Captive Parrots Are Video Calling Each Other And It's Making Them Feel Less Lonely

April 25, 2023

A new study which helped pet parrots make video calls to each other suggests that the birds may have benefited from making new feathered friends over the internet.

The findings are drawn from more than 1,000 hours of video observations of 18 pet parrots' behaviour over the course of the three-month study.

The birds learned how to call each other with the support of their human caretakers, who also took careful notes on their pets' experiences.

"I was quite surprised at the range of different behaviors," said Dr. Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, a co-author of the study. "Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys."

In the wild, parrots live in large flocks. As pets, they tend to be kept alone. Video calling could reproduce some of the social benefits of living in a flock.

In total the birds made 147 calls.

Watch some of the calls in the video below.