{"id":35931,"date":"2022-11-09T19:24:56","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T01:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=35931"},"modified":"2025-10-19T22:21:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T03:21:20","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"African
Griffin plays with bottle caps. Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Approximately a year ago, I wrote about a study on contrafreeloading<\/a><\/span> that one of my students, Gabriella Smith, had done with The Alex Foundation<\/em> for her MA work at Hunter College. Contrafreeloading is extremely interesting because it is pretty much unexpected\u2014it involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free, and why would anyone work for something if they didn\u2019t need to do so?<\/p>\n

Well, a range of species engage in this behavior to some extent; we hypothesized that it would occur if the task actually is something fun so that the subjects get the double reward of doing something they enjoy and<\/em> getting some food they would also like. Indeed, we found that African grey parrots would engage in contrafreeloading when they view the task not as work but rather as some kind of play (Smith et al., 2021).<\/p>\n

We tested Griffin and Athena in our lab, Pepper and Franco (companion African greys to the Hartsfields, birds who have also been tested in some of our previous experiments), and Lucci (a companion African grey to one of our research assistants) and used two tasks: Experiment 1 involved a small container that could have a loosely attached lid that the parrot could flip off in order to receive a reward. Treats (sometimes of equal desirability and sometimes of differing desirability) were placed in covered or uncovered cups; the latter were “free.”<\/p>\n

Experiment 2 involved the choice between a nut still in its shell (i.e., one that required some work to obtain) and an already shelled, “free” nut. The first experiment was “artificial,” in the sense that the specific conditions would never be experienced in nature. The second was “ecological,” in that it reproduced something African grey parrots face in their daily lives in the wild.<\/p>\n

To sum up and repeat what we found: What was clear was that for Griffin, lid-popping was fun\u2014he would even pop a lid on an empty container in preference to eating a less favored treat!\u2014and cracking nutshells was work. But the opposite was true for Athena and Franco, who consistently avoided lids but chose the nut with the shell. Pepper didn\u2019t much enjoy lid-popping either; she and Lucci also thought nutshell cracking was work. Interestingly, it was also<\/em> clear that all four birds in Experiment 1 (Lucci did only Experiment 2) were willing to work a bit (i.e., pop a lid) if it meant getting a more favored food than the food they could have for free (what we called \u201ccalculated contrafreeloading\u201d).<\/p>\n

Kea’s Come Into the Mix<\/h3>\n
\"Green
A kea parrot plays with a tourist’s windshield wiper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the research didn\u2019t end there. Smith had attended a conference where she fortuitously met some researchers who study kea\u2014fortuitously, because kea parrots are purportedly much more playful birds than African grey parrots (e.g., Auersperg et al., 2014; Diamond & Bond, 2004). What if we gave the same tasks to the kea? We hypothesized that, being more playful, they would contrafreeload overall more than the Greys. We were partially correct.<\/p>\n

We found that, at the group level, although the overall amounts of kea classic contrafreeloading were nonsignificant (to be expected, given that the behavior is basically unlikely and fairly rare\u2014see Menzel, 1991 and Smith et al., 2021), as a percentage of behavior, kea generally contrafreeloaded more than Grey parrots in Experiment 1, whereas the opposite was true for Experiment 2. It turned out that none <\/em>of the kea chose to crack the shell of the nut (Smith et al., 2022)!<\/p>\n

Differing Results<\/h3>\n

Why was there such a difference in behavior for Experiment 2? Well, we had decided to give the kea the exact same tasks as the African greys so that we could perform a direct comparison of their actions; however, it turns out that kea parrots, although they are indeed playful and eat a very wide variety of foods (Diamond & Bond, 2004), rarely if ever crack nuts in nature! So, the task was not<\/em> ecologically valid for them\u2014not something they would normally do; maybe they didn\u2019t even recognize the shell as something that contained food.<\/p>\n

Should we have used some activity that was more natural for them, like scrounging? This question is typical of some of the difficult decisions that have to be made when doing an experiment\u2014had we used a more ecologically relevant task for the kea, they probably would have engaged in it more, but then we wouldn\u2019t have had a direct comparison with the African greys. The solution is that, at some point, we\u2014or some other laboratory\u2014will have to run a separate experiment on kea parrots, using a truly ecologically relevant task, to see what will happen.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A wild cockatoo works on cracking a nut.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For now, we are re-running Experiment 2 with some cockatoos that live in a sanctuary near the home of one of my undergraduates. The reason is that cockatoos are also purportedly more playful than African greys (Auersperg et al., 2014) and<\/em> routinely shell nuts. We\u2019ll report the data when we complete our analyses, but it looks as though the cockatoos are more like the Greys,\u2014that some enjoy nut-cracking and will contrafreeload, whereas others do not (Carroll et al., in prep).<\/p>\n

In any case, we think we have provided some decent data to show that contrafreeloading, which really shouldn\u2019t actually occur at all, will<\/em> happen if the subject finds the task at least somewhat enjoyable. Hey\u2026think about all the humans who spend time with video games, where the only \u2018reward\u2019 is likely some flashing lights that they could also likely see for free!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auersperg, A.M.I., Oswald, N., Domanegg, M., Gajdon, G.K. & Bugnyar, T. (2014). Unrewarded object combinations in captive parrots. Anim. Behav. Cogn. 1<\/em>, 470-488.<\/p>\n

Carroll, A, Gray, S.L, & Pepperberg, I.M. (in prep). Contrafreeloading in cockatoos.<\/p>\n

Diamond, J. & Bond, A.B. (2004). Social play in kaka (Nestor meridionalis<\/em>) with comparisons to kea (Nestor notabilis<\/em>). Behaviour<\/em>, 141<\/em>, 777\u2013798 (2004).<\/p>\n

Menzel, E.W. (1991). Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes<\/em>): Problem seeking versus the bird-in-hand, least-effort strategy. Primates<\/em>, 32<\/em>, 497\u2013508.<\/p>\n

Smith, G.E., Bastos, A.P.M., Taylor, A.H., & Pepperberg, I.M., (2022). Contrafreeloading in kea (Nestor notabilis<\/em>) in comparison to Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus<\/em>). Sci. Rpts. <\/em>12:17415<\/p>\n

Smith, G.E., Greene, D., Hartsfield, L.A., & Pepperberg, I.M. (2021). Initial evidence for contrafreeloading in Grey parrots via the opportunity for playful foraging. J. Comp. Psychol.<\/em> 135<\/em>, 516-533 doi: 10.1037com0000295.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":35934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,211,171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-editor-choice","category-everyday"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"headline\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1104,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Behavior\",\"Editor Choice\",\"Everyday\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/\",\"name\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\"},\"description\":\"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/11\\\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1333,\"caption\":\"Photo by Umar Kashif on Unsplash\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds\",\"description\":\"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d\",\"name\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lafeber.com\\\/pet-birds\\\/author\\\/irene\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","description":"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","og_description":"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.","og_url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/","og_site_name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","article_published_time":"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/"},"author":{"name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"headline":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots","datePublished":"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/"},"wordCount":1104,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg","articleSection":["Behavior","Editor Choice","Everyday"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/","name":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots – Pet Birds by Lafeber Co.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-10T01:24:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-20T03:21:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d"},"description":"In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg tells us about a study in which African greys Griffin and Athena, along with a few companion greys, were tested to see if they would work for food just for the fun of it. The study centered on the concept of \u201ccontrafreeloading\u201d and involves working for food that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Interestingly, the same experiment was done with wild Kea parrots. See the different outcomes, as well as what parrot species is next in line to be put to the contrafreeloading test.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/umar-kashif-LpmbQQ7DUos-unsplash.jpg","width":2000,"height":1333,"caption":"Photo by Umar Kashif on Unsplash"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-comparing-contrafreeloading-in-kea-grey-parrots\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Comparing Contrafreeloading In Kea And Grey Parrots"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/","name":"Lafeber\u00ae Pet Birds","description":"Two Generations of Veterinarians Caring & Working for the Health of Animals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/#\/schema\/person\/e2384637ed0fac4b764f548a0441622d","name":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pepperberg3crop-96x96.jpg","caption":"Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D."},"description":"Dr. Irene Pepperberg is a lecturer and research associate at\u00a0Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her research lab is located. You can help Dr. Pepperberg continue the groundbreaking parrot research she began more than 30 years ago with Alex, the African grey parrot who won admirers from around the world with his cognitive abilities. If you shop online through sites such as Amazon.com, you can designate the Alex Foundation to receive a percentage of your final sales, or register with the Alex Foundation at iGive.com and a percentage of sales from companies associated with iGive will go to the foundation. The Alex Foundation also has a \u201cDonate\u201d button linked to PayPal. Visit\u00a0The Alex Foundation\u00a0and click on the \u201cSupport Us\u201d link for more information. Read more about the lab at The Alex Foundation Facebook page and at The Alex Foundation Twitter account.","url":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/author\/irene\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35931"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45648,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35931\/revisions\/45648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}