THE ANIMAL FILES

Tanimbar corella

Cacatua goffiniana

A cockatoo can change the tool when the task changes.

The Tanimbar corella, also called Goffin’s cockatoo, has a white body and a movable crest with concealed pinkish colour. Studies document tool shaping and flexible object manipulation, both in experiments and in wild observations.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Tanimbar corella
Image: james_birdtourasia · Commons · CC0
Crest
Can be raised and lowered[1]
Tools
Some birds shape sticks or other materials[1]
Evidence context
Many cognition observations come from experiments[1]

More colour than a white outline

Pink or salmon-coloured areas occur between the beak and eyes and within deeper parts of the crest and neck feathers. Yellowish colour also occurs beneath wings and tail. Raising or moving feathers can expose features hidden in a resting view. Males and females look broadly alike, although average size and eye colour differ.[1]

A manufactured reach

In a documented captive observation, a male named Figaro shaped wood splinters and sticks to retrieve food beyond mesh. Later experiments tested sequential locks and tools of different lengths. These tasks show more than carrying any convenient object: material properties and the distance to a reward can affect what works.[1]

Wild birds and willingness to try

An innovation-arena experiment compared captive-bred birds with temporarily tested wild birds. Wild birds were less inclined to engage with the apparatus, but those that did solved tasks at a similar rate. Wild tool shaping has also been observed for extracting sea-mango seeds. Participation and ability are therefore separate questions in interpreting a test.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does refusal to touch a test device prove a bird cannot solve it?

No. Willingness to participate and performance once engaged are different measurements.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why compare tool length with reward distance?

Reveal the explanation

A tool must reach the target; changing its length can reveal adjustment to a physical requirement rather than a fixed action sequence.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Cacatua goffiniana (adapted and translated; exact revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Cacatua goffiniana (identity and game lineage)

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

CockatielA movable crest adds a visible channel to a cockatiel’s calls.Nymphicus hollandicus ↗Hyacinth macawA powerful bill still benefits from a better grip on a hard nut.Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus ↗Nanday parakeetA black mask sits above a green body.Aratinga nenday ↗