Sharp intellect in feathered heads – the Goffin’s cockatoos have once again demonstrated their amazing intelligence: The birds can recreate objects from memory based on a specific template in order to use them as a kind of tool. In doing so, they adapt color and size to their memory, according to the experimental study. The cockatoos therefore have an imaginary model of the template in their head, which they can implement “by hand”. These are cognitive abilities that are comparable to those of primates, say the behavioral researchers.
In addition to the corvids, they are the feathered stars of cognitive research: Many studies have already shown the amazing abilities of the Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) – especially when it comes to using tools. Not only can you use objects like sticks or strips of paper cleverly, you can also make these tools yourself. A level of intelligence is emerging in these parrots that can compete with that of great apes. The behavioral researchers led by Alice Auersperg from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna have already discovered many of the fascinating cognitive abilities of Goffin’s cockatoos. In their current study they have now devoted themselves to the question of the extent to which birds are capable of a special intelligence performance: the so-called recall – the active reproduction of information from memory.
Templates appear in our mind’s eye
How this ability works in humans is illustrated by an example: If we are asked to draw a cherry, for example, we call this fruit to mind and see its shape and color in front of our imaginary eyes. Then we take a red pencil, paint a spherical shape and with a second maybe a green stem. So we can imagine complex things through mental images and reproduce their characteristics from memory. It is already known that monkeys can also remember the shapes of two-dimensional objects and then reconstruct them. As far as birds are concerned, comparable skills were previously only known from New Caledonian crows. But as the researchers point out, these corvids specialize in fishing for tasty larvae that are hidden in wooden holes with tools they have made themselves. So the question arose whether the less “experienced” Goffin’s cockatoos are also capable of this kind of intelligence.
To investigate this, the researchers took advantage of the cockatoos’ already known abilities. “The birds were initially rewarded for punching pieces of paper from a square construction paper with successive bites along the edge line and then placing the strip in a container in order to receive a cashew nut”, reports first author Isabelle Laumer. In order to provide the animals with a template, the researchers then distributed pre-made paper strips in two different colors on the table. The cockatoos no longer had to do handicrafts themselves – they learned that they were rewarded if they put pieces of a certain color in a vessel.
Reconstructed from memory
This was followed by the actual test: Now there were only square sheets of construction paper in different colors on the test table for the cockatoos. As the researchers report, the birds knew how to help each other spontaneously and in a logical manner: They grabbed a sheet of paper in the same color as the previously rewarded template. They then nibbled a piece of it with which they “paid” for the nut. So they had the right color in mind to reproduce the object, so the interpretation.
The researchers then looked into the question of whether the cockatoos can also adjust the size of templates from memory. For this purpose, the birds were first assigned to two groups and trained with prefabricated short and long strips of construction paper: Some got to know the short strips as the “currency” for the nut, while others got to know the long ones. During the test, they were offered square colored paper to produce their own strips. It revealed, “The cockatoos actually made short strips of paper if they were rewarded for selecting short strips and long strips if they had previously been successful with those versions. And they also switched flexibly to the production of the other template when we later rewarded the other strip length before the test, ”reports Laumer.
The researchers also examined the extent to which the animals are able to recreate an L-shape. As they report, the animals did not succeed in doing this, but they apparently tried: “Due to their punching technique and the ergonomics of their beak, it is very difficult for the Goffins to produce shaped objects. Nevertheless, the animals showed differences in the production of the paper object. They spontaneously bent the strip three times before inserting it, so that the bending gave it a kind of L-shape, ”explains senior author Auersperg.
The researchers now see their results as confirmation of the ability to recall in the Goffin cockatoos. “Since these birds are also able to recreate objects in color and size, the ability does not only appear to be found in birds that use tools like the New Caledonian crows,” summarizes Auersperg.
Source: University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, specialist article: Animal Cognition, doi: 10.1007 / s10071-020-01435-7