True Facts: Is The Goffin’s Cockatoo The Smartest Bird?
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Credits:
The Goffin Labs, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna
Prof. Alice Auersperg
Dr. Antonio J. Osuna Mascaró
Dr. Mark O’Hara
Berenika Mioduszewska
Dr. Isabelle Laumer
Keene & Kirkland, UW Medicine
Bene Croy
Citations:
Auersperg AM, Szabo B, von Bayern AM, Kacelnik A. Spontaneous innovation in tool manufacture and use in a Goffin’s cockatoo. Curr Biol. 2012 Nov 6;22(21):R903-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.002.
Auersperg AM, Borasinski S, Laumer I, Kacelnik A. Goffin’s cockatoos make the same tool type from different materials. Biol Lett. 2016 Nov;12(11):20160689. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0689.
Auersperg, A. M. I., Szabo, B., von Bayern, A. M. P., & Bugnyar, T. (2013, July 22). Object Permanence in the Goffin Cockatoo (Cacatua goffini). Journal of Comparative Psychology. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0033272
Auersperg AM, Kacelnik A, von Bayern AM. Explorative learning and functional inferences on a five-step means-means-end problem in Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatuagoffini). PLoS One. 2013 Jul 3;8(7):e68979. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068979.
Beinhauer, I. & Bugnyar, Thomas & Auersperg, Alice. (2018). Prospective but not retrospective tool selection in the Goffin’s cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana). Behaviour. 156. 10.1163/1568539X-00003515.
Jarvis, E., Güntürkün, O., Bruce, L. et al. Avian brains and a new understanding of vertebrate brain evolution. Nat Rev Neurosci 6, 151–159 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn1606
Laumer IB, Bugnyar T, Reber SA, Auersperg AMI. Can hook-bending be let off the hook? Bending/unbending of pliant tools by cockatoos. Proc Biol Sci. 2017 Sep 13;284(1862):20171026. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1026.
Laumer IB, Massen JJM, Boehm PM, Boehm A, Geisler A, Auersperg AMI. Individual Goffin´s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) show flexible targeted helping in a tool transfer task. PLoS One. 2021 Jun 29;16(6):e0253416. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253416. Erratum in: PLoS One. 2024 Dec 30;19(12):e0316744. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316744.
Laumer, Isabelle & Massen, Jorg & Wakonig, Birgit & Lorck Tympner, Melina & Carminito, Chelsea & Auersperg, Alice. (2019). Tentative evidence for inequity aversion to unequal work‐effort but not to unequal reward distribution in Goffin’s cockatoos. Ethology. 126. 10.1111/eth.12947.
Lessner EJ, Echols MS, Paul-Murphy JR, Speer BL, Holliday CM. Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) beak papillae and nerves identified using novel 2-D and 3-D imaging modalities. Am J Vet Res. 2023 May 31;84(7):ajvr.23.03.0059. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.23.03.0059.
Mioduszewska, Berenika & Auersperg, Alice & O’Hara, Mark. (2022). Treasure islands: foraging ecology and the emergence of tool use in wild Goffin’s cockatoos. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 45. 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101118.
O’Hara, Mark, Berenika Mioduszewska, Roger Mundry, Yohanna, Tri Haryoko, Rini Rachmatika, Dewi M. Prawiradilaga, Ludwig Huber, Alice M.I. Auersperg, Wild Goffin’s cockatoos flexibly manufacture and use tool sets, Current Biology, Volume 31, Issue 20, 2021, Pages 4512-4520.e6, ISSN 0960-9822, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.009.
Olkowicz, S., M. Kocourek, R.K. Lučan, M. Porteš, W.T. Fitch, S. Herculano-Houzel, & P. Němec, Birds have primate-like numbers of neurons in the forebrain, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113 (26) 7255-7260, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1517131113 (2016).
Osuna-Mascaró, Antonio & O’Hara, Mark & Folkertsma, Remco & Tebbich, Sabine & Beck, Sarah & Auersperg, Alice. (2023). Flexible tool set transport in Goffin’s cockatoos. Current Biology. 33. 10.1016/j.cub.2023.01.023.
Osuna-Mascaró, A.J., Mundry, R., Tebbich, S. et al. Innovative composite tool use by Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Sci Rep 12, 1510 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05529-9
Rose J. The avian brain. Curr Biol. 2022 Oct 24;32(20):R1076-R1079. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.07.072.
@zefrank
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
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@scottkniss3760
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Informative, as always, but I loved the rap at the end. Very catchy. Good on ya, mate! 😎
@TheJuliadesigns
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Gag this video is full of 8th grade commentary and stupid sexual references…I would have enjoyed learning about how smart the birds were if it wasn't for the stupid jokes.
@jorie42
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Thank you for saying, "You can't just stick them in a cage in your apartment with a squeaky toy and think they're doing alright." Too many parrots are surrendered because the stress from having no mental stimulation leads to aggressive behaviors and/or self-plucking. I appreciate you making that connection after showing how incredibly intelligent these birds are.
@beardedopinions336
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Smoothest transition into a sponsorship I've seen in a video and bonus ads were placed with it
@MrB1ack3
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Man… you are hilarious xD
@arekushieru9367
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Where did it show the birds recognizing where the nuts were when the bell was put behind the blocks?
@Diverse_Interests
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Laughed so hard I literally had tears streaming down my face. Good stuff.
@vilikaneva1692
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Is there a full version of the song?
@BalancedBlackwood
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Not all men are created equal when it comes to bras for sure, whoever's trying to undo the straps is doing it wrong! 🤣 or at least the long way.
@martinslagle3061
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
I officially request a full single of "I seen a cockatoo".
@spercwolf2985
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
I wonder if the bird can smell the food when hidden? Thus it's not by sight or trying to follow where the hidden food is but they can simply smell under what cap has the food.
@WillDreamer
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
The classroom-friendly version of this episode must be 5 min or less 😳
@taotzu1339
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
I tell my gf that I know she'd seen a cockatoo. That's when she hit me with a frying pan.
@erinjakeman5116
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Crows have always done this. The cockatoos are just catching up. Crows can also mimic some human speach too.
@Zappygunshot
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Now Ze, this is a real issue. How can you title your True Facts video using a question? I come here for my highly scientific answers, not more questions! You've got me all confused!
@dinomite592
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
At 2:45 you should have warned us that this video is rated Aaargh!
@AnomalousURL
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
This is not that impressive for birds, it's impressive for cockatoos only. Idk why you made such a video.
@cannibalbananas
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
@4:09 and I thought I was impressive cuz I can tie a cherry stem in a knot. This guy's out here scooping seed, eating it off the end, twirling the stick around and doing it again. All with just it's mouth. That's impressive!
@charleshammel8541
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
7:54 Is that a Chicago Bulls reference?
@Blablablahx3
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
I love this so much
@Biodeamon
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
cockatoos and octopi competing which eachother to be the next sapient organism
@lipingrahman6648
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
This makes me wonder how intelligent the dinosaurs were.
@torquess454
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
I agree! AI IS bulls*^+!!
@ClarkRuell
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Modern 'science' doesn't require repeating experiments anymore; now they just have a politically aligned work mate to sign off on their work/claim of work (all just words on paper). You see, Science is not about 'proving' things as much as it is about getting the result you are getting PAID to produce for the Mega Corporation you are working for. Science is more about CONSENSUS; like a democracy where if you get over 50% agreement, you're golden. Repeating an experiment, by a whole different, independent lab is for 'low trust' societies. We all know we can trust a fella as soon as we know he is a 'scientist' (but only if he is wearing a white lab coat).
@nick-of-all-trades
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
8:30 "My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."
@curtmartin2129
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
YOU CANT MAKE ME DO MATH AND MY LIBERAL ARTS DEGREE PROVES IT
@Mereologist
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
At our local zoo I caught one of the elephants picking up a stick with her trunk and hurling it up into the trees in hope of knocking down leafy branches to munch on. I made sure to point it out to one of the zookepers… she was one step away from manufacturing boomerangs and staging an elephant uprising!
@Caleighibanez
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
Imagine that all that wielding power is coming just from tongue movement against their break. Even flipping to the flat side of the sick and scooping the seed innards of a nut
@idk.whatevz
April 1, 2026 at 5:55 am
🤣🤣🤣❤❤❤
Comments are closed.