14 DAY TRIAL // Birdbrain is for many an insult.
But researches have proven that some birds can be really intelligent, even if their intelligence is different from that of the mammals and has other brain support. Some birds can be highly intelligent, like the raven, which is very surprising.
Dr Bernd Heinrich and Dr Thomas Bugnyar from Vermont University in the United States and St Andrews University in Scotland, respectively, have made a series of experiments that reveal a highly cognitive and learning ability in ravens, making them the brainboxes of the birds' world.
"These birds use logic to solve problems, and some of their abilities even surpass those of the great apes," said the researchers.
In one experiment ravens were permitted to eat pieces of meat dangling from strings bound to perches. To get to the food, a raven had to follow a series of actions: pull up a string stretch, hold a loop of it on the perch with a claw, then pull up another stretch and hold that loop. The birds had to repeat the action 6 times till getting the meat.
"Some animals can be taught how to get food this way. However, I found ravens could perform this complex sequence of actions straight away. I was extremely surprised the first time I saw one of them do this. These birds have never seen string before or encountered meat hanging this way, yet they worked out exactly what they needed to do to get a treat." Heinrich suggested.
Complex behavior is encountered in many animal species, like a lot of birds and insects, which can for example build extremely complex nests. But each step of their behavior is genetically encoded and there's no intelligence involved. Instead, ravens pass very well complex tests, including "no tests" or "trial and error" that involve logic.
Many observations showed that ravens put other animals to do tasks for them. Their beak is too weak to open tough skins of the carcasses. That's why when they encounter a big corpse, they make calls that attract wolves and foxes to the site and the large carnivores can break the carcass to expose the meat for the birds.
Biologists assume the raven's developed intelligence is due to their complex social lives and scavenging lifestyles.
The birds must find out very quickly how to locate themselves far enough from a wolf or fox not to be exposed to an attack when sharing a dead animal but close enough to get food. But Heinrich warns that even so, the raven cannot be considered unequivocally the most intelligent animal on Earth, humans excepted.
"It is up there with the great apes and dolphins, but I think it is very difficult to say which is cleverer. There are different types of intelligence."