Klepto keas crack locks, no problem

Kea parrots plan problem solving

source: New Scientist vol 207 no 2773, 14 August 2010 p18

Hiromitsu Miyata, from Japan's Kyoto University, has found that Kea parrots can solve problems better if they study beforehand. He offered the Keas three boxes containing food. The parrots had to unlock bolts to obtain the food, and managed this even when the bolt systems were very complex. However, they opened the containers faster if they could look at the problem and assess it beforehand. This means that they can probably plan problem solving, rather then attempting haphazard solutions.
BI,BT