By Ragoo Rao, Ethologist
Bird-brained. Calling someone bird-brained is an insult as it refers to the person as a dunce or a dimwit. The size of the brain of birds is likened to the brains of a dimwit. This might have been true until now as we were ignorant of the capabilities of small-brained birds. Recent research on intricacies of a bird’s behaviour shows complex capabilities. It is discovered that brain size and capabilities are not decisive but the way the brain is developed, the complexity of its formation and functioning is more decisive — a Nano-technology by nature. It has been proven that birds are capable of putting their mental faculties to application that demand more than the nature-programmed activities, defying the size of brain concept. All these tests have qualified the humble House Crow (Corvus splendens) and the Darker Coloured Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhyncus) as more intelligent than many birds. Both these species are hangers on to human habitation and we come across them every day in our yards. They are called the “Einsteins” among birds. They can solve problems, open a latched door, they can untie a knot, they can plan a strategy to get at something and the latest observations reveal the crows as “tool-users” too.
