Already thought to have intelligence levels similar to primates, New Zealand's kea alpine parrots might be even smarter than previously thought, a new study suggests.
The emerald green birds, which live exclusively on the country's South Island, have now been found to use tools in the wild for the first time, a skill that requires a sophisticated level of cognition, the research published on Monday in the journal Scientific Reports says.
It all started when then university student Matt Goodman found stoat traps installed in the remote Murchison Mountains had been tampered with.
Over a two-and-a-half year period sticks were found pushed into more than 200 different trap-boxes and while Goodman suspected the cheeky alpine parrots to be the culprits, proving it wasn't easy.
Kea are famous for snaffling anything they can get their hooked bill and large, strong claws into. They are known to rip holes in tents and nibble away the rubber from windscreen wipers and car doors.
The birds treated Goodman's cameras with the same appetite for destruction. Five cameras were damaged by kea and the memory cards went missing before he could finally record footage.
It showed a single kea meddling with the trap, collecting and testing sticks until it found one that set the trap off.
While a lot of birds with a high level of intelligence learn to use tools in captivity, this is the first time a study has documented it in the wild.
The finding could open doors for further study on the cognitive constraints of other animals, the researchers said.
