The intellectual potential of parrots and crows is higher than that of monkeys

Article “The smartest parrot” we studied several species of these wonderful birds and came to the conclusion that the intelligence of birds has not been fully studied, since birds still amaze us with their behavior and ability to grasp on the fly.

Despite the fact that birds are almost as capable as primates, and their brain is the size of a walnut, it has long been proven that birds do not have such a developed cerebral cortex as animals do. But this does not prevent large parrots and corvids from striking humanity with their intellectual abilities.

The answer lay in the density of neurons. This is stated in the publication of the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

A team of scientists from Vanderbilt University, together with colleagues from Charles University in Prague and researchers from the University of Vienna, led by Susanne Herculano-Hosel and Pavel Nemech, studied the number of neurons in the brain samples of 28 bird species and compared the results with the number of neurons in the brains of animals. It was found that in the brain of songbirds and parrots, the density of neurons is twice that of primates, and when compared with rodents, then 4!

Brain samples were taken of the same size by anatomical separation, counting the total number of cells in suspension from nervous tissue.

The researchers were able to prove that with a cortex weighing 14,4 grams in a macaw, the number of neurons is 1,9 billion, while in macaques, with a brain weight of 69,8 grams, only 1,7 billion.

Such a colossal number of neurons in a small volume caused their denser arrangement. The size of the nerve cells of birds is much smaller than that of mammals, the processes are shorter, and the synapses are more compact. This is what allows birds to combine a minimum weight for ease of flight with amazing cognitive capabilities that exceed those of rodents and lower primates.