We have all had the moment “this could use a sauce.” Either bread, a chip or something else, we have all submerged dry food in a little sauce to make it tastier. Apparently, the caratúas do too. When the option is provided, they use soy yogurt to taste their food, providing convincing evidence of cognitive sophistication beyond mere instinctive food.
In The 1960sThe researchers in Japan found that the macaques would submerge the potatoes in salt water. They would also immerse them in fresh water, but when they were given the option, they would prefer salinity because it made the potatoes knew better.
Since then, foods have been observed in the liquid before consumption in several animal species, but none as sophisticated as macaques. Most of the accounts are anecdotal, but there seems to be several reasons why animals do it:
- Soaking – Influence of hard or dry food.
- Cleaning – Eliminate dirt or undesirable substances.
- Seasoning – Improvement of the taste of food.
- Drowned dam – Subdiring of living food.
- Liquid transport – Use food like a sponge to transport liquid.
Most immersion behavior cases have been anecdotal, which makes it difficult to determine the exact function. However, Goffin’s caratúas showed a novel flavor behavior and experimentally confirmed, previously only documented in Japanese macaques. Then, a team of researchers decided to consider that more deeply.
Blueberry yogurt for me, please
The study began in November 2022 when the investigators noticed two Cacatúas, Irene and Renki, adding pieces of potatoes cooked in blueberry yogurt during breakfast. This caused a series of controlled experiments to determine the function of this behavior.
“Continuing with our previous immersion observations, 13 We investigate the function and frequency of this behavior. Therefore, we made 14 additional breakfast observations (30 minutes each), in which we present the group of cacatoos with a bowl of food and three potential immersion media: (1) fresh water, (2) soy yogurt with soybean with Burned flavor and (3) neutral soy yogurt, which acted as a flavorless texture control ”, write to study authors Jeroen Stephan Zewald and Alice Marie Isabel Auerg, from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.
The researchers extended the test to 18 caratúas. A total of 9 out of 18 birds participated in the behavior of the immersion, predominantly using the blueberry yogurt. The caratúas never divened their food in the water, discarding possible as possible. The blueberry flavor yogurt was chosen more frequently than neutral yogurt, although they both had the same texture. The birds were vigorous in their immersion, dragging the food in yogurt to absorb as much as possible.
The carrots and cauliflower never submerged, and rarely ate: the caratúas did not seem to enjoy them so much. However, noodles and potatoes were popular. The noodles (Fusilli) submerged more frequently than potatoes. Because they are also more absorbent than potatoes, researchers believe that this is a preference for food that could better absorb yogurt.
Birds also showed more likely to eat overturned foods than eating yogurt, confirming even more than the combination, instead of only yogurt, it was desirable.
Smart birds
The observed behavior suggests advanced cognitive skills in Goffin’s caratúas. Previous investigations have shown that these birds exhibit the use of the tool, problem solving and even sequential reasoning, similar to primates. This study adds another depth layer to its cognitive capacity, indicating the ability to experiment with food combinations.
But this is where it becomes even more interesting.
The fact that only 9 of 18 Cacatúas exhibit this behavior suggests that it is an innovation instead of instinctive behavior. Interestingly, only two individuals, Kiwi and Moneypenny, demonstrated the behavior of the dune of dung in both this study and in a previous study on the manufacture of Rusk. These birds also used a different immersion technique, more similar to soaking, suggesting a possible cognitive route that leads to innovation.
But why do birds do? The researchers suspect that this is simply due to the optimization of taste: in other words, they like the taste that Yogurt brings. Another option is that this is simply a way of eating more food and improving caloric intake. For Goffin’s caratúas, who are general feeders who consume fruits, seeds and roots, experimenting with new food sources can provide an adaptive advantage.
“They ate food and yogurt and never licked yogurt before eating food, indicating their preference for the combination of both foods,” the researchers write in the study.
In any case, the fact that the caratúas do this in the first place is surprising enough. It shows advanced cognitive skills that were previously considered unique to primates.
Future research could investigate whether other highly intelligent bird species, such as African gray crows or parrots, exhibit similar behaviors. However, researchers do not recommend trying this at home.
The study was published in Current biology.
#Cockatoos #likes #immerse #food #yogurt #flavor
