Parrots that learn like people: Macaws copy without being taught

Humans often learn by watching two other people interact and then copying what fits the moment. A new study shows blue-throated macaws can do the same thing.

This ability, known as third-party imitation, suggests a more flexible kind of learning than simple mimicry. It points to social knowledge that spreads without direct teaching.

How parrots learn

The work was led by Esha Haldar at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence (MPIB) in Germany. She and colleagues tested whether parrots can learn by watching a conspecific, meaning a member of the same species, interact with a person.

Researchers define intransitive actions as movements that are not aimed at an object – for example, lifting a leg or fluffing feathers. This focus is important because it rules out shortcuts, ensuring the birds copy the movement itself rather than just the end goal.

Earlier tests in domestic dogs found no evidence of third-party imitation for such goal-less movements. The contrast helps frame what makes the macaw results notable.

Macaws are masters of imitation

Two groups of blue-throated macaws took part and none had been trained to imitate on command. In total, the researchers ran 462 sessions of 10 trials each, which equals 4,620 trials.

Birds in the test group watched a trained macaw respond to human hand signals with one of five movements, including fluff, spin, vocalize, lift leg, and flap wings. After a brief pause, the observer bird received the same hand signal for up to 12 seconds.

Birds in the control group received the identical signals but saw no other bird perform the actions. Rewards were given only when the subject produced the correct movement after the signal.

Across the five possible actions, the test group learned more responses than the control group. They also reached the criterion faster and with greater accuracy.

Imitation in birds

The test birds learned an average of 4.16 actions, while the control birds averaged 2.20. This difference was statistically significant and was matched by higher response accuracy and quicker learning in the observers that had watched the interaction.

“Our findings show that third-party imitation, even for intransitive actions, exists outside humans, allowing for rapid adaption to group specific behaviors and possibly cultural conventions in parrots,” noted Haldar.

The control birds never mastered the flap wings movement, and the observers learned it last, indicating how unlikely that action was without demonstrations.

Some observers even copied an action briefly before receiving any signal or reward. Those spontaneous moments appeared for spin, fluff, or vocalize and were not reinforced.

Because the target movements were goal-less, explanations like goal copying or object enhancement fit poorly. The design therefore supports imitation of movement patterns within a social context.

Adapting to local routines

Parrots are not only vocal mimics. A large survey shows many species keep learning new vocalizations across their lives, and they use those sounds in rich social settings.

Training research also shows that parrots can learn by observing people interact with each other. The model rival technique uses two human trainers to teach labels and concepts to African grey parrots, making observational learning a practical tool in the lab.

Wild parrots display flexible social communication too. Orange fronted conures can address specific flock mates by imitating their contact calls, which shows how imitation can serve precise social goals.

The macaw experiment fits that broader picture of social minds. Learning from two others may help newcomers adapt to local routines quickly.

Parrots must learn fast

In third-party tests with intransitive actions, household dogs did not copy the model. Those studies suggest dogs may rely more on objects or explicit training in such tasks, which makes intransitive movements harder to match without prior practice.

Parrots face different pressures in the wild, including frequent regrouping and shifting partners. Under those conditions, rapidly matching another bird’s movements could aid coordination and affiliation.

Future research directions

The sample was small and the action set was limited to five movements. That means follow up studies should scale up both the number of birds and the diversity of actions.

Related work points to another piece of the puzzle. Macaws also show automatic imitation in a separate experiment, where seeing a movement makes the same movement more likely even when it is not helpful.

Future tests can separate motivation from mechanism by varying the reward schedule or by using two birds as the interacting pair. Researchers can also probe whether observers track the human cue, the demonstrator, or both.

If third-party imitation helps birds synchronize with new partners, it could shape how social traditions form and stick. That is a strong reason to look for similar abilities in other parrots and then in wild settings.

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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