Study: Parrots taught to video call one another feel less lonely

Scientists have discovered that pet parrots that are allowed to make video calls to other birds exhibit signs of feeling less lonely.Giving the birds a tablet to use for video calls as part of the study led researchers to discover that they started to exhibit more social skills like preening, singing, and play. The research found that the parrots that called other birds the most frequently were the most popular options when the birds were given a choice of which "friend" to call on a touchscreen tablet.

Video interactions, according to co-author of the study and University of Glasgow doctor Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, have made numerous patients feel less alone all through the pandemic, reported The Guardian.

“There are 20 million parrots living in people’s homes in the USA, and we wanted to explore whether those birds might benefit from video calling too. If we gave them the opportunity to call other parrots, would they choose to do so, and would the experience benefit the parrots and their caregivers?” she said.

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Their investigation, which was based on more than 1,000 hours of footage of 18 pet parrots, revealed that there were in fact advantages for the birds. Many species of parrots live in big flocks in the wild, but when kept as pets, they frequently live alone or in small groups. Birds that feel alone or bored may experience psychological issues that show themselves as rocking, pacing back and forth, or even self-harming actions like plucking feathers.

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The scientists hypothesised that video calling could replicate some of the social advantages of living in a flock.

The birds were chosen from Parrot Kindergarten's users, a coaching and educational site for pet parrots and their owners. With the help of their owners, the birds initially discovered how to ring a bell before learning to touch a picture of another bird on a tablet device to make a call to that bird. Owners kept careful notes on the birds' behaviour, and the researchers afterwards watched the video of the 147 deliberate calls the birds made to one another throughout the study.

Dr Jennifer Cunha, a professor at Northeastern University and a co-founder of Parrot Kindergarten, claimed that the parrots "seemed to grasp" that they were interacting with other birds because their conduct resembled that of actual interactions.

“All the participants in the study said they valued the experience, and would want to continue using the system with their parrots in the future,” she said.

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