BirdNote; Playful Keas

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Playful Keas Produce Contagious Laughter

Written by GrrlScientist

This is BirdNote.

[Kea “play call” recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKKc6p0M7Q]

“Laugh, and the world laughs with you,” is an old saying* that’s true for people — and for some parrots, too.

[Wild Kea calls from Raoul Schwing]

Keas [Pronounced KEE-uhz] are large alpine parrots that live on New Zealand's South Island. They’re the clowns of the parrot world. With olive-green plumage, a red rump, and a long, curved beak, these social birds are intelligent and playful.

When they’re playing, Keas produce a distinct warbling call, a “play call,” that sounds — and functions — much like contagious laughter in humans.

Scientists in Austria, who study how birds think and behave, wanted to test this idea. They recorded captive Keas making those warbling calls, then traveled to New Zealand where they played the recordings for wild Keas. Wild Keas that had been playing began playing harder and even engaged birds that had not been playing at all.

[Kea “play call” recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKKc6p0M7Q]

Scientists think the play call had an emotional effect on the birds. Hearing it seemed to put them in a playful mood, even when they were alone.

[Kea “play call” recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pKKc6p0M7Q followed by human laughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkgVtktHlZ8]

What’s your play call? Is it a referee’s whistle? The last school bell? Tell us what you hear — on our Facebook page, or at BirdNote.org.

I’m Mary McCann.

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Bird sounds provided by Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.

Recorded by Raoul Schwing.

BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.

Producer: John Kessler

Managing Producer: Jason Saul

Associate Producer: Ellen Blackstone

© 2017 Tune In to Nature.org July/August 2017 Narrator: Mary McCann

ID# kea-01-2017-08-30 kea-01

* From the poem Solitude, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1883

read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2017/03/24/playing-parrots-pr...