Animals
Do any birds have contagious laughter?
The short answer
Yes. New Zealand's kea has a distinct play call, and researchers found that simply playing a recording of it puts other kea in the mood to play. It is the first known case of emotionally contagious vocalisation in a non-mammal.
Researchers reporting in Current Biology in March 2017 played recorded kea play calls to wild birds going about their day. The birds started playing — chasing, tumbling, tossing objects around — and not with the speaker. They started playing with each other.
That distinction matters. The birds were not investigating a curious noise; the call appeared to shift their mood, and both juveniles and adults responded. It works the way a room full of laughter works on a person who did not hear the joke.
Contagious positive emotion had been documented in chimpanzees and rats. The kea was the first non-mammal to join the list. Anyone who has met one will find this entirely in character.
Sources
- For this New Zealand parrot, 'laughter' is contagiousScienceDaily (Cell Press)
- These Parrots Can Make Other Parrots 'Laugh' — a FirstNational Geographic