We may be divided on the best dip – Ranch, fry sauce, hummus, aioli, milkshake? – but we can almost all agree that dipping can make a meal more fun. Apparently, we’re not the only animals that think so.

A study recently published in the journal Current Biology shows that Goffin’s cockatoos may be fond of using something tasty to flavor their food. A research team at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna had already observed these birds dipping dry food in water in an apparent effort to soak it. The team says animals may also dunk food in order to clean it or transport water elsewhere. Dunking being used to flavor food, though, had so far only been observed in Japanese macaques, who had dipped potatoes in salt water in past research. 

Jeroen Zewald, the study’s first author and PhD student, says, “We saw this curious behavior and were interested in why the cockatoos were doing this. In general, innovations of new feeding styles are seen as intelligent behavior, so we were curious whether this also applied to our cockatoos.”

To study the topic further, the team set out blueberry and plain soy yogurt and water to see how 18 cockatoos used them. Half of the birds dragged their noodles through the yogurt, showing a marked preference for the flavored option. They also tended to slather their food in the yogurt and dip it again once there was no yogurt left. They’d also shown a preference for noodles and yogurt in a different task.

This research suggests that Goffin’s cockatoos dip food to flavor it, though not all the birds did so, which the researchers say means it may be an innovative behavior not found naturally in all members of the species.

The team notes that the study also demonstrates the intelligence of these birds, which have been shown to use tools in the wild. 

Alice Auersperg, study co-author and professor at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, says, “Although we normally challenge our cockatoos by giving them a problem and then observing how they solve it, this time the cockatoos showed that they had discovered solutions to problems that we had not even thought of. Apparently, their food wasn't tasty enough.”

Auersperg says the findings suggest, too, that being kept as pets may be hard for them, as they may not receive all the intellectual enrichment that they need.