Goffin’s cockatoos, a parrot species endemic to the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia, demonstrate remarkable cognitive skills across various technical tasks. These neophilic extractive foragers explore objects with their beak and feet, and are skilled in several modes of tool use. In this study, we confronted the animals for the first time with a vertical string-pulling setup, including a set of classic and novel controls. Nine of the 12 subjects, two of which were subadults, immediately interacted with the single-string task, with seven individuals successfully obtaining the reward on their very first attempt. Four different double string discrimination tests with varying spatial relations were used to assess the Goffin’s cockatoos’ apprehension of basic physical task properties. We found significant differences in performance between the respective experimental conditions, as well as the development of side biases. The results suggest that while the birds seem to consider simple cause–effect relationships, there is no evidence for a mental representation of the causal mechanisms underlying the string-pulling tasks, as subjects failed the crossed strings condition out of immediate sight. Finally, we provide suggestions on improving the methodology, and discuss our findings in regard to the Goffin’s cockatoo’s ecology.

戈芬凤头鹦鹉是印度尼西亚坦尼巴尔群岛特有的鹦鹉物种，在各种技术任务中表现出非凡的认知能力。这些新的采掘性觅食者用他们的喙和脚探索物体，并且精通多种工具使用模式。在这项研究中，我们第一次使用垂直拉线装置来面对动物，包括一组经典和新颖的控制。12 名受试者中有 9 名（其中两名是未成年人）立即与单弦任务进行互动，其中 7 名受试者在第一次尝试时就成功获得了奖励。四种不同空间关系的双弦辨别测试被用来评估高芬凤头鹦鹉对基本身体任务特性的理解。我们发现各个实验条件之间的性能存在显着差异，以及侧偏的发展。结果表明，虽然鸟类似乎考虑了简单的因果关系，但没有证据表明拉弦任务背后的因果机制的心理表征，因为受试者未能立即看到交叉弦条件。最后，我们提供了改进方法的建议，并讨论了我们关于戈芬凤头鹦鹉生态学的发现。由于受试者未能立即看到交叉弦条件。最后，我们提供了改进方法的建议，并讨论了我们关于戈芬凤头鹦鹉生态学的发现。由于受试者未能立即看到交叉弦条件。最后，我们提供了改进方法的建议，并讨论了我们关于戈芬凤头鹦鹉生态学的发现。