Does a budgie really learn by watching its cagemate? What 60 years of experiments show
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
Plenty of owners count on the bolder bird to set an example for the other one when a brand-new toy lands in the cage. The idea was tested as early as 1965 by Dawson and Foss in Animal Behaviour: five naive budgerigars watched a demonstrator open a covered food dish using one of three distinct methods, and each then used the same method as its own demonstrator (see the study). Our guides for keeping a bird busy are gathered in the bird toys and enrichment section.
Contents · 4 sections
A striking result, but shakier than it looks
Twenty years later, Galef, Manzig and Field revisited the protocol in Behavioural Processes (1986). Their first replication attempt failed and exposed several ambiguities in the original procedure. Once those grey areas were corrected, Dawson and Foss's results were confirmed: observers showed a significant tendency to open the dish the same way their demonstrator did (see the study). But the authors note the effect was brief and of marginal significance — too fragile, in their view, to serve as a model system for studying imitation.
In Amazon parrots, the boost comes from attention, not technique
A diffusion experiment by Morales Picard, Hogan, Lambert, Wilkinson, Seed and Slocombe, published in 2017 in Animal Cognition, put the same question to three groups of captive Amazon parrots facing a foraging box that could be opened two ways (see the study). More of the birds exposed to a demonstrator interacted with the box and opened it than the control birds did. They did not, however, favour the demonstrated technique: the authors conclude that local or stimulus enhancement, rather than imitation, explains the pattern. They also note that the more aggressive birds succeeded more often, and that food pilfering helped others spot the opportunity.
What this means when introducing a new toy
The practical lesson is clear: a cagemate mainly works as an attention magnet. It makes the object look interesting and safe, without passing on the exact manoeuvre. So place the new item where both birds can see it, let the bolder one explore it first, then check that the second one actually reaches the food once its interest is up. Our article on puzzle feeder difficulty by age helps calibrate the challenge, and our piece on food neophobia explains why novelty puts birds off before it draws them in.
- 5 naive budgerigars and 3 different opening methods in the founding 1965 experiment.
- 1986 replication: effect confirmed, but brief and of marginal significance.
- 3 groups of Amazon parrots tested in 2017: more openings with a demonstrator, no preference for the demonstrated technique.
- Aggression and pilfering: two factors positively linked to success in the 2017 study.
Counting on one bird to train another therefore stays a risky bet. What a cagemate does reliably do is speed up that first contact with a new toy — and that is usually where everything is decided.
Frequently asked questions
Should you get a second bird so the first one learns faster?
No: companionship is a welfare decision, not a training one. The demonstrator effect measured concerns attention paid to the object, not a lasting gain in skill.
Why doesn't my bird open the toy the way the other one does?
That is the most common outcome: the 2017 study shows birds open the box more often after watching, but each with its own method.
Could the more dominant bird monopolise the toy?
Yes, the 2017 study links aggression to better success. Setting up two identical devices stops one bird from hogging the resource.
In our shop, for this use: Wooden bead swing with bells for budgies (€17.90) · the whole shop
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Birds universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.
