Treasure islands: foraging ecology and the emergence of tool use in wild Goffin’s cockatoos

The Goffin's cockatoo (Goffin) is known for its advanced cognitive skills in the technical domain and the ability to innovate tool use in captivity. However, until recently, there were little data on the wildlife ecology of this species. Recent fieldwork in its natural habitat, the remote Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia, revealed that wild Goffins could manufacture and use tool sets to access the embedded seed of a tropical fruit. Here, we focus on the ultimate drivers and discuss the ecological and morphological factors that might have facilitated the evolution of tool-use potential in wild Goffins, a skill so far hidden in the dense tropical forest. We argue that the remarkable tool-using behaviours observed in wild Goffins derive from their foraging ecology. Habitat features specific to small tropical islands and actions stemming from seed-shelling behaviour could also facilitate the emergence of their tool-use potential. Research in comparative cognition further highlights the need to protect the biological treasures found on remote islands.