Also add another item to the list of things that we thought exclusively of humans and that instead animals appreciate the same: Coat the food. It does not apply to everyone, of course (not that we know), but there is at least one, the cocation of the Tanimbar, which has shown – in the laboratory, for now – to appreciate the Small “additions” to its food, which change its taste and also the consistency.
A team of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna discovered it, who published his discoveries on Current Biology.
One day by chance … The discovery took place in 2022, when the team, which manages a laboratory dedicated precisely to the Tanimbar cacounts, observed two of their volatiles that stuffed a boiled potato in a container full of strawberry yogurt.
The anomalous behavior intrigued them and so they decided to deepen: in 2023, the researchers published a first study that explained how the cacounts appreciated the snacks immersed in the water, a gesture that changes its consistency – The study compared the gesture to what we humans do when we put up a biscuit in milk.
Questionable combinations. Further insights have shown that the cacounts have a real passion for condiments, and it is not only a matter of texture but also of taste: dei 18 specimens observedHalf half took the presence of a bow tap of strawberry yogurt to flavor their food.
Not only that: put in front of the choice between a bowl of water and one of yogurt, the parrots ignored the first and aimed straight on the second, demonstrating that what interests them is not the consistency but the flavor. On the quality of the combinations (potatoes and strawberry yogurts …) you could discuss, but on the other hand there are humans who put pineapple on pizza …
