Feathered friends: study shows 'selfless' parrots helping peers

African grey parrots help other birds get food despite no benefit to themselves, a behaviour only previously seen in apes

African grey parrots help their peers complete tasks despite no immediate benefit to themselves, researchers have found, in the first study to show that birds display such apparently "selfless" behaviour.

While other prosocial behaviours have been seen in birds, the team say helping peers to achieve a goal, so-called "instrumental helping", has only previously been shown outside of humans in orangutans and bonobos.