Dr. John Marzluff discusses the remarkable intelligence and behaviors of crows and ravens, highlighting their problem-solving skills, social learning, and ability to recognize faces, including humans, which demonstrate their complex cognition and emotional capacities.
Sulphur-crested cockatoos in Sydney have learned to operate drinking fountains through social learning and complex movements, showcasing their intelligence and adaptability to urban environments, with about 70% of the local population attempting the behavior, which has persisted for at least two years.
Clever sulfur-crested cockatoos in Sydney have learned to use public water fountains by manipulating the handles with their feet, showcasing their problem-solving skills, although their motivation remains unclear.
Oriental pied hornbills have demonstrated cognitive skills that rival those of apes, showing an understanding of object permanence comparable to human children. In an experiment, the birds were able to locate a hidden food reward without visual cues, reaching developmental stages comparable to apes. This challenges the notion of "bird brain" and highlights the intelligence of bird species beyond parrots and corvids. The findings, published in Biology Letters, shed light on the remarkable cognitive abilities of Oriental hornbills.
A new study confirms that Oriental pied hornbills possess advanced object permanence skills, similar to those of primates, allowing them to understand that objects and animals still exist even when out of sight. Researchers tested six hornbills and found that all were able to demonstrate an understanding of visible displacement, with three birds even succeeding in understanding invisible displacement. This suggests that hornbills may possess highly intelligent cognitive abilities comparable to those of parrots and corvids, indicating the need for further research into their cognitive capabilities.