A captive cockatoo in Vienna was observed crafting a tool to reach a rock outside of its cage by tearing a splinter off of a wooden beam and pulling the pebble closer to the fence.
The bird, named Figaro, was studied by the University of Vienna's Alice Auersperg.
She states, "To investigate this further, we later placed a nut where the pebble had been and started to film. To our astonishment he did not go on searching for a stick but started biting a large splinter out of the aviary beam. He cut it when it was just the appropriate size and shape to serve as a raking tool to obtain the nut."
Auersperg adds, "It was already a surprise to see him use a tool, but we certainly did not expect him to make one by himself. From that time on, Figaro was successful on obtaining the nut every single time we placed it there, nearly each time making new tools. On one attempt he used an alternative solution, breaking a side arm off a branch and modifying the leftover piece to the appropriate size for raking."
Figaro is a Goffin's cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana), an endangered species native to Indonesia. They typically weigh between 250 g and 300 g, and were originally discovered in 1863.
Oxford University's Alex Kacelnik, a co-author of the study which was published in Current Biology, explains that "No-one has ever reported [a parrot] sculpturing a tool out of shapeless wood in order to use it later with great sophistication."
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
