{"id":41294,"date":"2024-09-24T00:05:09","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T05:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/?p=41294"},"modified":"2026-01-06T11:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:36:53","slug":"inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-greys-vs-umbrella-cockatoos-who-likes-to-work-for-their-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/inside-dr-pepperbergs-lab-greys-vs-umbrella-cockatoos-who-likes-to-work-for-their-food\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Dr. Pepperberg’s Lab: Greys Vs. Umbrella Cockatoos \u2014 Who Likes To Work For Their Food?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"African
Dr. Pepperberg’s African greys were compared to kea parrots and cockatoos to see which were most inclined to contrafreeload. Courtesy of Dr. Irene Pepperberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An ongoing topic of study in our lab has been contrafreeloading <\/strong>\u2014 working for food (or, in the case of humans, some other reward) that could simultaneously be obtained for free. Contrafreeloading is pretty much unexpected and any evidence of it is remarkable (Menzel, 1991): Why would anyone work for something if they didn\u2019t need to do so? As it turns out, almost every species tested \u2014 except domestic cats! \u2014 contrafreeloads to some extent, depending on the task and the individual.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, I wrote about our study comparing contrafreeloading in African greys and kea parrots.<\/a> For those of who have not read that blog, I\u2019ll summarize briefly. The main point is that the task is quite “conditional”: A particular individual may contrafreeload on one task but not another, and (as we\u2019ll see shortly) the type of task may be species-related.<\/p>\n

One of my students, Gabriella Smith, proposed that contrafreeloading in nonhumans would be more likely to occur if the task is\u00a0fun so that the subjects get the double reward of doing something they enjoy and<\/em> getting some food they would also like (Smith et al., 2021). We tested her theory with several African grey parrots and found that, as hypothesized, considerable individual variation existed both among birds and tasks \u2014 what some birds thought was fun, others viewed as work and avoided the effort.<\/p>\n

Kea Parrots Added To The Mix<\/h3>\n
\"kea
New Zealand’s kea parrots are known for their playfulness and curious nature. Does that make them more likely to contrafreeload? It depends on the task. Photo by Barni1\/Pixabay<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She then had the idea and the opportunity to work with colleagues from New Zealand to test whether an ostensibly more playful species, the kea parrot, would be more likely to contrafreeload. Again, our hypothesis was somewhat supported \u2014 the kea had considerable individual variation and contrafreeloaded a bit more than the African greys on one task (involving popping lids from small cups), but pretty much completely refused to contrafreeload on a task involving de-shelling a nut (Smith et al., 2022).<\/p>\n

In the wild, kea parrots do not de-shell nuts, but we chose the task so that we would have a direct comparison with the African greys, and because we thought that, as a novel task, kea might find it interesting and fun. Unfortunately, such was not the case.<\/p>\n

In Come The Cockatoos<\/h3>\n
\"Umbrella
Umbrella cockatoo Poly makes a choice during contrafreeloading. Image courtesy Dr. Irene Pepperberg.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But what if we could work with a playful species for whom nut-shelling was<\/em> a common behavior? And where would we find enough subjects to do a meaningful study? Well, as it turned out, during COVID one of my other students, Alana Carroll, had taken a year\u2019s leave of absence from Harvard and worked part-time at a parrot rescue \u2014 where they had four umbrella cockatoos!<\/p>\n

No scientific studies had evaluated their playfulness, but she had worked with them for a year, reviewed lots of online videos that showed extensive playful behavior, and we found that they are closely related to other cockatoos who had<\/em> been studied and whose playfulness was documented (Auersberg et al., 2014, 2015). Upon her return to school, we contacted the facility, and they agreed to let her test these birds during holiday and intersession breaks. How would these birds behave?<\/p>\n

The data she collected only partially supported our hypothesis (Caroll & Pepperberg, 2024). We did see, as expected, great individual variation: One cockatoo, Poly, contrafreeloaded almost 71% of the time, whereas another, JJ, barely did so at all, at 4% of trials. Teddy Bear was at 25%, and Dudley was close to 58%. However, in terms of the overall relative amounts of contrafreeloading, no significant difference existed between the African greys and the cockatoos; nevertheless, more of the cockatoos contrafreeloaded at over 50% than occurred for the African greys.<\/p>\n

Issues In Testing<\/h3>\n

Interestingly, some issues may have affected the cockatoos\u2019 responses that were not present for the greys. The first involved housing conditions; the second involved possible boredom.<\/p>\n

Unlike the African greys, who were all individually housed \u2014 though all could interact with other parrots \u2014 Dudley and JJ had arrived at the rescue co-housed and were kept in that situation. Dudley was clearly the dominant bird, and on occasion had stolen JJ\u2019s reward (which was replaced). We surmise that JJ\u2019s low level of contrfreeloading therefore might have been a consequence of his being the subordinate bird: Choosing the already de-shelled nut and eating it quickly made the most sense. If he took the nut with the shell and had to spend time de-shelling it, Dudley would have a chance to steal it! And even though Dudley was dominant, maybe he thought JJ might try to steal his nut, which could be a reason for his not contrafreeloading extensively.\u00a0 Of course, Teddy Bear, who was not co-housed, didn\u2019t contrafreeload all that much. Maybe, unlike Poly, he and Dudley just weren\u2019t all that interested in the task.<\/p>\n

As for boredom: Well, Poly, the one bird that did contrafreeload extensively, decreased her behavior at a statistically significant rate after about two-thirds of the sessions had been completed. Maybe she became tired of the task? Moreover, at the same time, she started to want to interact with Alana a lot more, apparently losing interest in the food overall in favor of social interaction.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, given that contrafreeloading is a behavior that is not expected to exist at all, our findings are of considerable interest. We wonder if we could find a task that the cockatoos \u2014 or other birds \u2014 might enjoy more, and if that might affect the results?<\/p>\n

A Foraging Lesson For Us<\/h3>\n

As for the take-home message for our companion animals \u2014 given that contrafreeloading and foraging behavior in captivity are related \u2014 don\u2019t give up if your parrot doesn\u2019t like the first foraging toy you provide; keep trying! You might simply have not found the one your bird finds enjoyable.<\/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<\/a>. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 1(4), 470\u2013488. <\/em><\/p>\n

Auersperg, A. M. I., van Horik, J. O., Bugnyar, T., Kacelnik, A., Emery, N. J., & von Bayern, A. M. P. (2015). Combinatory actions during object play in psittaciformes (Diopsittaca nobilis, Pionites melanocephala, Cacatua goffini) and corvids (Corvus corax, C monedula, C moneduloides)<\/a>. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 129(1), 62\u201371.<\/em><\/p>\n

Carroll, A., & Pepperberg, I.M. (2024). Contrafreeloading in umbrella cockatoos (Cacatua alba): Further evaluation of the play hypothesis<\/a>. Advance online publication. <\/em><\/p>\n

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

Smith, G. E., Bastos, A. P. M., Chodorow, M., Taylor, A. H., & Pepperberg, I. M. (2022). Contrafreeloading in kea (Nestor notabilis) in comparison to Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)<\/a>. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 17415. <\/em><\/p>\n

Smith, G. E., Greene, D., Hartsfield, L. A., & Pepperberg, I. M. (2021). Initial evidence for eliciting contrafreeloading in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) via the opportunity for playful foraging<\/a>. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 135(4), 516\u2013533. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In her latest blog, Dr. Irene Pepperberg dishes on a recently published study that shows African greys, keas, and umbrella cockatoos have quirky personalities when it comes to contrafreeloading \u2014 working for food! Results varied based on tasks, housing, and even boredom levels!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":26294,"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":[169],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside Dr. Pepperberg's Lab: Greys Vs. 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Umbrella Cockatoos \u2014 Who Likes To Work For Their Food?"}]},{"@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\/41294","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=41294"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41294\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41965,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41294\/revisions\/41965"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lafeber.com\/pet-birds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}