a french theme park has enlisted rooks, a species of crow, to help clean up cigarette butts and other trash. the smart crows were taught to put small pieces of garbage into a treat-dispensing box. while the theme park doesn’t feel that the crows will be able to handle a large-scale cleanup operation, they do hope they inspire human visitors to be more respectful.
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researchers explored the idea that parrots not only understand the concept of sharing, but the potential social benefits of it. griffin the african grey parrot was presented with four cups, with each cup’s color assigned a consequence. the green cup represented sharing, where both griffin and a human counterpart received a treat. the pink cup rewarded only griffin. the orange cup gave up griffin’s treat to the person, and the purple cup did not reward anyone. in the experiment, each round of the test began with griffin choosing a cup. student (human) subjects then echoed his choice. after several rounds, griffin understood he would gain a better outcome from sharing. earlier tests showed that when students chose to share with griffin, he was likely to reciprocate, but if the students chose the treat for themselves, griffin likely wouldn’t share.
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the woodpecker finch, a small finch native to the galapagos islands, is one of few non-corvid or psittacine bird species known to use tools. the finches use tools in up to 50% of their foraging, using sticks or cactus spines to access grubs and insects.
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researchers discovered that, with some training, pigeons are capable of understanding the concept of mathematical values. pigeons can rank amounts from lowest to highest by pecking them on a screen. pigeons were able to successfully rank up to nine objects in order. their performance matched that of rhesus monkeys who had previously participated in the same experiment.
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humans are not the only ones capable of giving and recognizing names -researchers have found parrots can as well. parrots are given distinct vocalizations as names – it’s believed their parents name them – and keep these names for life. they learn the names of others in their flock, and use them in ‘conversation’ with others.
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even though magpies sometimes have a reputation for being annoyances, their intelligence can’t be denied. magpies are one of few non-primate animals to pass the mirror self-recognition test. after placing a colored sticker on the magpie and showing it a mirror, the magpie recognized that it was its own body and removed the sticker. magpies have a brain-to-body ratio comparable to that of great apes.
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researchers have found that parrots and crows learn through play, much like human babies. both birds understood objects & how to use them better after being given time to explore and play with the objects.
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today's bird 