Who’s a hungry boy then? Flock of parrots waste no time finishing an unattended chocolate milkshake

By SARA MALM

Sweet treat: The company of parrots descended on a cafe table where a chocolate milkshake had been left unattended

Sharing was not part of the agenda for this colourful parrot as it claimed ownership of a tasty milkshake.
The lorikeet and its company descended on a café in Queensland, Australia where the chocolate drink had been left unattended for a few seconds too long.
Although the parrot tried its best to fight off fellow milkshake fans, it was forced to relent when a whole flock of birds joined in for a sip.

My milkshake! Only the bravest of parrots would dare come between this lorikeet and its drink as the colourful company fought over the chocolate treat

The shake thieves were caught in the act by British holidaymaker Keith Doxsey who had bought the drink for his nephew.
The colourful group of rainbow lorikeets seized the opportunity after the shake was left on its own for just a minute and a handful of parrots soon turned into a company of 30.

Sharing is caring: The lorikeets tuck in to the milkshake at a cafe in Queensland, Australia

Less than ten minutes later, the lorikeets had finished off the milkshake.
Keith Doxsey was visiting The Polish Cafe in Queensland, Australia with his wife Katrina when the parrots attacked his nephew's treat.
He said: ‘The birds just appeared out of nowhere not more than 60 seconds after my nephew had put the drink down.'

Chocolate shake shared: The parrots looking pleased after they have polished off the drink

source: dailymail

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Who's a clever boy then? How parrots can solve problems that defeated monkeys and dogs

By FIONA MACRAE

Problem solving parrot: The birds did as well as three-year-old children in the tests

It's been assumed up to now that parrots are only capable of learning, er, parrot fashion. But it seems these birds are far smarter than we thought.
In a test that puzzled monkeys and defeated dogs, parrots have passed with flying colours.
Indeed, so tricky were the mental processes involved, that only great apes and, of course, humans, have succeeded before.
The test was taken by three male and three female African greys from a rescue centre. Pieces of walnut were hidden inside one of two opaque containers.

One or both was then shaken and the birds, which are used to the idea of the containers holding treats, used their beak to upend the one with the hidden walnut 70 to 80 per cent of the time.
This suggests they were able to link the rattling of the walnut pieces with the presence of food.
And perhaps, more importantly, when just the empty container was shaken, to realise the lack of noise meant the treat must be in the other tube.
The University of Vienna team which carried out the research said the results were remarkable, adding that the parrots did as well as three-year-old children.
Researcher Dr Christian Schloegl told the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: ‘Such behaviour has so far been shown only in great apes but not in any other non-human animal.’

source: dailymail

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Why right-footed parrots are the odd ones out in bird kingdom

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Best foot forward: Research has found that parrots favour their left side


Not only can parrots talk, it appears they share another human trait – they are also right or left-handed, or in their case footed.

And the majority of them favour their left side.
Researchers studied 320 parrots from 16 Australian species to see which eye they used to view potential foods.

They found that roughly 47 per cent were left handed, 33 per cent right handed, and the remainder ambidextrous.

In addition, in some cases young birds appeared to experiment with both sides before finally settling on one.

Dr Calum Brown, from Macquarie University, Sydney, who led the study, said: ‘Basically, you get this very close relationship with the eye that they use to view the object and then the hand that they use to grasp it, and it’s very consistent across all the species except a couple.

‘In some species, they’re so strongly right or left handed at the species level that there’s effectively no variation.

'With sulphur-crested cockatoos - every single individual we've seen is left-handed. But when you see the juveniles which have just fledged, they're experimenting with both hands, all the time.

'They eventually settle on using their left hands.'

The idea of handedness in humans is tied to the use of one hemisphere of the brain over another, known as 'lateralisation'. In the case of the parrots, this appeared to be an advantage regardless of whether the left or the right side dominated.

'"It's quite obvious that in terms of direct foraging, as well as more complicated problem-solving situations, that if you're very strongly lateralised, irrespective of whether you're right or left handed, you tend to be better at this sort of task.'

Dr Brown added that lateralisation allowed much more efficiency, the way a computer with two processors can do two things simultaneously and effectively multi-task.

'We think that's possibly what's going on with parrots,' he said.
The study is published in Biological Letters.

source: dailymail

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He squawked! Lorenzo the lookout parrot becomes a jailbird after he's arrested for warning drug cartel that police were on the way

By DAVID GARDNER

Behind bars: Lorenzo the lookout parrot, who was tried to say: 'Run, run, the cat is going to get you!' every time police came near a drug cartel's hideout


Lorenzo the parrot is facing life behind bars in Colombia after being caught squawking on the police for a drug cartel.

Every time a police officer came close to the traffickers’ headquarters, the bird was trained to scream in Spanish: ‘Run, run, the cat is going to get you!’

Police trying to shut down gangs behind the lucrative drug route to the U.S. couldn’t work out at first how they launched raids only to find that the birds had flown the coop


I know why the caged bird sings: Lorenzo is now facing a life behind bars... but fortunately he is already used to that


But detectives finally got wise to the parrot. They sneaked past the loud-beaked lookout to find a hidden stash of weapons and marijuana at a safe house in Barranquilla.

Police also found two more specially-trained parrots.

‘We found a very interesting situation when we confiscated some exotic birds,’ said one Columbian police officer.

'Among them we have a parrot that alerted the people by saying run, run so they would run away before we could arrive.’

Animal officials said police had handed over as many as 1,000 parrots, many from the same coastal region, that had been taught to act as lookouts.

Baranquilla is Columbia's fourth largest city after the capital Bogota, Medellin and Cali as well as the most populated city on the country's Atlantic coast.



source: dailymail

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Escaped parrot lured back home with red wine and crisps

By Daily Mail Reporter

Reggie the parrot was lured back home with a glass of his favourite red wine and a bowl of Pringles crisps


An escaped parrot with a penchant for alcohol and crisps was lured back home with a glass of red wine and a bowl of Pringles.

Reggie was missing for more than 24 hours before owner Hubbell Walker came up with the plan to tempt him back by putting the treats on the windowsill.

And sure enough, as soon as the green-cheeked parrot spotted the feast he flew back to the house in Brockley, south east London.

Mr Walker, 27, said: 'I was devastated when I found out Reggie was gone - you can get quite attached to a pet parrot..

'He loves eating Pringles and drinking red wine - he's quite an unhealthy parrot really.'

He added: 'I don't know where he got the taste for it, but if there is any alcohol around he's there in a flash.

'It's such a relief to have him home.'


source: dailymail

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Sick as a parrot... Woman says sad farewell to her pet bird after paying £50,000 for its cancer treatment

By Daily Mail Reporter

Anne Lowery holds her pet parrot Areba on the day it died after a long battle with cancer


A woman who spent more than £50,000 on chemotherapy treatment for her pet parrot has said a tearful to the bird after it lost its battle against cancer.

Areba, a Wagler's Conure, underwent chemotherapy for almost a year but the 42-year-old bird passed away on Tuesday evening at Tampa's Florida Veterinary Specialists.

Cared for round the clock by Dr Teresa Lightfoot and her team at the Avian and Exotic animal ward, Areba had been battling a form of skin cancer since October of 2008

She was diagnosed in February last year after her owner, Anne Lowery, noticed a strange lesion on her beak.

Areba then braved weekly chemo and became a firm favourite among staff at the world-renowned animal hospital.

A companion of 30 years to Lowery, Areba's treatment costs were of no consequence to her caring owner.


Dr Teresa Lightfoot sedates Areba before her chemotherapy treatment at the Florida Veterinary Specialists Avian and Exotic animal ward in Tampa, Florida.


‘When the doctors at Tampa told me that Areba had cancer, they gave her only two months to live,’ she said.

‘Even though she was in middle age for a parrot, this seemed an aggressive time frame and I thought nothing of putting her into the care of the staff at the Florida Veterinary Specialists.

‘As it turned out we got an extra nine months with Areba and the staff there ended up loving her as much as did.’


Areba receiving chemotherapy at the Florida Veterinary Specialists Avian and Exotic animal ward in Florida


Treated for squamous cell carcinoma, which developed on the outside of her beak, Areba's cancer was difficult to treat.

‘Parrots such as Areba are extremely drug-resistant to chemo and so to get the right dosage is tough,’ said Dr Teresa Lightfoot, the vet who treated the bird.

‘We had to inject the chemo straight into the lesion and this was a tough course for Areba.

‘However, we believe that we improved her quality of life and of course gave her and her mom, Anne, a lot more time together.’

Because of the nature of her treatment, Areba moved into the avian ward in Tampa so that she could be given 24-hour care.


Areba had battled cancer for a year before passing away this week


‘I would visit her every day and at times I would spend up to five nights at the hospital with her,’ said Income Tax specialist Anne, who takes in rescue animals and owns 11 other parrots.

‘Some members of the staff were so taken with her that they mentioned to me that she was the first bird that they had felt comfortable with, because parrots aren't considered tactile birds.

‘When she was treated they would put her under with anaesthetic and then inject the chemo into the cancer.

‘After each course she would noticeably improve, but it was always clear that this was borrowed time.’

Areba passed away on Tuesday evening, but left her mark on the hospital.

‘She would speak extremely well, always calling for her “momma” and had become quite used to the rigours of the treatment,’ said Dr Lightfoot.

‘We will miss her.’


source: dailymail

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