Keas, a New Zealand parrot species, have statistical skills

Keas, a species of parrots found in New Zealand, can use statistical, social and physical information to make a decision, according to Science Magazine.

The discovery was made by scientists from the University of Auckland led by Amalia Bastos, a doctoral candidate at the university.

Keas are crow-like birds with curved beaks like knives and are notorious for tearing through backpacks for food and ripping off cars’ windshield wipers.

The magazine reported that this was the first time that intelligence at this level has been discovered outside of apes. Six captive keas were studied in a wildlife reserve near Christchurch, New Zealand. The scientists taught the birds that a black token led to them receiving a food pellet while an orange token led to them not receiving anything, said the publication.

The report added that when the scientists placed two transparent jars with a mix of tokens near the keas and took away a token with a closed hand, the birds were more likely to choose the hand that was dipped into a jar that contained more black tokens than orange tokens. Sometimes the ratio was as close as 63 black tokens to 57 black tokens, according to the report.

Previously, it was known that only chimpanzees could use such information to make predictions, reported the magazine.

Irene Pepperberg, a comparative psychologist at Harvard University, told the magazine that if the birds really do have such abilities, it is most likely that they evolved to gain it. She added that birds with such skills are more likely to have evolutionary success.