Kea parrots have unsuspected abilities

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Kea parrots have unsuspected abilities

 

 

 

 

Kea's New Zealand mountain parrots are smarter than previously thought and exhibit similar human behavior when estimating statistical probabilities, DPA and TASS reports, citing a publication in the Daily Communications.

"The results of the study are surprising because they reflect those of infants and chimpanzees in similar tests," said Amalia Bastos of the Auckland University research team.

In the experiment, six Kea parrots were initially taught that if they chose a black token, they would receive a prize and that they would get away with it if they "bet" on an orange token.
Kea Parrots
The birds were then shown two jars of mixed tokens, one in which more blacks were placed and the other in orange. When they were offered a hidden token, parrots constantly chose the hand that reached for the jar with more black tokens.

Specialists have also tested the ability of Kea parrots to apply social information, learning which one is more likely to choose a black token.

To date, it is known that only chimpanzees and humans are able to handle information in this way.
Kea Parrots
"One of the sacred grails of artificial intelligence research is the type of rational reasoning that people demonstrate, combining multiple sources of information into one prediction or judgment about what's going to happen in the future," says Alex Taylor of the research team.

The study suggests that aspects of this ability may have evolved twice on our planet - in primates and birds. Based on the results, artificial intelligence researchers can also draw inspiration from the bird's brain.