The parrot who couldn't feed himself is now the alpha

Bruce, a kea parrot at New Zealand's Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, was found in 2013 as a chick with his upper beak broken off, an injury that should have made him unable to feed himself. Kea use their long curved beaks to preen, crack seeds, and tear into food. Bruce had none of that. So he invented a workaround. Researchers at the University of Auckland documented him picking up small pebbles, holding them between his tongue and lower beak, and using them to comb through his feathers. He is the first known parrot to use a tool for self-care. The behavior was not taught. Other kea at the reserve do not do it. Bruce figured it out alone, and over the years he has refined his technique, selecting stones of a particular size. He has also climbed the social ranks at the reserve. The bird who could not feed himself is now the alpha.