Captive parrots seem to enjoy video chatting with friends on Messenger

Parrots are inherently social creatures. In captivity, where they typically don't have a herd to interact with, this can present real challenges in keeping them happy and healthy. But recent research suggests technology could help them meet more of their social needs. A led by researchers from University of Glasgow and Northeastern University compared parrots' responses when given the option to video chat with other birds through Meta's Messenger rather than watching pre-recorded videos. And it seems they have a preference for real-time conversations.

The research builds on findings from a series of small studies conducted over the past few years, including one in which the team trained pet parrots to make video calls with each other (with human assistance) and another in which they were taught to play games on tablets. During the latter, nine parrot owners were given tablets to install for their pets, who were then observed for six months. Meanwhile, the parrots – who initially met via video chat – were able to chat with each other for up to three hours over a total of 12 sessions. Half of these sessions featured pre-recorded videos, while the other half were live video chats on Messenger.

Their caregivers, who recorded the sessions, reported that the birds seemed more engaged during the live interactions. They made more calls in these scenarios and spent more time on average interacting with the birds on the other end.

During each session, the parrots were allowed to make up to two calls, and the researchers found that those chatting on Messenger reached that limit 46% of the time, compared to almost half when watching pre-recorded videos. In total, they spent 561 minutes video chatting on Messenger, compared to just 142 minutes watching the pre-recorded videos.

“The appearance of ‘liveness’ really seems to make a difference in how engaged parrots are with their screens,” said Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, while noting that further study would be needed before definitive conclusions could be drawn. “Their behavior when interacting with another live bird often reflected behaviors they would exhibit with other parrots in real life, which was not the case in the pre-recorded sessions.” Still, caregivers mostly reported that both live and pre-recorded calls appeared to have a positive impact on the birds.

“The Internet holds great potential to give animals the ability to interact with each other in new ways, but the systems we build to help them do this must be designed around their specific needs and physical capabilities and mental health,” said Dr. Hirskyj-Douglas. “Studies like this could help lay the foundation for a truly animal-centric Internet.” »