Tool use may be a niche skill in the animal kingdom, but there's one type of bird that not only excels in the area, it can even turn it's hand to a game of 'golf'.
That's because Goffin's cockatoo has shown an impressive use of problem-solving skills to crack a new experiment set by an international team of researchers.
They devised a 'golf-like' game for the species of bird which is known for being able to complete complex puzzles, pick locks and even fashion up tools such as sticks to open nut and seed shells.
The cockatoos had to manipulate a ball through a hole into a closed box, before using a stick to push the ball to one side of the box to trigger a trapdoor mechanism.
This in turn released a cashew nut for the bird.
Three of the cockatoos figured out how to use the stick to manoeuvre the ball into the right position to release the treat — showing a high level of tool innovation.
It was so impressive, the researchers said, that it shows cockatoos can master problems that children under eight struggle to solve.
The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, the University of Birmingham, and the University of Vienna.
Clever: Goffin's cockatoo has shown an impressive use of problem-solving skills to crack a new experiment set by an international team of researchers (pictured)
It is also part of a wider international and interdisciplinary project comparing children's innovation and problem solving skills with those of cockatoos.
'One of the most amazing aspects of the process was to observe how these animals each invented their own individual technique in how to grip the stick and hit the ball, sometimes with astonishing dexterity,' said lead researcher Dr Antonio Osuna-Mascaró, of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.
'One of the birds operated the stick while holding it between the mandibles, one between the beak tip and tongue and one with his claw, similar to a primate.'
Tool use is rare in animals, and particularly compound tools where two elements are fixed together, such as a spear, or an axe, or composite tools, where two items — for example a stick and a rock — are used together.
These types of tools have evolved into recreational activities, such as hockey, cricket
