While
this contains what may be a dis against neanderthals (or maybe I'm being hypersensitive on their behalf), it's a nice article overall. Our relationship to other lifeforms on this planet has been shall we say troubled. It's nice to see that our cities provide a place where some birds can thrive. And possibly get smarter, although that's still under investigation. The idea of providing a friendlier habit for birds that don't thrive in urban areas is a good one too. Must say, though, that I'm not optimistic about programs like that being budgeted in this country in the near future.
Which birds, by the way, do best?
The researchers determined that the following are brainy birds that do well in cities: the great tit, the blue tit, the carrion crow, the jackdaw, the magpie, the nuthatch, the wren, the long-tailed tit and more. Pigeons are not passerines, so these ubiquitous urban dwellers were not included in the study.
That's what I like about the city. You can see some great tits.
2 comments:
I thought that was a pretty snarky comment about Neaderthals as well. As an unfortunately lost race, they were burying their dead on carpets of flowers and making musical instruments to play long before us. Nobody knows what they knew.
There are some amazing stories about intelligent birds and some of the clever crow videos are very cool.
Today I planted about 50 sunflower seeds (half already sprouted) in Pt. Pleasant Park. If even half of them make it there'll be some tasty bird food by autumn :-)
Ah, so it wasn't just me. Yeah, our deceased sibling species had a lot more going on than they're generally given credit for.
Crows are indeed a delight to watch. They actually set themselves little challenges when they're out foraging.
And it sounds like Pt. Pleasant park will be the *caw* place to be. :)
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