Tomorrow night, PBS, Nova: Bird Brain

[Judi Lynn]

Program Description

Call somebody a “bird brain,” and you’re not delivering them a compliment. But as NOVA shows, birds turn out to have advanced problem-solving skills that we usually assume are unique to humans. Watch astonishing tests of avian aptitude: parrots that can plan for the future, jackdaws that can “read” human faces, and crows that can solve multi-step puzzles with tools like pebbles, sticks, and hooks. Could these just be clever tricks based on instinct or triggered by subtle cues from their human handlers? To rule out any doubts, NOVA puts feathered Einsteins through their paces and reveals skills that even three- or four-year-old children have a hard time mastering—such as putting off one reward now to get a bigger one later. From this revolution in thinking about our feathered friends, the conclusion seems irresistible that bird brains see the world in ways that aren’t so different from our own.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/bird-brain.html

[elleng]

1. and NOVA Wonders

What are animals saying?

[HopeAgain]

2. Well, since they are basically modern dinosaurs

They have had a lot of time to evolve.

[Danascot]

3. Thank you for letting us know

I love science stuff about smart birds!

[colsohlibgal]

4. Some Of Them Are Amazingly Smart

I have a couple of PBS DVDs about this kind of thing, way more intelligence in many animals than we had imagined. One shows an Octopus quickly solving complex problems, the same with Birds and many Canine breeds.

Then there are Dolphins who were named by some body, I forget the name, as earth's 2nd sentient species, they have a sense of self, they communicate, they know their mortality.

It is all so enthralling.

[nikki haley]

5. birds are smart

birds are smart