My Analysis of the Bird Brain Documentary

This documentary is based off various studies performed which analyze bird behavior and intelligence, and how they apply it socially and to their individual problem-solving. Birds see the world a lot more similarly to us than we had originally thought. Developmentally, birds are both born with certain instincts and adopt skills over time. In this documentary, the birds are subject to puzzles, including physical and social elements. Researchers evaluate how birds can learn from mistakes, learn from watching other birds, and learning by analyzing their surroundings. "Anything that involves innovation and trying new techniques and having to solve problems within the environment to get food, that all stimulates a greater connection of the neurons in one's brain.So they're basically building a strong brain by having to explore this complex and variable environment. (14:26)." Birds are born with some instincts to survive, but this documentary shows how birds have the complex ability to learn and apply new knowledge. Dr. Auguste von Bayern, a researcher at the University of Oxford, studies the working of the minds of animals and humans, and determining how animals think, and the subject of their thoughts. In the documentary, she demonstrates how crows and parrots can think through puzzles in steps to determine consequences, and how to overcome their biological differences to solve a problem, such as a curved beak or how crows feel vulnerable when sticking their heads in things: "The ability to think flexibly is certainly a hallmark of a cognitively advanced animal. So rather than having this set response to a stimulus every time, as Lorenz worked upon,now you've got a whole battery of responses that could be put into play." (21:29). Through these tests, it was also found that birds can learn skills in one context and apply them to another, which demonstrates a conscious process going on.

Valérie Dufour, a researcher French National Centre for Scientific Research used to study great apes and how they interact in social groups. She now works with crows, applying some of the same methods to discover that they have social networks as complex as those seen in groups of monkeys and other. A clear understanding of hierarchy and friendships are two signs of relationships between crows that are similar to her past research. Isabella Schieber of the University of Vienna explored whether there's more to the goose mind than basic instinct. She analyzed the social hierarchy that they establish, and how their natural pecking order helps them to figure out other relationships. They demonstrated having transitive inference, knowing how to rank objects, which demonstrates that they acknowledge the social rankings in their groups. These animals possess the incredible ability to use their social group to obtain individual goals. This shows that they can apply layers of knowledge to their issues, understanding complex topics like object permanency and tradeoffs. Crows also demonstrated the ability to recognize and detect an individual who may be a potential threat. My favorite part of the documentary was when George Marzluff went around wearing the mask that the researchers wore when they captured the crows, and observed how the crows reacted and warned others that a threat was nearby. Crows were also observed to demonstrate theory of mind -- the ability to empathize with each other and offer comfort. Birds' minds resemble our own much more than we thought.

This reading reminded me of the TIME article titled Those who know the meaning of friendship by Carl Zimmer. In Zimmer's article, research is presented on how animals have been found to be friends with each other, and have even developed friendships across species. I think it would be interesting to research if birds would be willing to make social connections across species or even with humans.