Blue-throated macaws ( Ara glaucogularis ) copy conspecifics in bidirectional control tasks

Abstract

Abstract Copying via imitation (replicating others’ bodily actions) or emulation (replicating others’ action goals) underpins the cultural transmission of social norms and technical skills in humans. Many non-human animals, ranging from mammals to reptiles, have also been observed to socially learn foraging skills by copying others. Macaws are social parrots that engage in social foraging and have been shown to imitate arbitrary intransitive actions of conspecifics in previous experiments. In this study, we investigated whether blue-throated macaws (Ara glaucogularis) are capable of copying conspecifics in two problem-solving tasks: ‘door’ and ‘plug’, each employing a bidirectional procedure that can be solved in either direction. A control group (n = 5), which received no demonstrations, spontaneously solved each device using a consistent preferred method. For the ensuing test, n = 2 control birds were trained to demonstrate the non-preferred action in each apparatus for a test group of n = 5 adult and n = 5 subadult macaws. Significantly more test birds copied the demonstrated action for the ‘door’ device, but not for the ‘plug’, because the subadults were less likely to copy the demonstrated action than the adults. Furthermore, the test birds and the subadults approached and solved the tasks significantly faster than the control and adult birds. Overall, our study shows that macaws can copy conspecifics in problem-solving tasks, facilitating information transfer and potentially supporting emergence of foraging culture.