When I made a video call to my pet parrot...

A unique study has found that pet parrots enjoy communicating with other parrots through video calls using smartphones or tablet PCs.

On the 21st (local time), according to the US New York Times (NYT) and the UK Guardian, research teams from Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted a three-month study involving 18 pet parrots. They first recruited participating parrots through an online education and coaching program for parrots and their owners called 'Parrot Kindergarten.'

Pet parrots participating in the study making video calls
[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

Before starting the main research, the parrots involved learned that if they wanted to make a video call, they had to ring a bell placed in their nest. When a parrot rang the bell, the owner showed a screen displaying photos of other parrots, allowing the parrot to choose the one they wanted to call.

After learning how to make video calls, the parrots showed interest in the calls and gradually called their friends more frequently. During the three-month study period, the birds made a total of 147 video calls according to their own will. The research team collected and analyzed over 1,000 hours of video footage.

The effects of the video calls were remarkable. During the calls, the parrots sang songs, played pranks, and even showed their toys to other birds.

Because parrots have high intelligence, they desire social relationships and emotional stimulation, and video calls fulfilled these needs.

Additionally, the participating parrots exhibited a 'mirror effect' by imitating each other's behaviors; when one bird preened its feathers or sang, the other watching birds responded by mimicking those actions. Some birds quickly formed special friendships.

The parrots' owners unanimously said, "(After the video calls) the birds became calmer and appeared more confident." The research team stated, "All recruited birds participated in the designed call method, and most showed strong motivation and purpose. All owners reported that video calls were beneficial."

They added, "Some owners said this experiment was a transformative experience for their pet birds because by seeing other birds through video calls, they learned how to find food and how to fly."

However, the research team also cautioned about the video calls for birds. They emphasized that "since video calls could potentially raise ethical issues, all video calls should be conducted thoughtfully," stressing that birds must be given the choice and their happiness should be prioritized.

This research was also presented at the 'Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2023)' hosted by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in the United States.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.