Munching on the wrong items can lead to illness, but social learning might help the birds avoid making a potentially deadly mistake. The phenomenon could help explain why certain cockatoos have fared so well in urban environments Researchers studied social learning in the birds by introducing a novel food item: colorfully dyed almonds. Julia Penndorf Copycats are everywhere in nature. Animals like dolphins , chimpanzees and meerkats are all known to learn to forage or use tools by observing their friends, a phenomenon called social learning. It turns out that wild cockatoos in Australia also figure out which potential snacks are safe to eat by copying their peers, researchers report April 30 in the journal  PLOS Biology . Birds living in urban environments constantly come across new foods.…