Bob Yirka is a writer for Phys.org.
Figure 2. There is a horizontal version of the string-pull test used here. The box has a long rope tied to it that prevents the dish from leaving through the open slit, but the gull won't fly away with it. A banded gull is pulling on a string in a string pull test trial. The frosted lid of the box made it necessary to make a slit of 1 cm to give a better view of the contents. A video camera was placed inside the fence for the last habituation trial to determine if the banded parent or unbanded mate was present. Credit: DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211343
A team of researchers at the Memorial University of Newfoundland have found that the ring-billed gull can pass a cognitive test. They describe their results in a paper.
The cognitive abilities of animals are tested in the string-pull test. Many studies have been done on perching birds and parrots, but very few have been done on waterbirds. They think that such birds are less intelligent than other birds. The researchers used the string-pull test to verify. A treat is placed on a dish, tied to a string and placed in a plastic box with a slit on one end, as part of a test. The slit is large enough for the dish to pass through. The string is placed outside the box. A bird needs to pull the string, pull the dish and treat through the slit to gain access to the treat. Scientists think problem-solving abilities are a sign of intelligence.
The experiment began with researchers placing empty boxes near the birds' nest in Newfoundland and giving them a treat to eat. They began testing the birds by placing test boxes near the 93 nests that were home to the 138 parent gulls. They counted how many birds tried to get the treat out of the box and how many succeeded.
The researchers found that out of 104 attempts, 25 percent were successful and 21 percent were unsuccessful. Multiple instances of birds were able to repeat their success. The first time a waterbird has been found to be able to solve the string-pull test, they conclude by nothing.
The Royal Society Open Science has more information about Jessika Lamarre and Waterbird. There is a DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211343.
The Royal Society Open Science has a journal.
The Science X Network will be launched in 2021.
The ring-billed gulls were found to pass the string-pull test in December of 2021.
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