A parrot touching a picture on a screen may only be learning to press for a stimulus, which says nothing about wanting company. Eighteen parrots learned to ring a bell, choose a photograph of another parrot and open a video call. What did they do with it?
They called, and they chose whom. Over three months they 147 calls out of 212 opportunities. Parrots who received more calls also initiated more, and social behaviors such as singing, playing and preening appeared near the screen. This examined an system under the caregivers’ supervision, and claimed nothing about a screen replacing a real flock.
Parrots are highly social and many are kept alone, which is a known cause of distress. Hence the question of whether they can be given a choice of whom to communicate with.
Eighteen pet parrots learned to ring a bell, choose a photograph of another parrot on a tablet and then start a short video call. The initiation is the point: the animal asks, rather than having a video played at it.
Over three months they initiated one hundred and forty-seven calls out of two hundred and twelve opportunities. Many returned to one again and again, and those who received more calls also initiated more.
The caregivers also noted social behaviors such as singing, playing and preening near the screen. This was exploratory work with , with volunteer owners and very different parrots, and nobody followed wellbeing over the long term. The work also claimed nothing about a screen replacing a real flock.
wat. Eighteen parrots were given a way to choose a video-call partner and initiated 147 calls in three months.
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Technology that lets an animal choose whether and with whom to communicate may enrich the lives of social animals kept alone.
How do we know?
The caregivers recorded every choice and call at home, and the researchers analyzed initiation, duration, chosen partner and behavior across 18 parrots over 12 weeks.
What is still unknown
This was exploratory work with no control group, with volunteer owners and very different parrots. Nobody measured a long-term effect on wellbeing.
Learn something?
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