kitty pi

You still might be a dimwit

Good news for the birds. Scientists have determined that birds' brains are not as primitive as we once thought.

They can use tools, they can use songs and imitate human language to communicate and they can count.

"They can lie -- you can teach a pigeon to do something that will have another pigeon get food for a reward. You can find a female pigeon that will pretend a reward for food is coming and then she eats it instead of her mate," Jarvis said.

Jarvis said he is not only defending the intellect of birds.

"We should be able to get more insight into how the human brain works, too," he said.

I always thought birds were smarter than a lot of people I know and now I see that it's true.

I, myself, am inclined to fly somewhere south for the winter right now, not because it's cold here, but just because I need a change of scenery. Rio sounds nice. Or New Zealand.

Isn't there another bird myth involving food? I have heard that birds eat enormous amounts of food vis a vis their body weight. (I've never verified this.) So when people say you eat like a bird they really mean you're being a pig. I don't know how much pigs actually eat, having never spent any time on a farm.

Anyway, I am truly the dimwit now, seeing how I am still at work and it's after 5 on a school night. So, I'm going to make like a tree, and leave.

posted by Anita at 5:04 PM