Researches discover that Goffin’s cockatoos can complete complex tasks using tools

The act of cockatoos using sticks to get cashews from a box is comparable to how chimpanzees use stones to crack nuts, as per experts.

Goffin’s cockatoos can use tools, bird research, cockatoos experiment tool use, University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Indian Express

According to experts, the act of cockatoos using sticks to get cashews from a box is comparable to how chimpanzees use stones to crack nuts.

Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna have discovered that Goffin’s cockatoos (white-feathered birds native to Indonesia and Singapore) can complete a complex set of tasks by using composite tools (meaning using more than one device/tool to achieve something).

In a Twitter thread, biologist Antonio J. Osuna-Mascaró, explained how the researchers tried to study the problem-solving skills of Goffin’s cockatoos using a specially made box with collapsible platforms under which the cashew nuts were hidden. The birds had to use sticks to poke the cashew nut out.

The box has a central hole and two collapsible platforms on the sides. In the center there is a rough “green” where the ball lands. A stick can be used to hit, and follow, the ball to the correct (always randomly switching) platform.

Our Goffin’s found the box and both tools. pic.twitter.com/trQQDpWX67

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

But, of course, they had no information about how to solve it, and they had never combined tools. They only knew that both platforms could collapse if they were hit with a heavy object.

Everything else they had to figure out for themselves. pic.twitter.com/yE0VBXA2IM

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

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During the experiment, three out of nine birds repeatedly managed to get the cashews, indicating their capability to use toolsets, which is very rarely seen amongst birds and animals. According to experts, the act of cockatoos using sticks to get cashews from a box is comparable to how chimpanzees use stones to crack nuts.

Mascaró wrote on Twitter that what made the experimentation even more interesting is the fact that all three successful birds displayed different techniques to get the treat out of the box.

Figaro uses the stick almost as if it were a New Caledonian crow (despite having the curved beak of a parrot!). He holds the stick by the end, pushing the tongue against the top beak.

He positions himself next to the ball, and pushes it away from him to the correct platform. pic.twitter.com/kE6Efpd8Hq

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

Pipin, the former alpha of the group (and a charming bird) is the only one in the whole group who inserts objects with his leg, as if he were a feathered primate.

He uses a similar spatial arrangement to Figaro, positioning himself close to the ball and pushing it away from him pic.twitter.com/Xv7bsDcDqi

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

Fini (Josefine) inserts the stick from the front end, and uses her hard tongue-tip (which acts almost as a finger) to finish the stick insertion.

Unlike the rest, Fini positions herself next to the platform she wants to collapse, and drags the ball towards her. pic.twitter.com/nlTfvtWGon

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

Why are these 3 styles important? Because the way these cockatoos use tools is much more similar to ours than that of the New Caledonian crows
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Here you can see Figaro and Fini solving it, each with their own peculiar and particular style. pic.twitter.com/VUk6ksXW28

— Tay (@BioTay) February 8, 2022

He tweeted, “As I explained at the beginning, Goffin’s cockatoos do not use tools at the species-wide level. They are not adapted to use tools (like some corvids), and they don’t need them. They learn to use tools like us primates, through exploration and play.”

The biologists also mentioned that the experimentation about cockatoo’s tool using capability was prompted in 2011 when they observed Figaro (a cockatoo at their research facility Goffin Lab) using tools like sticks on his own.