PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Clever cockatoos learn through social interaction

World-first research proves 'cockies' learn unique bin-opening behavior by copying others

2021-07-22
(Press-News.org) For the first time, a team of international scientists have proven that cockatoos, an iconic Australian bird species, learn from each other a unique skill - lifting garbage bin lids to gather food. The world-first research published today in Science, confirms that cockatoos spread this novel behavior through social learning. Led by Barbara Klump and Lucy Aplin (Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior), along with John Martin (Taronga Conservation Society) and Richard Major (Australian Museum), the team have shown that this behavior by cockatoos is actually learnt, rather than a result of genetics.

Lead co-author, Barbara Klump, said social learning is the basis of different regional cultures, and some animals, such as primates and birds, appear to learn socially. "Children are masters of social learning. From an early age, they copy skills from other children and adults. However, compared to humans, there are few known examples of animals learning from each other," Klump said.

"Demonstrating that food scavenging behavior is not due to genetics is a challenge," Klump added.

However, a few years ago, Richard Major shared a video with senior author Lucy Aplin, showing a sulphur-crested cockatoo opening a closed garbage bin. The cockatoo used its beak and foot to lift the heavy lid then shuffled along the side to flip it over, accessing a rich reward of leftover food.

Aplin, who was then researching at Oxford University and has since moved to the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, and Klump were fascinated by the footage.

"It was so exciting to observe such an ingenious and innovative way to access a food resource, we knew immediately that we had to systematically study this unique foraging behavior," Klump said.

Major, a Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum Research Institute, has spent more than 20 years studying Australian bird species such as the noisy minor, the infamous 'bin-chicken' ibis and cockatoos.

"Like many Australian birds, sulphur-crested cockatoos are loud and aggressive and often act like a pack of galahs. But they are also incredibly smart, persistent and have adapted brilliantly to living with humans," Major said.

John Martin a Research Scientist at Taronga Conservation Society, who has worked alongside Major on many urban bird projects, explained how the research was conducted. "Australian garbage bins have a uniform design across the country, and sulphur-crested cockatoos are common across the entire east coast. The first thing we wanted to find out is if cockatoos open bins everywhere."

"In 2018, we launched an online survey in various areas across Sydney and Australia with questions such as, 'What area are you from, have you seen this behavior before, and if so, when?' The survey ran for two years and helped us determine how the behavior spread to other cockatoos in Sydney. Importantly we'll be continuing this survey in 2021," Martin said.

By the end of 2019, residents from 44 areas had observed the bin-opening behavior, showing that it had spread rapidly and widely. Further analysis of the survey results showed that the behavior reached neighboring districts more quickly than districts further away, indicating that the new behavior wasn't popping up randomly across Sydney.

"These results show the animals really learned the behavior from other cockatoos in their vicinity," Klump said.

The researchers also marked around 500 cockatoos with small paint dots at three selected hot spots to enable the identification of individual birds, allowing the researchers to observe which birds could open bins. It turned out that only around ten percent could do so, most of which were males. The rest waited until the "pioneers" opened the garbage bins to then help themselves.

There was one exception, however: in late 2018, a cockatoo in northern Sydney reinvented the scavenging technique itself. Birds in neighboring districts then copied the behavior.

"We observed that the birds do not open the garbage bins in the same way, but rather used different opening techniques in different suburbs, suggesting that the behavior is learned by observing others," Klump said.

The scientists interpreted the results as an emergence of regional subcultures.

The scientists hope that their findings will also generate a broader understanding of urban living animals.

"By studying this behavior with the help of local residents, we are uncovering the unique and complex cultures of their neighborhood birds," Klump said.

INFORMATION:

Martin said Sydney and Australian residents can continue to help the research by participating in the Bin-Opening Survey and Big City Birds citizen science programs. The citizen science programs can be accessed at these links: Bin-Opening Survey; Big City Birds.

This research was funded by grants from the National Geographic Society and the Max Planck Society.

Original publication: Innovation and geographic spread of a complex foraging culture in an urban parrot. Barbara C. Klump, John M. Martin, Sonja Wild, Jana K. Hörsch, Richard E. Major and Lucy M. Aplin.
Science; 23 July, 2021



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

InSight mission: Mars unveils its inner structures

2021-07-22
Based on a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the SEIS very broadband seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA's InSight mission reveals the internal structure of Mars. The three studies published July 23 in Science, involving many co-authors from French institutions and laboratories, including CNRS, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université de Paris, and supported by CNES and ANR, reveal, for the first time and thanks to the analysis of seismic waves, reflected and modified by these internal interfaces, an estimate of the size of the core, the thickness of the crust and the mantle structure. This is the first ...

Study on chromosomal rearrangements in yeast reveals potential avenue for cancer therapy

Study on chromosomal rearrangements in yeast reveals potential avenue for cancer therapy
2021-07-22
Osaka, Japan - Gross chromosomal rearrangements--where portions of the genome become moved, deleted, or inverted--can lead to cell death and diseases such as cancer in complex multicellular organisms. However, the details of how exactly these occur remain unknown. Now, studies in a single-celled organism called fission yeast have found evidence for the involvement of a protein called Rad8. When DNA replicates or repairs itself, three copies of a protein called PCNA bind together and form a ring-like structure surrounding the DNA strand. This ring structure acts like a clamp and slides along the DNA strand. The team showed that Rad8 attaches ...

Global warming may limit spread of dengue fever, new research finds

2021-07-22
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Infection with dengue virus makes mosquitoes more sensitive to warmer temperatures, according to new research led by Penn State researchers. The team also found that infection with the bacterium Wolbachia, which has recently been used to control viral infections in mosquitoes, also increases the thermal sensitivity of the insects. The findings suggest that global warming could limit the spread of dengue fever but could also limit the effectiveness of Wolbachia as a biological control agent. "Dengue fever, a potentially lethal disease for which no treatment exists, is caused by a virus, spread by the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. This mosquito is also responsible ...

NASA InSight Lander's seismic observations reveal the interior of mars

2021-07-22
NOTICE: This summary has been updated to correct misspellings of the last names of both Perspective authors. The Perspective authors are Sanne Cottaar and Paula Koelemeijer. We apologize for our error. The first direct seismic observations from NASA's InSight lander, presented in three studies in this issue, provide clues to the composition of Mars. Researchers across these studies report preliminary findings from the Insight mission and begin to map - for the first time - the interior of a planet apart from Earth. "These three studies provide important constraints on the present-day structure of Mars and are also key for improving our understanding of how the planet formed billions of years ago and ...

Trash-bin foragers: Innovation and spread of complex culture in suburban parrots

2021-07-22
In the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos routinely loot lidded household waste bins to scavenge for food. In a new study, researchers document the emergence and geographic spread of innovative bin-opening behaviors in urban parrot populations, revealing the presence of a complex social learning culture in these birds. What's more, this behavior appears to have emerged as a direct response to land-use change and urbanization, demonstrating how animal cultures could allow for local adaptation of urban animal populations in the Anthropocene. In animals, ecological novelty, including novelties unique ...

A case for intranasal COVID-19 vaccinations

2021-07-22
Of the nearly 100 SARS-CoV-2 vaccines currently undergoing clinical trials, only seven are delivered intranasally - despite this vaccine type's long success in providing protection from influenza. In a Perspective, Frances Lund and Troy Randall argue that intranasal vaccines could be beneficial in the continued fight against COVID-19, especially considering respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 predominantly enter the nasal passage first. Currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines are delivered via intramuscular injection, where they elicit systemic immune responses and central immune memory. While several ...

Spontaneous retinal waves simulate optical flow before neonatal mice can see

2021-07-22
Like dreaming of walking through a world they've not yet experienced, the retinas of neonatal mice practice for what mature eyes must later process by generating spontaneous patterns of activity that mimic the perception of directional movement through space, according to a new study. Essential functions in the mammalian visual system, including the ability to locate objects and detect motion, are present even at the first onset of vision. Optic flow, the perceived relative motion of objects and surfaces that seemingly stream by a field of vision during movement, is one of these functions. However, how the visual system organizes its functional characteristics before visual sensory experience is even possible remains unclear. ...

Mars: Scientists determine crustal thickness

Mars: Scientists determine crustal thickness
2021-07-22
Based on the analysis of marsquakes recorded by NASA's InSight mission, the structure of Mars's crust has now been determined in absolute numbers for the first time. Beneath the InSight landing site, the crust is either approximately 20 or 39 kilometres thick. That is the result of an international research team led by geophysicist Dr Brigitte Knapmeyer-Endrun at the University of Cologne's Institute of Geology and Mineralogy and Dr Mark Panning at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech). InSight stands for 'Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport'. NASA's lander, which ...

Global approach is needed on battery regulation

Global approach is needed on battery regulation
2021-07-22
New European Union regulations on batteries could offer a huge boost to the global decarbonisation mission - but only if it leverages its political and economic weight to ensure a fairer global marketplace. According to a team of scientists and researchers writing in Science, the new regulations, due to come into force from January 2022, have the potential to unify policy on approaches such as recycling, use of recycled raw materials, and creating a circular economy. Contributing to the study were experts at Newcastle University, the University of Birmingham, Circular Energy Storage Research and Consulting, ...

Eyes wide shut: How newborn mammals dream the world they're entering

2021-07-22
As a newborn mammal opens its eyes for the first time, it can already make visual sense of the world around it. But how does this happen before they have experienced sight? A new Yale study suggests that, in a sense, mammals dream about the world they are about to experience before they are even born. Writing in the July 23 issue of Science, a team led by Michael Crair, the William Ziegler III Professor of Neuroscience and professor of ophthalmology and visual science, describes waves of activity that emanate from the neonatal retina in mice before their eyes ever open. This activity disappears soon after birth and is replaced by a more mature network of neural transmissions ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

Study flips treatment paradigm in bilateral Wilms tumor, shows resistance to chemotherapy may point toward favorable outcomes

Doctors received approximately $12.1 billion from drug and device makers between 2013-2022

[Press-News.org] Clever cockatoos learn through social interaction
World-first research proves 'cockies' learn unique bin-opening behavior by copying others