# Examples of non mammalian animals that play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907 "2014-11-29T20:38:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/1 "2014-11-29T20:38:55Z")
Aside from mating rituals can anyone think of any good examples of animals that actually have some form of play besides the mammals? I have seen desert lizards appear to be playing tag of some sort but I doubt it is true play. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/2 "2014-11-29T20:46:43Z")
I have seen hundreds of birds flying together as a gigantic vortex. This was on a clear wind-less day, and it looked like a tornado, except it was just birds spiraling around together. I wonder what that was about? It could have been a form of playing. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/3 "2014-11-29T20:51:11Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > I have seen hundreds of birds flying together as a gigantic vortex. This was on a clear wind-less day, and it looked like a tornado, except it was just birds spiraling around together. I wonder what that was about? It could have been a form of playing. Thats true, not unusual to see birds of all kinds enjoying wind currents. Crows will occassionaly ride things on a sloped surface, parrots do some behaviors that resemble play as well. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/4 "2014-11-29T20:56:26Z")
I understand that some birds play. I recall reading about how for a while the Kremlin was having problems with crows that liked to skate down the outside of their “onion dome” roof with their talons. Cutting thin slices through the gold leaf in the process, so it was expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/5 "2014-11-29T21:02:26Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I understand that some birds play. I recall reading about how for a while the Kremlin was having problems with crows that liked to skate down the outside of their “onion dome” roof with their talons. Cutting thin slices through the gold leaf in the process, so it was expensive. Yup. Hard to explain this as anything other than play: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWw9GLcOeA) ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/6 "2014-11-29T21:06:10Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I understand that some birds play. I recall reading about how for a while the Kremlin was having problems with crows that liked to skate down the outside of their “onion dome” roof with their talons. Cutting thin slices through the gold leaf in the process, so it was expensive. ``` Thas a good example, it is also pretty advanced in that he has to set up the object he is sliding on. I also just rememebered last week someone posted a video of a group of swans that were actually surfing. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/7 "2014-11-29T21:29:05Z")
I saw a video of a box turtle and a terrier playing with a ball. On Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/8 "2014-11-29T21:39:18Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I saw a video of a box turtle and a terrier playing with a ball. On Facebook. How did they register accounts? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/9 "2014-11-29T21:59:32Z")
One windy day in late summer I saw a jay bird behaving strangely in the street ahead of me – darting back and forth on the ground beneath an oak tree. As I got closer, I realized the wind was causing acorns to fall from the tree, and as they bounced on the street the jay would chase them and try to catch them. It was clearly play. All the corvids are intelligent birds and spend a lot of time playing. The book **Bird brains : the intelligence of crows, ravens, magpies, and jays** by Candace Sherk Savage is one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/10 "2014-11-29T22:05:47Z")
I saw a clip once of wild parrots swinging on abandoned mill wheels. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/11 "2014-11-29T22:23:50Z")
[These surfing geese are clearly playing.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQfSx6zEey0) ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/12 "2014-11-29T23:18:25Z")
I did a scuba dive in an area with heavy, heavy current (read: we had to hook ourselves into the reef to stay put). There were a ton of sharks just swimming back and forth just off the edge of the reef, in the heaviest current. Not a normal feeding time for them. We were told, although I can’t confirm, that they just enjoy the current, and were basically playing. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/13 "2014-11-29T23:41:06Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > How did they register accounts? Facebook is full of mysteries. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/14 "2014-11-29T23:56:12Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > > [@Ulfreida](#): > > > > I saw a video of a box turtle and a terrier playing with a ball. On Facebook. > > How did they register accounts? On Facebook nobody can tell you’re a box turtle; you appear about as smart as the average user. The terriers stand out for their superior ability to spell. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/15 "2014-11-30T00:00:17Z")
A researcher was watching a turtle in the National Zoo in D.C. play with a ball, and basically wondered the same thing as the OP. So, he started studying it. > [@](#): > > The idea of whether invertebrates and reptiles play has its share of skeptics, but Burghardt has since documented ‘play’ in wasps, Komodo dragons, softshell turtles, and octopi. From here: [http://blogs.discovery.com/animal\_news/2010/10/a-fascinating-article-recess-in-the-scientist-by-writer-jeff-akst-is-a-must-read-for-animal-lovers-we-all-know-that-puppie.html](http://blogs.discovery.com/animal_news/2010/10/a-fascinating-article-recess-in-the-scientist-by-writer-jeff-akst-is-a-must-read-for-animal-lovers-we-all-know-that-puppie.html) Longer article about the same research: > **[Even turtles need recess: Many animals -- not just dogs, cats, and monkeys --...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101019132045.htm)** > > Seeing a child or a dog play is not a foreign sight. But what about a turtle or even a wasp? Apparently, they play, too. New psychology research defines "play" in people and also in species not previously thought capable of play, such as fish,... Possible play behavior in crocodilians: [http://www.herper.com/crocarticles/crocplay.html](http://www.herper.com/crocarticles/crocplay.html) ---
**Author:** ![dam0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@dam0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dam0)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/16 "2014-11-30T00:21:23Z")
My parrot plays, constantly. He sits on his spiral rope and grabs the cage to gain momentum to start swinging. He clearly enjoys this and he’ll do it over and over. He has a ball with a bell it it that is tethered to the top of the cage. He will spend time poking and pulling it to make it ring. He does lots of other stuff which I consider play. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/examples-of-non-mammalian-animals-that-play/705907/17 "2014-11-30T00:59:41Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I saw a video of a box turtle and a terrier playing with a ball. On Facebook. > [@Smeghead](#): > > How did they register accounts? {SLAPS **Smeghead** Playfully With A Wet Trout}