A-parrot-ly, most Parrots are left-footed
Just in time for today’s World Parrot Day [Tuesday 31 May] Healesville Sanctuary keepers have revealed that all of its parrots are left-footed.
For the past week, keepers have been surveying the seven species in the Sanctuary’s Land of Parrots, taking note of whether the birds favour their left or right foot.
Healesville Sanctuary Bird Keeper Sophie Anderson said the team provided parrots with several types of enrichment, including almonds, walnuts, and gum nuts to see what happened.
“Straight away our Red-tailed Black Cockatoos picked-up the almonds, with five out of five favouring their left foot,” Ms Anderson said.
“It was trickier to monitor the smaller parrots, such as the cheeky Rainbow Lorikeets, but after watching them closely, we found most of them preferred using their left foot to pick things up and even started walking with their left foot first.”
After jotting down observations over a week, it turns out that all of the 32 parrots that reside in the Sanctuary’s Land of Parrots are left footed.
Parrots have two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backwards, an arrangement referred to as zygodactyl.
Ms Anderson said the team decided to test the theory out after reading about research on foot preference in parrots.
Healesville Sanctuary is home to several critically endangered species of parrots, including the Orange-bellied Parrot and Swift Parrot, which visitors can see within the Fighting Extinction aviary.
Zoos Victoria supports parrots across the globe via an international grants program through conservation organisation World Parrot Trust and its partners in central Bolivia to fight the extinction of the Blue-throated Macaw. This beautiful bird is listed as Critically Endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.
Zoos Victoria members and Healesville Sanctuary visitors are reminded that all tickets must be pre-booked online at zoo.org.au