When you blush, your body releases adrenaline which causes your blood vessels to widen. This sends blood rushing to your face, giving your cheeks a rosy hue. But if you thought blushing is an emotion exclusive to human beings, you are wrong. And guess which creature is sharing it with us? It is the colourful, long-tailed bird Macaw. According to a team of researchers from France, scientists admit to having observed macaws blushing at multiple incidents. They have a group of five captive blue and yellow macaw which they have studied over time. These findings were first published in PLOS One.

Macaws are a new world parrot. They are of six types -- Ara Ararauna, Anodorhynchus, Cyanopsitta, Primolius, Orthopsittaca, and Diopsittaca. The ones who have been identified blushing is the Ara Ararauna, which is typically a blue and yellow parrot found in South America.

Parrots have recently been making news. Not long ago, one was found swearing at a fireman who tried to save it from a building roof.

The Ara Ararauna macaws have a "naked" part of their cheeks that are devoid of feathers. That is the part which the researchers observed going red during some interactions with people. As part of an experiment,  they organised an event to film and photograph the five birds. During the time it was noticed that the parrots’ skin turns red during encounters with the visitors.

Though a major limitation of the experiment is that there were only five birds so nothing can be established with surety. “We don’t know if these birds can feel positive emotions,” said lead researcher Aline Bertin of INRA, a French public research institute.

Birds are regarded as one of the most intelligent living creatures. Also, scientists have described birds ruffling their feathers during mating rituals or conflict situations. The emotional lives of birds have not yet been unfolded much, but it will be interesting know if these parrots really blush like human beings do.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2018 05:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).