VIDEO CALL BETWEEN TWO PARROTS MAKES THEM FEEL LESS LONELY: STUDY

Mon 24 Apr 2023:

A new study found that, pet parrots who are permitted to make video calls to other birds show symptoms of feeling less lonely.

Researchers found that when the birds were given a tablet to use for video chats as part of the study, they began to display more social behaviors like preening, singing, and play.

The study discovered that when offered a choice of which “friend” to call on a touchscreen tablet, the parrots that called other birds the most frequently chose those selections.

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?”

They found that there were benefits for the birds in their analysis, which was based on more than 1,000 hours of video of 18 pet parrots. When maintained as pets, parrots usually live alone or in small groups despite the fact that many species of them naturally dwell in large flocks. When a bird feels lonely or bored, their psychological problems may manifest as rocking, pacing, or even self-harming behaviors like plucking feathers.

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.

The behavior of the parrots “seemed to grasp” that they were interacting with other birds, according to Dr. Jennifer Cunha, a professor at Northeastern University and co-founder of Parrot Kindergarten.

“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

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent