Friday, August 07, 2009

Birds brains part II


There is so much going on in bird behaviour research right now.

Here are the latest bits of research rocking the foundations of the old bird brain stereotype.

The big paper documents New Caledonian crows using tools in sequence to solve a problem, without any prior training. That's not been seen in any animal before.

The other published study, with video, has rooks using objects to raise the water level in a container to a level their beaks can reach. That's not really news though. Aesop recorded that one many centuries ago.

Now, if only I could find that article about the part of the brain this intellectual might was stored in. Because I know everyone is just waiting to learn the name of the structure.

4 comments:

Jill & Gib said...

Really enjoying your blog, Heather. Have shared it with some friends who also have an interest in Nature.
Loved the link and the stone/water/worm video. Fascinating!
My interest comes from a time when I retreated to my car for lunch breaks. I regularly shared my lunch with a raven who would bury his portion and mark the cache with a stone. Besides their beauty, I've been keeping an eye on them since.
Thanks for this.

Heather Reid said...

Thanks for reading, Jill.
Good to hear your news out there from under the big sky. Hope it's been drier for you.

Thanks for the raven story.

Statch said...

I love your blog! Your photography is incredible. I hope you write more about bird behavior, too.

Heather Reid said...

Hello Statch,

Thanks so much for dropping by. I imagine I will write more about bird behavior as it's an area of great interest to me.