Advertisement

Updated January 11th, 2020 at 15:46 IST

Scientists say parrots help others without expecting anything in return

A new experiment has shown that parrots help each other without expecting a return of similar behaviour. The study was conducted on parrots and macaws.

Reported by: Riya Baibhawi
Scientists
| Image:self
Advertisement

New experiment has shown that parrots help each other without expecting a return of similar behaviour. The study which was conducted on African grey parrot and blue-headed macaws was published in Current Biology. 

Parrots gave tokens deliberately

For the research, the team of scientists designed a test of altruism and gave it two different species of birds, eight African grey parrots and six blue-headed macaws. The birds were earlier trained to exchange metal tokens for treats. Each bird was tested with a bird, with whom they had a close bond and another bird with whom they shared no such relation. For the purpose of the study, only one of the two birds were given tokens which they could exchange for a walnut. Researchers observed that only parrots and not macaws deliberately gave tokens to their fellows.

Read: Florida Police Respond After Parrot Cries, “Let Me Out!”

Read: School Parrot Celebrates 70th Birthday With Cake And Extra Nuts

Zoologist Auguste von Bayern of Oxford University said that remarkably, the African grey parrots were intrinsically motivated to help others, even if the other individual was not their friend, so they behaved very prosocially. The study also found that they passed tokens to fellow birds regardless of the bond, they gave more tokens to the birds with who they shared closed birds. Behavioural biologist Désirée Brucks of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology said that they found that African Grey Parrots voluntarily and spontaneously help familiar parrots to achieve a goal without obvious immediate benefit to themselves.    

Read: China Mourns Native Paddlefish Scientists Say Is Now Extinct

Read: Scientists Discover Technique To 'silence' Gene Causing Chronic Pain

In a separate recent study, the researchers showed that, when an African grey parrot sees a friend getting a better treat, they didn't seem particularly bothered. This is in contrast to animals such as chimpanzees, who tend to get excited in a negative way. Earlier research has proved the African grey parrots are smarter than a human child. 

This is a rare discovery of human behaviour in the bird kingdom. The corvids, which also include ravens and crows have been known for showing clever behaviour. They have been known to show some behaviour which was only observed in primates.  However, researchers observed that the corvids failed in the test of altruism. Cockatoos are also known to make their own tools and have even demonstrated some creativity. 

Advertisement

Published January 11th, 2020 at 15:46 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

MEA Responds To China’s Comment On Sikh Separatist Gurupatwant Singh Pannun
a few seconds ago
David Warner
4 minutes ago
Mukhtar Ansari Death
12 minutes ago
Dhara Gujjar
13 minutes ago
The ICJ has ordered Israel to ensure the smooth flow of aid to the people of Gaza.
18 minutes ago
UFC Exclusive Erin Blanchfield
21 minutes ago
Indian pharma sector
22 minutes ago
WWE Bloodline
23 minutes ago
Ramya on Uttarakaanda sets
28 minutes ago
Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell
28 minutes ago
Maharashtra Politics: Did Govinda Say Congress Ignored Him For 13 Years?
30 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo