With tools as ‘cutlery’, wild cockatoos extract seeds from tropical fruit
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In an astonishing discovery, researchers have found wild cockatoos to be using three types of tools as “cutlery” to extract seeds from tropical fruit. The researchers came up with the revelation after studying Goffin’s cockatoos on the Tanimbar Islands
In an astonishing discovery, researchers have found wild cockatoos to be using three types of tools as “cutlery” to extract seeds from tropical fruit.
The researchers came up with the revelation after studying Goffin’s cockatoos on the Tanimbar Islands, a remote archipelago in Indonesia.
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The behaviour in two wild cockatoos was noticed by the team. These birds crafted tools from tree branches and used them to extract seed matter from sea mangoes, a tropical fruit.
The Goffin’s cockatoo, which is also known as the blushing cockatoo and the Tanimbar corella, is endemic to the archipelago. It has also been introduced to Puerto Rico and Singapore.
It is one of six species of corella, a category within the cockatoo family. Three corella species are also found in Australia.
University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna’s Berenika Mioduszewska, who was one of the study’s lead authors, said Goffin’s cockatoos were difficult to observe in the wild as they live in dense canopy and are shy of humans.
Since 2015, the researchers have been studying the Goffin’s cockatoo. They observe wild-caught birds in a field aviary before releasing them back into the forest.
The cockatoos showed a high level of dexterity in manufacturing and using the cutlery, said Dr Mark O’Hara, who co-led the study.