This is amazing:

 

A while ago I saw a documentary program that did a series of test on different animals in order to detect level of intelligence based on ability to reason.
One that tested lowest was in the animal world, which was the dog, the highest of the group was from the bird world, Similar to the video.
So much for the "Bird Brain" insult!

 

Crows and Ravens are well known for their intelligence and ability to communicate. Also, for their attraction to "Shiny" things. Some animals have mostly innate intelligence, i.e. they know how to do it without being taught just as your heart knows how fast to beat. As far as bird brain goes, sharks have a narrow and multiple lobed brain arranged in a line from just just ahead of the eyes to the back of the head almost to the gill slits. The largest front lobe is their visual lobe but their smallest (which is about the size of a walnut in a large shark) is their cortex. Almost all of their behavior is innate. They come close to having the learning/thinking ability of a rock.

 

Whoever coined the term "birdbrain" was a complete ignoramus ...

 

Whoever coined the term "birdbrain" was a complete ignoramus ...

Perhaps he was thinking of chickens, which definitely are on the low end of the animal intelligence spectrum.

On the farm where I grew up, a chicken would occasionally wander through the gate into our fenced garden area.
It would then go towards the chicken coop until it reached the fence.
Then it would go back and forth along the fence trying to get back the the coop, totally forgetting how it got in through the open gate.

 

The derogative of chicken is very apt. I was always amused by them when for almost no reason they collectively would all rush to find something to hide under. Innate self-protective behavior to protect them from hawk predation but not necessarily needed every time a leaf was blown by the wind. The story of Chicken Little was very apt in having a chicken as the protagonist.

 

Whoever coined the term "birdbrain" was a complete ignoramus ...

My pet peeve is the practice of using many gregarious birds as caged pets, for e.g. the ones belonging to the Parrot family often outlive their owners, they normally live in very large family communes and also tend to mate for life.
Instead, as pets, these very intelligent beings, are forced to live out their life in a tiny cage without contact to others of their specie.
Just for the amusement of their owners!
BTW the show Barretta resulted in a surge in cockatoo ownership and later abandonment when the true needs of these birds became known by the owners.

 

I know someone that owns a Parrot, that bird spends very little time in its cage, and seems content with human companionship...but I get what you are saying.

 

A little more common is the self mutilation due to boredom etc.
Parrots are intelligent birds who need both mental and physical stimulation.
A lack of these usually leads to stress and self-destructive behaviors.

 

Abuse of any animal is unacceptable regardless of its intelligence.

We have people around here who have "pet" dogs that spend all of their lives confined to a small yard come what may in terms of weather and such and never get into the house or have any human contact by their owners.

I have just as much sympathy.

 

Abuse of any animal is unacceptable regardless of its intelligence.

We have people around here who have "pet" dogs that spend all of their lives confined to a small yard come what may in terms of weather and such and never get into the house or have any human contact by their owners.

I have just as much sympathy.

Agreed ... what's the point of having a pet that's never interacted with? ... it's plain stupid and cruel