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"Cockatoos"
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Toucans, too
Thinking the cockatoos have said \"toucan stew,\" the toucans run away in a toucan canoe but the cockatoos set things right with some two-can stew.
Book
Individual Goffin's cockatoos show flexible targeted helping in a tool transfer task
Flexible targeted helping is considered an advanced form of prosocial behavior in hominoids, as it requires the actor to assess different situations that a conspecific may be in, and to subsequently flexibly satisfy different needs of that partner depending on the nature of those situations. So far, apart from humans such behaviour has only been experimentally shown in chimpanzees and in Eurasian jays. Recent studies highlight the prosocial tendencies of several bird species, yet flexible targeted helping remained untested, largely due to methodological issues as such tasks are generally designed around tool-use, and very few bird species are capable of tool-use. Here, we tested Goffin's cockatoos, which proved to be skilled tool innovators in captivity, in a tool transfer task in which an actor had access to four different objects/tools and a partner to one of two different apparatuses that each required one of these tools to retrieve a reward. As expected from this species, we recorded playful object transfers across all conditions. Yet, importantly and similar to apes, three out of eight birds transferred the correct tool more often in the test condition than in a condition that also featured an apparatus but no partner. Furthermore, one of these birds transferred that correct tool first more often before transferring any other object in the test condition than in the no-partner condition, while the other two cockatoos were marginally non-significantly more likely to do so. Additionally, there was no difference in the likelihood of the correct tool being transferred first for either of the two apparatuses, suggesting that these birds flexibly adjusted what to transfer based on their partner's need. Future studies should focus on explanations for the intra-specific variation of this behaviour, and should test other parrots and other large-brained birds to see how this can be generalized across the class and to investigate the evolutionary history of this trait.
Journal Article
Individual Goffin's cockatoos
Flexible targeted helping is considered an advanced form of prosocial behavior in hominoids, as it requires the actor to assess different situations that a conspecific may be in, and to subsequently flexibly satisfy different needs of that partner depending on the nature of those situations. So far, apart from humans such behaviour has only been experimentally shown in chimpanzees and in Eurasian jays. Recent studies highlight the prosocial tendencies of several bird species, yet flexible targeted helping remained untested, largely due to methodological issues as such tasks are generally designed around tool-use, and very few bird species are capable of tool-use. Here, we tested Goffin's cockatoos, which proved to be skilled tool innovators in captivity, in a tool transfer task in which an actor had access to four different objects/tools and a partner to one of two different apparatuses that each required one of these tools to retrieve a reward. As expected from this species, we recorded playful object transfers across all conditions. Yet, importantly and similar to apes, three out of eight birds transferred the correct tool more often in the test condition than in a condition that also featured an apparatus but no partner. Furthermore, one of these birds transferred that correct tool first more often before transferring any other object in the test condition than in the no-partner condition, while the other two cockatoos were marginally non-significantly more likely to do so. Additionally, there was no difference in the likelihood of the correct tool being transferred first for either of the two apparatuses, suggesting that these birds flexibly adjusted what to transfer based on their partner's need. Future studies should focus on explanations for the intra-specific variation of this behaviour, and should test other parrots and other large-brained birds to see how this can be generalized across the class and to investigate the evolutionary history of this trait.
Journal Article
Las Cacatúas
Las cacatúas destacan por el penacho eréctil de color que adorna su cabeza.Pertenecen al grupo de los loros más grandes.Tienen un carácter afectuoso que atrae a todos los amantes de los pájaros.En este libro la autora nos aporta sus conocimientos etológicos sobre las aves de compañía.
eBook
Testing weight-based conditional discrimination in Goffin’s cockatoos, Cacatua goffiniana
Discrimination learning tasks are a method for investigating species’ perception of and associative learning with a particular stimulus. Goffin’s cockatoos previously required surprisingly few trials to differentiate objects based on weight alone in a simple discrimination task, outperforming primates in other weight discrimination setups. Nevertheless, it was unclear whether the difference in performance was largely based on ability or differences in experimental procedures. Therefore, we tested a group of Goffin’s cockatoos on a weight-based conditional discrimination, like a task previously used with chimpanzees. Similar to the chimpanzees (compared to their first 15 sessions), none of our subjects reached above-chance levels of performance in the present study. The contrasting performance of our cockatoos in the two weight discrimination studies are in line with the idea that conditional discriminations are more cognitively demanding than simple discriminations. Our results do not support the notion of a distinct difference between birds and primates in their arbitrary discrimination learning abilities with weight cues. However, further research on this question (we suggest with simple discrimination formats) would be necessary.
Journal Article
Dance behaviour in cockatoos: Implications for cognitive processes and welfare
Parrots (Aves, Psittaciformes ) in captivity have been reported to show dance behaviour in response to music, which may involve complex cognitive processes including imitation, vocal learning and entrainment. Dance behaviour in parrots may be indicative of a positive welfare state raising the possibility of using music as a form of environmental enrichment. In this study we studied dance behaviour in cockatoos ( Cacatuidae ) through an online video study and a playback experiment. First, we identified and defined cockatoo dance movements to music from videos posted on social media to reveal the extent of this behaviour in different species. Second, to test whether music elicited dance behaviour we conducted a preliminary playback experiment on captive cockatoos, whereby birds were presented with periods of music playback, no audio playback and an audio podcast. From 45 online videos representing five different cockatoo species we identified and described 17 new dance movements. We also found 17 rare movements observed in only one bird and not previously reported in the literature, which in many cases consisted of combinations of different movements. A cluster analysis indicated that inter-species similarities in dance movements were not related to phylogenetic relatedness. In the playback study, which involved zoo-housed male-female pairs of three species of cockatoos, all birds in all treatments showed dance behaviour but there was no significant effect of treatment on the probability of showing dancing behaviour. We conclude that dance behaviour in cockatoos is composed of a wide range of different movements and further research would be beneficial to determine if music can trigger dance in captive birds and serve as a form of environmental enrichment.
Journal Article
The multifactorial nature of beak and skull shape evolution in parrots and cockatoos (Psittaciformes)
Background
The Psittaciformes (parrots and cockatoos) are characterised by their large beaks, and are renowned for their ability to produce high bite forces. These birds also possess a suite of modifications to their cranial architecture interpreted to be adaptations for feeding on mechanically resistant foods, yet the relationship between cranial morphology and diet has never been explicitly tested. Here, we provide a three-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of the developmental and biomechanical factors that may be influencing the evolution of psittaciformes’ distinctive cranial morphologies.
Results
Contrary to our own predictions, we find that dietary preferences for more- or less- mechanically resistant foods have very little influence on beak and skull shape, and that diet predicts only 2.4% of the shape variation in psittaciform beaks and skulls. Conversely, evolutionary allometry and integration together predict almost half the observed shape variation, with phylogeny remaining an important factor in shape identity throughout our analyses, particularly in separating cockatoos (Cacatuoidea) from the true parrots (Psittacoidea).
Conclusions
Our results are similar to recent findings about the evolutionary trajectories of skull and beak shape in other avian families. We therefore propose that allometry and integration are important factors causing canalization of the avian head, and while diet clearly has an influence on beak shape between families, this may not be as important at driving evolvability within families as is commonly assumed.
Journal Article
Prevalence and risk factors for feather-damaging behavior in psittacine birds: Analysis of a Japanese nationwide survey
A case control study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of feather-damaging behavior and evaluate the correlation with risk factors among pet psittacine birds in Japan. Although feather-damaging behavior among pet parrots is frequently observed in Japan, its prevalence and potential risk factors have not been investigated. Therefore, we conducted an online questionnaire survey on parrot owners throughout Japan to examine regional differences in feather-damaging behavior and associated risk factors. In total, 2,331 valid responses were obtained. The prevalence of feather-damaging behavior was 11.7%, in general agreement with prior studies. The highest prevalence was among Cockatoos ( Cacatua spp., etc.; 30.6%), followed by Lovebirds ( Agapornis spp.; 24.5%) and African grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus ; 23.7%). Multivariate logistic regression was carried out to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR adj ) for potential risk factors and adjust the confounding of the variables. The odds of feather-damaging behavior were significantly higher for Conures ( Aratinga spp., Pyrrhura spp., Thectocercus acuticaudatus , Cyanoliseus patagonus ) (OR adj = 2.55, P = 0.005), Pacific parrotlets ( Forpus coelestis ) (OR adj = 3.96, P < 0.001), African grey parrots (OR adj = 6.74, P < 0.001), Lovebirds (OR adj = 6.79, P < 0.001) and Cockatoos (OR adj = 9.46, P < 0.001) than Budgerigars ( Melopsittacus undulatus ), and for young adults (OR adj = 1.81, P = 0.038) and adults (OR adj = 3.17, P < 0.001) than young birds, and for signs of separation anxiety (OR adj = 1.81, P < 0.001). Species, bird age and signs of separation anxiety were significantly higher risk factors for feather-damaging behavior than any other potential risk factors. Our findings, which include broad species diversity, are a good source of data for predicting risk factors for feather-damaging behavior and could be useful in preventing declines in welfare.
Journal Article
Hematologic and Plasma Biochemical Reference Values for Three Species of Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus species)
Black cockatoos in southwest Western Australia face population declines as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, competition with other species, vehicle strikes, and shootings. In this study, hematologic and plasma biochemical reference values were determined for 3 endemic Western Australian black cockatoo species: Carnaby's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) (n = 34), Baudin's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) (n = 22), and forest red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) (n = 22). Significant sex-related differences were detected in Carnaby's cockatoos, and differences were also found among the 3 species. The forest red-tailed black cockatoos showed a markedly greater eosinophil count than did the 2 white-tailed species. Blood values from samples obtained by different collection methods differed significantly for Carnaby's cockatoos, which indicates that anesthesia may affect analyte values and that collection methods should remain consistent. The results of this study will be useful for clinically evaluating wild black cockatoos that are undergoing rehabilitation for release and will provide baseline data for future investigations of free-living black cockatoo health.
Journal Article
