Recent research shows that parrots go bonkers for walnuts, and after snatching them, the brightly plumed birds crack into them with glee. When researchers offered a test group of parrots walnuts as a prize, the birds would do tricks, solve puzzles, and learn complex tasks in order to get the nuts. They even traded currency for them in the form of metal rings passed into the hands of the researchers. Oddly, the parrots were also willing to share their treats and the tokens to buy them with other birds. Given the option, they willingly transferred the precious metal rings to a friend in a neighboring cage so they, too, could enjoy some nuts — even without the promise of reciprocation. The birds’ generosity has animal scientists intrigued. It’s one thing to pass a partner a piece of food; it’s another to give them the currency to purchase it. Such acts of charity have long been thought to be restricted to humans. Few, if any, other mammals were thought capable of it, let alone a creature with a bird brain. What amazed scientists was that the parrots would give a partner all of the rings, even if it meant they were left with none for themselves. Whether other birds, including the nearly 400 other parrot species around the globe, exhibit these behaviors remains to be seen.
