Maybe they're not just "parroting" (imitating) the sounds of vulgar human words that they've heard.
"Brainiacs, not birdbrains: Crows possess higher intelligence long thought a primarily human attribute"| | | quote | Whether crows, ravens, and other “corvids” are making multipart tools like hooked sticks to reach grubs, solving geometry puzzles made famous by Aesop, or nudging a clueless hedgehog across a highway before it becomes roadkill, they have long impressed scientists with their intelligence and creativity.
Now the birds can add one more feather to their brainiac claims: Research unveiled on Thursday in Science finds that crows know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds, a manifestation of higher intelligence and analytical thought long believed the sole province of humans and a few other higher mammals.
A second study, also in Science, looked in unprecedented detail at the neuroanatomy of pigeons and barn owls, finding hints to the basis of their intelligence that likely applies to corvids’, too. |
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| | | quote | | A 2014 study showed that New Caledonian crows, rooks, and European jays can solve an Aesop’s Fable challenge, dropping stones into a water-filled tube to bring a floating bit of food within reach, something kids generally can’t do until age 7. These birds were the first nonhuman animals to solve the task. |
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Sharon Begley for STAT; September 24, 2020.
https://www.statnews.com/20...ght-primarily-human/[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 10-01-2020).]
