From Cosmos (17/2/25)…
Cockatoos prefer noodles dunked in blueberry yoghurt
For the first time, scientists have observed a non-primate animal using flavourings to enhance the experience of eating food.
The behaviour was spotted in Goffin’s cockatoos which dunked potatoes or noodles into a bowl of blueberry-flavoured soy yoghurt.
It appears the motivation for the behaviour was flavour.
The observations, presented in a paper published in the journal Current Biology, ruled out that the cockatoos were dunking their food for other reasons such as soaking or cleaning.
Goffin’s cockatoo, also known as the Tanimbar corella (Cacatua goffiniana), is a species of parrot endemic to Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands, 600km north of Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory.
The corellas are the smallest white cockatoo in the world, growing to 250–300g and 31cm from head to tail.
It was formally recognised as a separate species in 2004, having previously been confused with Ducorps’ or Solomons cockatoo (Cacatua ducorpsii).
The species is near threatened according to the IUCN Red List. Its population is estimated to be 100,000–500,000, though this is declining.
The new yoghurt-based study was spurred by an unusual sighting…