When you’re lonely, sometimes you just need to see a friend. No matter who, or what, you are, companionship is a basic need.

Researchers from Northeastern University, MIT and the University of Glasgow released a smile-inducing, as well as groundbreaking study, that shows how video calls can reduce loneliness, when friends can’t be together in person.

It just so happens that the study involved parrots, not people. 

Parrots are known for their high intelligence and social complexity. But they often struggle to find adequate companionship while in captivity. The study’s goal was to address this issue by exploring whether video calls could bridge the gap and provide social interaction for these birds. But it’s the fact that the birds not only embraced the technology, they even were able to learn from one another.

“We wanted to see if parrots in captivity could find companionship through video calls, similar to how humans have used technology to connect with others during the pandemic,” explained Jennifer Cunha, co-author of the study from Northeastern University. 

Researchers found that video calling could help birds feel less lonely in captivity. Photo by Northeastern University

During the study, a lot of the birds became good friends, with a few, a cockatoo and an African grey parrot maintaining their friendship more than a year later.

“I was quite surprised at the range of different behaviors,” co-author Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, said.

Some would sing, some would play around and go upside down, others would want to show another bird their toys.” Two macaws even got really close and called to one another on the screen, saying “Hi! Come here! Hello!”

Once the parrots learned how to initiate video calls, the researchers entered the “open call period,” allowing the birds to freely make calls and choose which bird they wanted to interact with. Surprisingly, the birds were quick to adapt to this new form of communication.

“We saw a lot of social behaviors during the calls that we would typically observe between birds that were physically together or in the wild,” Hirskyj-Douglas said. “They seemed to come alive during the calls, engaging in behaviors like dancing, singing together, and mirroring each other’s movements.”

Researchers found that video calling technology could reproduce some of the social benefits of living in a flock. Photo by Northeastern University

The study revealed significant findings, indicating that parrots engaged in numerous calls and formed strong preferences for specific individuals. The birds who initiated the most calls also received more call requests from other birds, similar to human social dynamics.

Also, researchers observed that the parrots not only developed strong bonds with their virtual friends but also learned new skills from them. Some birds learned to fly, forage, and even imitate new sounds, all inspired by their interactions with their virtual companions.

The parrots seemed to grasp that they were truly engaging with other birds on screen, and their behavior often mirrored what we would expect from real-life interactions between these types of birds,” Hirskyj-Douglas said.

The study highlighted the potential of video calling technology to replicate some of the social benefits of living in a flock for parrots in captivity. It provided these birds with companionship, mental stimulation, and opportunities for social interaction that they often lack in their small cages.

“Video calling technology helped a lot of people through the early days of the COVID pandemic, where self-isolation was vital,” Hirskyj-Douglas said.

“There are 20 million parrots living in people’s homes in the USA, and we wanted to explore whether those birds might benefit from video-calling too.”

For a look at the happy-to-talk birds and their new feathered friends, watch below.

Sources: My Positive Outlooks | NPR