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Bird Brains


January 2008

Beaks and Bills

Bird Brains

by Joe Meche

Joe Meche is president of the North Cascades Audubon Society and also serves the chapter as newsletter editor and birding programs coordinator. He has been watching birds for over  50 years and photographing birds and landscapes for more than 30 years.

Sometimes the best way to deal with people we perceive as being not very smart or perhaps even a bit wacky is to refer to them as birdbrains. This attempt at a critical remark doesn’t do justice to birds, especially when you consider that birds actually have well-developed brains. All things considered, this slur could actually be construed as a compliment, given that in many laboratory experiments on problem solving, birds outperform mammals.

One of the ongoing urban myths is that humans use only 10 percent of their brains. This is, in fact, untrue; although, there are times when you wonder if there might be at least a shred of truth to the rumor. George Orwell said that “Myths which are believed in tend to become true.” However, you have to consider the possibilities when you encounter someone who might not be “playing with a full deck,” or someone who “doesn’t have both oars in the water.” Clichés abound!

Most of the thought that focuses on how much of our brains we actually use comes from another perspective. It has long been considered that humans have evolved to the point where most of us would not survive if we were thrust back into the wild, without all the luxuries we’ve come to take for granted. Food, shelter, clothing, fresh water and safety from predators would be difficult for many of us to attain in a worst-case scenario. Birds, on the other hand, still live in a wilder state than we do and their adaptive evolution has focused on the essential, as opposed to the frivolous.

For example, members of the corvid family — jays, crows, and magpies — are quick to learn strategies for problems whose end result is food. Mammals encounter a formidable challenge in learning to count, while birds are quick to become proficient at solving complex counting problems. Birds are also very adept at learning by observing and imitating others, to the point where it’s almost routine behavior. If you observe young gulls rising above an asphalt parking lot or a rocky beach and dropping clams and mussels to break on the hard surface, you’re witnessing a classic example of the cultural transmission of behavior.

The brains of birds are typical of all vertebrates, and are divided into the forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain. Each part of the brain controls a multitude of functions. The forebrain controls the complex behavioral instincts, sensory assimilation and learning. The midbrain controls vision, and most of the physiological processes of birds such as balance and coordination, as well as the seasonal secretion of the neurohormones essential for reproduction. The function of the hindbrain is to link the spinal cord and the sensory nervous system to the control centers of the brain.

Avian and mammal brains are more highly developed than those of reptiles, but there are differences between our brains and those of birds. The cerebral cortex is the primary feature in higher primates while the cortex in birds has evolved differently and has little to do with intelligence. In contrast to humans, removal of the cortex has little effect on a bird’s overall performance. In a laboratory experiment, a pigeon’s cortex was removed and it still performed normally and was even able to mate and rear young.

In birds, the corpus striatum is the center of learning, as well as intelligence. This part of the avian forebrain combines the hyperstriatum — with the coupled Wulst (bulge) — and neostriatum with two other smaller sections to form the cerebrum. Parts of the cerebrum control important functions, including eating, eye movements and the basic behavioral instincts that are essential to reproduction.

The left and right hemispheres of avian brains have specific areas of responsibility. The left hemisphere is dominant in the forebrain and controls birdsong. Birds’ brains have the unique feature of functional lateralization, wherein the right hemisphere will take over if the left becomes damaged in some way. This is a characteristic that was once thought to be exclusive in humans.

Spatial Memory

Spatial memory is especially important in birds, since they return to certain places to feed, and nest in distant breeding grounds. This trait is especially noticeable in species that cache food as an important part of survival when food becomes scarce, as is often the case in severe winters. The hippocampus is the seat of spatial memory and is similar in form and function to that of mammals. Among the most proficient of seed-caching birds are the corvids. Extensive testing of Clark’s nutcrackers has demonstrated their extraordinary ability to memorize seed caches by using surrounding large objects as reference points.

The cerebellum and the optic lobes comprise the majority of the avian midbrain. Considering their importance in the lives of birds, the optic lobes are understandably large in relation to the rest of the brain. Visual information goes to the optic lobes while information on orientation goes to the cerebellum. Both combine with information from the hindbrain and everything is processed in the brain’s sensory control system.

At the base of the bird brain and below the cerebellum is the medulla oblongata, where the peripheral nervous system connects to the central nervous system at the spinal cord. This regulatory part of the brain monitors body functions and the metabolic rate necessary to maintain constant body temperatures — an essential for warm-blooded animals.

Birds’ brains are large, relative to their respective body sizes, and their sensory experience more than exceeds that of humans. They process and respond to an amazing array of information gathered by all their senses. Their highly developed sight, extraordinarily broad range of hearing and sensitivity to the Earth’s magnetic fields can only be envied by mere mortals.

Early biologists were eager to rank all living things according to their respective intelligence. Humans conducted the studies and, of course, humans moved to the head of the class with birds fitting in between us and reptiles. Considering the complexity of the natural world — a world from which we’ve distanced ourselves — perhaps a different sort of intelligence test is in order. In any event the avian brain would come through with flying (pun intended) colors.

In the future, before you categorize someone as a birdbrain, consider whether or not you intend to compliment or criticize the individual. While the names of most of the parts and the complexity of avian brains are similar to our own, the consensus is that birds use more of their brains than we do. So, being a birdbrain might not be so bad after all. §

Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.
— Ambrose Bierce


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