If you’ve ever seen a bird trying to steal your food, or a starling rummaging through a trash bag for leftover food, you’ve probably noticed that birds are learning new ways to feed. This is also a sign of their outstanding intelligence.
But perhaps not all birds are so resourceful. Scientists have long wondered why certain birds are more intelligent and creative than others. They not only invent ways to forage, but also know how to make tools, even recognize paintings by Monet and Picasso. Could brain differences be the only answer to this?
Smart birds have a part of the brain that contains more neurons
The researchers used a new technique to estimate how many neurons are concentrated in a part of the bird’s brain, called the pallium. The pallium in birds is comparable to the cerebral cortex of humans or mammals, which is the part of the brain involved in memory, learning, reasoning and problem solving.
Although the bird’s pallium lacks mammalian cortical layers, they are organized in an organized manner, resulting in feathers and mammals having similar cognitive abilities.
Research shows that birds and mammals have similar cognitive levels
When a team from McGill University in Canada studied 111 bird breeds and gathered information from more than 4,000 different feeding methods, they found which birds had the highest concentration of neurons in their regions. pallium are the most creative species.
Development time in the nest is the deciding factor
Normally, birds will leave the nest after about 2-6 weeks, some birds of prey can stay in the nest for 8-10 weeks. There are birds that are “bolder”, just a few days or a few hours to follow the mother bird to find food. These are called precocial birds, some examples include ducks, quails, or guinea pigs. However, the longer it lives in the nest, the more intelligent the bird is.
Professor Emeritus Louis Lefebvre of McGill University has spent more than 20 years collecting about new forms and feeding habits of birds. He said that the time the young birds spend in the nest also contribute to shaping and developing intelligence later on.
Sometimes, crows “crow” their parents for more than 2 months
Crows and parrots are highly intelligent birds, thanks in part to the time they spend in nests. Young parrots in the Amazon are “pampered” by their parents for up to 8 weeks before leaving the nest. The crow only takes about 2-3 weeks to be able to fly away, but sometimes, the mother bird can still nourish and feed the chicks for the next 2 months.
That’s why when crows decide to “be independent”, their bodies are close to reaching adult size. A longer stay in the nest allows the brain more time to develop and accumulate neurons in the pallial region.
Parrots are also “pampered” by their parents for a long time
How highly cognitive are birds?
Andreas Nieder, a neurophysiologist at the University of Tübingen, observed the brains of carnivorous crows (corvus corrone) as they responded to different cues. They are known as “feathered apes” because of their superior intelligence compared to other cousins. In conducting behavioral experiments, Andreas also discovered that the bird’s brain responds consciously in a similar way to that of primates.
In addition to the ability to use available tools to get food or remember human faces, crows also have a sense of planning for future events like humans. This is a trait that no other animal has. In a study published in the National Georaphic, if crows discovered a random tool that helped them get food, they would put the tool away. When the food box appears at the next time, the crow takes out the “treasure” to use.
Or we can look at another less “well-known” bird, the jay, a bird that also belongs to the crow’s family. Recently, the University of Cambridge has just published research showing that the jay’s self-control is not inferior to that of humans.
Specifically, in the experiment, jays were served different dishes, but in order to eat more delicious dishes (worms), they had to skip less delicious dishes (bread), and at the same time had to wait longer. . After realizing they would be rewarded with a longer wait, the bird accepted the challenge.
The jay also knows how to restrain and control themselves
Future experiments may help determine how avian intelligence will evolve, but the findings ultimately suggest that humans may not be as unique as we thought. Who knows, in the future, crows or parrots will be the rulers of humanity?
Source: Sciencedaily, National Geographic, Science