Navigating a tool end in a specific direction: Stick-tool use in kea (Nestor notabilis)

Abstract

This study depicts how captive kea, New Zealand parrots, which are not known to use tools in the wild, employ a stick-tool to retrieve a food reward after receiving demonstration trials. Four out of six animals succeeded in doing so despite physical (beak curvature) and ecological (no stick-like materials used during nest construction) constraints when handling elongated objects. We further demonstrate that the same animals can thereafter direct the functional end of a stick-tool into a desired direction, aiming at a positive option while avoiding a negative one. © 2011 The Royal Society.