Young parrots , like children, experiment with both sides of their body before deciding whether to be left-handed or right-handed . This was recently demonstrated by an investigation by Macquarie University in Sydney (Australia), published in the journal Biology Letters , based on the evaluation and monitoring of 322 birds of 16 species of Australian parrots.
According to the study, birds specialize in using one side of their body to be more efficient when grabbing or inspecting potential food sources. Furthermore, there is an important and direct correlation between the eye with which a bird looks at food and the leg it uses to grab it .
For Dr. Culum Brown, director of the research, "the results are interesting, since there are few examples of laterality in animals other than humans".
