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Parrots are considered to be particularly clever birds. A new study from Vienna has now discovered that the goffin cockatoo can even do something that only primates are otherwise able to do. The animals can recognize when they need more than one tool and then combine them sensibly.
In the experiment, Figaro, as the white cockatoo is known, managed to get a cashew nut out of a Plexiglas housing.
In order to do this, the goffin cockatoo first had to pierce a foil with a pointed toothpick and then use a long, soft straw to get to the cashew nut.
Alice Auersperg, Professor of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, explained how Figaro proceeded after piercing the foil:
"He walked around the box once to judge the distance, then back again, then picked up the stick again but dropped it before putting it in and immediately grabbed the straw and got the nut".
In another experiment, the researchers placed the tools far away from the box.
In order not to have to fly twice, the cockatoo took both objects in its beak.
The experiment proves that the animals can combine several tools with each other.
An ability that we humans had previously only attributed to primates.