New study finds drunk birds are also 'slurring' their 'words'

Thursday, January 1, 2015, 11:58 AM - If you saw anyone slurring their words last night celebrating New Year's, at least they're not alone.

New research suggests that finches also slur their speech when drunk.

Scientists from the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland got some birds drunk and documented the results.

For their experiment, zebra finches were selected and given either an alcoholic drink or grape juice. Some finches got drunk with a blood alcohol level just above 0.05 per cent.

According to Christopher Olson, the birds were surprisingly into the idea of getting inebriated.

"At first we were thinking that they wouldn't drink on their own because you, a lot fo animals just wont touch the stuff," Olson told NPR. "But they seem to tolerate it pretty well and be somwhat willing to consume it."

After the experimental group had enough "liquid courage," their speeches were compared to the control group and after breaking down the sound into syllables, scientists found that the drunk birds were slurring their speech.

But the research wasn't done just for fun and laughing at tipsy finches. Comparing this speech inability between humans and finches could provide valuable information when it comes to treatments for alcohol abuse or technology used to identify people that are intoxicated.

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Drunk birds, dolphins on drugs

One of the most surprising findings by the team at Portland was the fact that birds wanted to have the alcoholic drinks. But finches aren't the only other members of the animal world that enjoy the occasional recreational drug. Elephants are known to seek out the Marula tree in South Africa and enjoy the fermented juices contained inside the fruit.

Vervet monkeys seemingly enjoy the ethanol derived from fermented cane juice. A recent study found that one in every five monkeys preferred alcoholic drinks to sugar water, with younger individuals being more likely than older ones.

And it's not just alcohol. Dolphins in the ocean have been observed enjoying a puffer fish toxin, passing it along the pod and carefully consuming it. After they were done, the pod was observed lying motionless at the surface, just resting. Scientists still aren't certain if the dolphins intentionally seek out the drug, or it was just a pleasant coincidence.

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