[extropy-chat] "Bird Brian" - Not!

[spike]

> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Ian Goddard
> Subject: [extropy-chat] "Bird Brian" - Not!
> 
> Anyone whose had a pet bird knows the stupidity of the
> derogatory phase "bird brain." To the contrary, birds
> can be smart! ... http://IanGoddard.net


Anyone who thinks birds are stupid should spend some time watching seagulls.


At the McDonalds near here, the seagulls have learned that if they do flybys
just right, the diners will toss them french fries.  They can catch them in
the air!  Now that is a trick, if you think about it.  They catch them more
than half the time, and the misses can be attributed often to bad throws.

I have seen seagulls lie: the male pretends he has an injured leg in order
to encourage the big ugly thing (me) to come after him instead of his flock
of chicks and their mamas.
  
Last week I was out walking and saw a seagull with something in his mouth.
I assumed it was a shellfish of some sort.  He dropped it, then swooped down
and caught it in the air, after it had fallen about a couple meters.  Then
he dropped it again, swooped down, missed it this time.  It fell, I went
over, saw that it was a pebble, not any food of any kind.  That bird was
just playing.  Play is a sign of intelligence in otters and chimps, so now
we see it in birds too.

spike