Keas are apparently even smarter than their widespread notoriety as thieves and vandals would suggest.
New Zealand’s mischievous and cunning kea parrots have been found to be able to plan their moves ahead of time, especially when it comes to acquiring food.
A researcher at Japan’s Kyoto University presented some of the birds with boxes of food secured with up to three bolts. The birds managed to handily unlock all of them.
To complicate the task, Hiromitsu Miyata arranged the locks so one needed to be opened before the second would release.
Miyata found that the birds could solve this challenge faster if they could see and study the arrangement before being allowed to tackle it.
He says this suggests they are able to plan their moves, rather than grappling with problems in a haphazard fashion as earlier believed.
Miyata’s study is published in the journal Animal Cognition.
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