Masturbation shaming in parrots and birds should be a thing of the past, new research suggests.
Most theories on sexual behaviours are based on trying to work out what environmental challenge they are attempting to solve, but masturbation has been something of a head-scratcher for wildlife experts. After all, why would individuals expend energy, time and, in the case of males, sperm?
New research, published in an article titled ‘The Evolution of Masturbation in Birds’ in the journal Ecology and Evolution, found that masturbation is more commonly reported in wild birds than in those in captivity.
Bird keepers had previously been advised to discourage birds from masturbating, as historically, the study says, “masturbation is considered an abnormal behaviour that has developed in response to solitary captive living”.
Masturbation is a common activity across many species of birds, both in the wild and in captivity - Credit: Getty
