The team say it is unlikely the birds were dunking the food to make it soggy as the snacks were already soft, the birds did not dunk food in water, and the cockatoos only dunked food in soy yoghurt for about three seconds – as opposed to more than 20 seconds when previously observed dunking dry rusks in water.
During each trial, a group of 18 birds was presented with bowls of either pasta and cauliflower or potatoes and carrots alongside three dips: blueberry soy yoghurt, plain soy yoghurt and fresh water.
Cockatoos show appetite for dips when eating bland food, find scientists Birds observed going to lengths to flavour food, with particular penchant for blueberry-flavoured soy yoghurt dip.
“They ate the food and yoghurt together and never licked the yoghurt off before eating the food, indicating their preference for the combination of both food items,” the authors write.
Instead, they say the birds were probably dunking their food to flavour it, adding that further trials suggested the preference for blueberry soy yoghurt was not down to its colour.
