Did you know the kea parrots of New Zealand are capable of infectious laughter? Specific calls of a playing kea can kindle playful behaviour in others of the species, according to a study. The kea is found to be the first non-mammal species to display contagious laughter.
The researchers played recordings of play calls to groups of wild kea for a period of five minutes. They also played other kea calls and the calls of a South Island robin as controls. When the birds heard the play calls, it led them to play more and play longer in comparison to the other sounds.
“Upon hearing the play call, many birds did not join in play that was already underway, but instead started playing with other non-playing birds, or in the case of solitary play, with an object or by performing aerial acrobatics,” the researchers said. “These instances suggest that kea were not ‘invited’ to play, but this specific call induced playfulness, supporting the hypothesis that play vocalisations can act as a positive emotional contagion,” they said.
While it might be a bit anthropomorphic, researchers said, the kea play calls can be compared to a form of infectious laughter. The researchers said that they now plan to explore the effects of play and play calls on kea social groups more
generally. Earlier studies had made similar findings for chimpanzees and rats, they said. The study was published in the journal Current Biology.
Picture Credit : Google
