How Bruce the Parrot Landed Atop the Pecking Order - Without a Beak
The New York Times • • science
Key Points:
- Bruce, a disabled kea parrot from New Zealand, gained global attention in 2021 for crafting his own prosthetic beak and has now become the alpha male of his group by learning to joust.
- The research, published in Current Biology, highlights the resilience and innovative capabilities of animals with disabilities, a topic that remains largely understudied.
- Keas are social birds living in groups called circuses and have faced population declines due to past government bounties and ongoing threats like injuries from rat traps.
- Bruce likely lost his top beak as a juvenile due to injury from attempting to steal food from a rat trap, demonstrating the dangers keas face in their environment.
