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Parrots are social creatures by nature. In captivity, they usually don’t have a herd to interact with, which can create major challenges in keeping them happy and healthy. However, recent research suggests that technology may help them further meet their social needs.a Led by researchers from university of glasgow Northeastern University compared the reactions of parrots when they were given the option to video chat with other birds via Meta Messenger versus when they watched a pre-recorded video. And they seem to prefer real-time conversations.
The study builds on findings from a series of small studies over the past few years. These include studies that trained pet parrots to video call each other (with human assistance) and others that taught them to play tablet games. In the latest study, nine parrot owners were given tablets to set up for their pets and then observed for six months. During that time, the parrots, who were initially introduced to each other via video chat, were able to call each other for up to three hours in a total of 12 sessions. Half of these sessions featured pre-recorded videos and the other half were live Messenger video chats.
Keepers who recorded the sessions reported that the birds seemed more engaged during the live interactions. In those scenarios, they initiated more calls and spent more time on average engaging with the other bird.
In each session, parrots are allowed up to two calls, and the researchers found that parrots chatting on Messenger hit this limit 46% of the time, compared to pre-recorded videos. I’ve found that if you’re looking at it, it’s almost half that. Overall, I spent a total of 561 minutes chatting with him on Messenger, while I only spent 142 minutes watching pre-recorded videos.
“The ‘lively’ look seems to have actually made a difference in the parrot’s screen engagement.” Dr. Ileena Hirschi-Douglas said:However, he said further research was needed before drawing any clear conclusions. “Their behavior when interacting with another live bird often mirrored their behavior with other parrots in the real world, but this was not the case in pre-recorded sessions. Still, the majority of keepers reported that both live and pre-recorded calls seemed to have a positive effect on the birds.
“The Internet has huge potential for animals to interact in new ways, but the systems we build to help them do so are limited to their specific It should be designed based on your needs and your physical and mental capabilities,” he said. Hirschi Douglas. “Research like this could help lay the foundation for a truly animal-centric internet.”