stick to push the marble into a small hole on the floor, similar to a golf game. If it performs these actions correctly, the parrot is rewarded by the trainer.
Parrot skillfully using tools amazes researchers.
The experiment, which seemed quite complex, did not pose a challenge for the parrots, as 5 out of 11 parrots in the laboratory successfully manipulated the task. Among them, Figaro was the only parrot to succeed on its first attempt.
However, in the second attempt, Figaro surprised researchers by trying to innovate its method to retrieve the marble more effectively. According to Auersperg, “it learned how to adapt to the game.”
Although the Goffin’s cockatoo had no issues pushing the object with just a stick, whether they could combine the stick and marble into a single tool remains a question that puzzles researchers.
