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How do keas (Nestor notabilis) solve artificial-fruit problems with multiple locks?

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Abstract

Keas, a species of parrots from New Zealand, are an interesting species for comparative studies of problem solving and cognition because they are known not only for efficient capacities for object manipulation but also for explorative and playful behaviors. To what extent are they efficient or explorative, and what cognitive abilities do they use? We examined how keas would solve several versions of artificial-fruit box problems having multiple locks. After training keas to remove a metal rod from over a Plexiglas lid that had to be opened, we exposed the birds to a variety of tasks having two or more locks. We also introduced a preview phase during which the keas had extended opportunity to look at the tasks before the experimenter allowed the birds to solve them, to examine whether the preview phase would facilitate the birds’ performance on the tasks. In a large number of tests, the keas showed a strong trend to solve the tasks with no positive effect of previewing the tasks. When the tasks became complex, however, the keas corrected inappropriate responses more quickly when they had had chance to preview the problems than when they had not. The results suggest that the keas primarily used explorative strategies in solving the lock problems but might have obtained some information about the tasks before starting to solve them. This may reflect a good compromise of keas’ trial-and-error tendency and their good cognitive ability that result from a selection pressure they have faced in their natural habitat.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Research Fellowship of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for Young Scientists to Hiromitsu Miyata, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) Grant P19087-B17 (to Ludwig Huber), the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research Nos. 17300085 and 20220004 from JSPS to Kazuo Fujita, and by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science, and Technology (MEXT) Global COE Program, D-07, to Kyoto University. The experiments adhered to the Austrian law of animal keeping and research. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Kyoto University, Yoshida-Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8501, Japan

    Hiromitsu Miyata & Kazuo Fujita

  2. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Hiromitsu Miyata

  3. Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Gyula K. Gajdon & Ludwig Huber

  4. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Gyula K. Gajdon

Authors
  1. Hiromitsu Miyata
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  2. Gyula K. Gajdon
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  3. Ludwig Huber
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  4. Kazuo Fujita
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Correspondence to Hiromitsu Miyata.

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Miyata, H., Gajdon, G.K., Huber, L. et al. How do keas (Nestor notabilis) solve artificial-fruit problems with multiple locks?. Anim Cogn 14, 45–58 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-010-0342-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-010-0342-9

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