Wildlife review – Kea
Not many fauna can boast being known for both sheer intelligence and sheer tomfoolery, yet the Kea has managed to capture the public’s attention through the carnage they inflict on any poor sod’s car in New Zealand’s alpine region as well as their aptitude for problem-solving and puzzles. Although they may terrorize any mechanical wonders in sight (not even a Tesla is safe), the Kea’s charismatic charm wins us back everytime. I honestly wish I’d done a seminar with them, the ability to charm my way out of anything would’ve been a helpful trait back in the day after any childhood mishaps.
When you walk back to the car-park after a ski-trip and notice any familiar green parrots, you may begin to think of the probability of finding your car’s rubber torn off. Oddly enough, those same Kea doing said tearing went through a similar thought process. They knew that the presence of humans and parked cars means one thing – food. Chips, crackers, sandwiches, the whole nine yards. So although it might be a nice side effect, these birds aren’t just tearing up your car for fun. They know that there’s likely food in there, and they want it. That means not only are they capable of ruining your day, Kea have a working knowledge of probability. What are the chances of that??
Ms Amalia Bastos, a PhD student of Auckland University, took that question seriously – and their subsequent findings on the matter are ground-breaking. For obvious reasons, it’s fairly difficult to get a Kea to sit a level 1 statistics exam – so Ms Bastos had to improvise. The aim of the experiment was to see if Keas can not only understand probability – but if they can actively use it to their advantage. The birds were shown two jars, both containing an assortment of black tokens and orange tokens. The black tokens could be traded in for a food reward, while the orange tokens were essentially worthless. This is where the probability aspect begins to rear its head, as the jars were taken and filled with orange and black tokens alike – however with two different ratios in both. The stage set, the bird is brought on and the experiment begins – with the subject being given a choice of which jar the scientist will give them a token from. It sounds fairly basic at first, but even such a simple choice (if made consistently) can help build a better picture of just how intelligent these natives can get. For a creature unable to recognize probability their jar selections would be virtually random – as they would have no information on which to base their decision. However, any animal who can work with basic probability concepts would be able to recognize that one jar has more black tokens than the other – meaning picking that jar will increase their chances of a food reward. Unsurprisingly, the Keas passed with flying colours – confirming just how brilliant these birds are. Crafty and cunning, these Clowns of the Alps leave their mark on both our cars and our hearts.
10/10 – “Their core motto in life is to stick their beaks into things and see if it breaks, that’s how they find food” – Ms A Bastos