The role of neophobia in a pioneer olfactory enrichment for amazons, macaws, and toucans

Introduction: Despite sensory enrichment being critical for ensuring the well-being of captive wild animals, smells are not being included in enrichment protocols for birds. For this group, neophobia can be a problem when it comes to implementing new enrichment devices. Objective: Here, we aim to explore how participation in an olfactory enrichment and latency times varied between bird taxonomic groups (Amazona spp. / Ara spp. / Ramphastos spp.). Methods: For this, we exposed 257 birds to a scent enrichment, and we register which individuals engaged with it and the time they took to interact with it. Results: We discovered that toucan’s participation in the enrichment was significantly higher compared to amazons and macaws. Furthermore, latency time to interact with the enrichment was significantly higher in amazons. Our findings could suggest that toucans are neophilic species which could benefit from higher exploration rates. Amazons on the contrary seem to be particularly neophobic, possibly because of their less opportunistic feeding habits compared to toucans and their higher vulnerability to be preyed compared to macaws. Conclusion: These results point out that olfactory enrichment is appealing for toucans while a more natural design using smells inside familiar objects could be more successful for psittacids.