Goffin’s cockatoos in a laboratory in Austria changed how they handled a stick when its weight and the opening around it changed. Some birds adopted a new technique; others changed which end went into the box. The single peer-reviewed experiment concerns a small captive group already experienced with tools, revealing varied solutions within that group.
Ten Goffin’s cockatoos faced an unevenly weighted stick in a box task at Austria’s Goffin Lab. Five changed their insertion technique when the task became harder. Other adjustments concerned which end they pushed through the opening. This single peer-reviewed experiment found more than one route to handling the changed tool, rather than a uniform response across birds.[1]
A preliminary task with a balanced wooden stick had involved 11 adult birds. Their solutions used the beak, tongue, feet or support from the opening. When horizontal and vertical slits replaced the round entrance, birds that had relied on securing the stick at the entrance changed technique. Some birds retained an approach that still worked. Baseline technique groups did not differ significantly in completion time.[1]
With the vertical slit, inserting the lighter end reduced the downward pull for most grips. Of 745 trials at the vertical slit, 487 involved that end; at the horizontal slit it was used 446 times in 874 trials. Eight birds changed technique or weight-related handling, including three that changed both. All were captive-born and previously experienced with tools, restricting generalization from this small group.[1]
