The veterinary records of three species of free-living, endangered black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus spp.; n = 565) admitted to the Perth Zoo Veterinary Hospital in Western Australia during a 10-yr ...period (2000–09) were analyzed to determine the effect of clinical presentation and treatment on survival to release. The most-common reason for admission was trauma (at least 76.7% of cases), and trauma was also the most-frequent finding on necropsy examination (80.1% of cases). Anemia and paralysis-paresis were significant factors determining the decreased likelihood of survival of cockatoos undergoing rehabilitation. Human activities, in particular vehicle strike, were significant causes of morbidity and mortality in free-living black cockatoo populations.
Flexible targeted helping is considered an advanced form of prosocial behavior in hominoids, as it requires the actor to assess different situations that a conspecific may be in, and to subsequently ...flexibly satisfy different needs of that partner depending on the nature of those situations. So far, apart from humans such behaviour has only been experimentally shown in chimpanzees and in Eurasian jays. Recent studies highlight the prosocial tendencies of several bird species, yet flexible targeted helping remained untested, largely due to methodological issues as such tasks are generally designed around tool-use, and very few bird species are capable of tool-use. Here, we tested Goffin's cockatoos, which proved to be skilled tool innovators in captivity, in a tool transfer task in which an actor had access to four different objects/tools and a partner to one of two different apparatuses that each required one of these tools to retrieve a reward. As expected from this species, we recorded playful object transfers across all conditions. Yet, importantly and similar to apes, three out of eight birds transferred the correct tool more often in the test condition than in a condition that also featured an apparatus but no partner. Furthermore, one of these birds transferred that correct tool first more often before transferring any other object in the test condition than in the no-partner condition, while the other two cockatoos were marginally non-significantly more likely to do so. Additionally, there was no difference in the likelihood of the correct tool being transferred first for either of the two apparatuses, suggesting that these birds flexibly adjusted what to transfer based on their partner's need. Future studies should focus on explanations for the intra-specific variation of this behaviour, and should test other parrots and other large-brained birds to see how this can be generalized across the class and to investigate the evolutionary history of this trait.
Individual Goffin's cockatoos Boehm, P. M; Boehm, A; Laumer, I. B ...
PloS one,
06/2021, Letnik:
16, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Flexible targeted helping is considered an advanced form of prosocial behavior in hominoids, as it requires the actor to assess different situations that a conspecific may be in, and to subsequently ...flexibly satisfy different needs of that partner depending on the nature of those situations. So far, apart from humans such behaviour has only been experimentally shown in chimpanzees and in Eurasian jays. Recent studies highlight the prosocial tendencies of several bird species, yet flexible targeted helping remained untested, largely due to methodological issues as such tasks are generally designed around tool-use, and very few bird species are capable of tool-use. Here, we tested Goffin's cockatoos, which proved to be skilled tool innovators in captivity, in a tool transfer task in which an actor had access to four different objects/tools and a partner to one of two different apparatuses that each required one of these tools to retrieve a reward. As expected from this species, we recorded playful object transfers across all conditions. Yet, importantly and similar to apes, three out of eight birds transferred the correct tool more often in the test condition than in a condition that also featured an apparatus but no partner. Furthermore, one of these birds transferred that correct tool first more often before transferring any other object in the test condition than in the no-partner condition, while the other two cockatoos were marginally non-significantly more likely to do so. Additionally, there was no difference in the likelihood of the correct tool being transferred first for either of the two apparatuses, suggesting that these birds flexibly adjusted what to transfer based on their partner's need. Future studies should focus on explanations for the intra-specific variation of this behaviour, and should test other parrots and other large-brained birds to see how this can be generalized across the class and to investigate the evolutionary history of this trait.
Black cockatoos in southwest Western Australia face population declines as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, competition with other species, vehicle strikes, and shootings. In ...this study, hematologic and plasma biochemical reference values were determined for 3 endemic Western Australian black cockatoo species: Carnaby's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) (n = 34), Baudin's cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii) (n = 22), and forest red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) (n = 22). Significant sex-related differences were detected in Carnaby's cockatoos, and differences were also found among the 3 species. The forest red-tailed black cockatoos showed a markedly greater eosinophil count than did the 2 white-tailed species. Blood values from samples obtained by different collection methods differed significantly for Carnaby's cockatoos, which indicates that anesthesia may affect analyte values and that collection methods should remain consistent. The results of this study will be useful for clinically evaluating wild black cockatoos that are undergoing rehabilitation for release and will provide baseline data for future investigations of free-living black cockatoo health.
The South Australian Glossy Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus is extinct on mainland Australia, and occurs only on Kangaroo Island. Between 1995 and 2016, a successful long-term ...Recovery Program more than doubled the population of this taxon on Kangaroo Island. This paper documents the first records of nesting by Glossy Black- Cockatoos on the Dudley Peninsula on eastern Kangaroo Island in 2015 and 2018, at a time when flock size had increased to 35 individuals in post-breeding counts on the Dudley Peninsula. Nesting there is evidence of the growth and expansion of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo population over the past 25 years, which is likely a result of conservation efforts. This new eastern nesting site expands the breeding range of this subspecies 13 km east, and to the part of Kangaroo Island that is closest to mainland South Australia.
Social play has been described in many animals. However, much of this social behaviour among birds, particularly in adults, is still relatively unexplored in terms of the environmental, ...psychological, and social dynamics of play. This paper provides an overview of what we know about adult social play in birds and addresses areas in which subtleties and distinctions, such as in play initiation and social organisation and its relationship to expressions of play, are considered in detail. The paper considers emotional, social, innovative, and cognitive aspects of play, then the environmental conditions and affiliative bonds, suggesting a surprisingly complex framework of criteria awaiting further research. Adult social play has so far been studied in only a small number of avian species, exclusively in those with a particularly large brain relative to body size without necessarily addressing brain functions and lateralization. When lateralization of brain function is considered, it can further illuminate a possibly significant relevance of play behaviour to the evolution of cognition, to management of emotions, and the development of sociality.
Within Australia, the iconic Palm Cockatoo 'Probosciger arterrimus macgillivrayi' occurs only on the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, has recently been listed as Endangered, and requires large, old ...hollow-bearing trees for nesting. Surveys for these trees are crucial for management purposes. Typical surveys rely on following auditory (vocalisations) and visual (sightings) cues to determine the presence of birds or nests. However, nesting hollows can easily be inadvertently overlooked during such surveys because of false absences caused by biennial nesting, decreased vocal activity during nesting, and silent flushing from active nests when approached. We developed a systematic, grid-based transect methodology that maximises the likelihood of identifying potential, used, and confirmed Palm Cockatoo nest hollows and this has been implemented on western Cape York Peninsula since 2015. This method does not rely on bird presence at the time of surveys, but instead relies on multiple, specific signs of recent Palm Cockatoo nesting activity, to the exclusion of other large, sympatric parrots. We tested this method on novice observers and found that it enabled them to rapidly learn how to detect Palm Cockatoo hollows in the landscape. Thus, for ecological surveys on Cape York Peninsula, we propose that this method should supersede previous auditory/visual surveys to identify Palm Cockatoo nesting sites, and we hope that this improves the conservation of this species in Australia.
A male Major Mitchell's cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) of unknown age presented with an ulcerated mass on the ventral tail caudodorsal to the cloaca.
An impression smear of the mass showed spindle ...cell atypia. Multiple biopsies were submitted for histopathology with inconclusive results. A CT scan revealed a soft tissue mass causing compression of the cloacal lumen. The patient underwent surgical debulking, and a core of the mass was submitted again for histopathology, which reported it as fibrosarcoma.
Under repeated general isoflurane gas anesthesia, the patient received a course of definitive radiation therapy totaling 60 Gy and divided in 3 Gy X 20 fractions. By treatment completion, the lesion had decreased in size with necrotic debris on the surface. Surrounding tissues appeared healthy and no adverse effects were observed. As of 1.5 years post-treatment, the mass appears completely healed with no signs of reoccurrence.
This case suggests that radiation therapy with this protocol could be an effective treatment option for fibrosarcoma in avian species.
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