Long thought to be dim-witted and
foolish, our feathered friends are more capable than we assumed.
Crows can make tools, ravens can
solve puzzles, and parrots can speak with a diverse vocabulary.
Birds, in fact, pack a lot of
intellect into a very small space; their brains consist of more neurons than
mammals, according
to National
Geographic. And it’s about time we give them the credit they deserve.
“Being able to fly to Argentina,
come back, and land in the same bush—we don’t value that intelligence in a lot
of other organisms,” Kevin McGowan, an expert on crows at the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, said in a statement to NatGeo. “We’ve restricted the playing
field to things we think only we can do.”
When it comes to mimicking human
speech or solving problems, though, “it always comes down to parrots and
corvids,” McGowan said.
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