Get ready for some feathered facts because we're not just winging it on this fun episode of the Parent Busters Podcast with Jackie and Ella!
Beyond the banter, we'll soar into the extraordinary capabilities of our winged companions with tons of bird fun facts including:
Strap in as we take a journey into the fascinating sphere of avian intelligence in our latest Parent Busters podcast episode and crack open the true meaning of 'bird brain', a phrase often misunderstood and misused.
We'll hatch some light on the journey of this idiom from the 1900s and how it has nestled into modern vernacular and even more fun facts about birds for kids and parents!
You'll be in for a feather-ruffling discussion, full of fascinating tidbits and egg-citing puns that will keep you chirping for more, fueled by Ella's infectious enthusiasm for all things avian.
This episode is guaranteed to change the way you think about our feathered friends and might just make you aspire to be a 'bird brain' yourself!
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
Check out how your can support our LISTEN FOR CAUSE to help us give back to others!
*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Get ready for some feathered facts because we're not just winging it on this fun episode of the Parent Busters Podcast with Jackie and Ella!
Beyond the banter, we'll soar into the extraordinary capabilities of our winged companions with tons of bird fun facts including:
Strap in as we take a journey into the fascinating sphere of avian intelligence in our latest Parent Busters podcast episode and crack open the true meaning of 'bird brain', a phrase often misunderstood and misused.
We'll hatch some light on the journey of this idiom from the 1900s and how it has nestled into modern vernacular and even more fun facts about birds for kids and parents!
You'll be in for a feather-ruffling discussion, full of fascinating tidbits and egg-citing puns that will keep you chirping for more, fueled by Ella's infectious enthusiasm for all things avian.
This episode is guaranteed to change the way you think about our feathered friends and might just make you aspire to be a 'bird brain' yourself!
Grab your free Buster Deduction sheet for kids!
Check out how your can support our LISTEN FOR CAUSE to help us give back to others!
*All resources and references used in researching this podcast episode are found on the corresponding episode post on ParentBusters.com.
Hello everyone, welcome to Parent Busters, a fun podcast where parents and kids can learn together. I'm Ella, and I'm here with my mom, jackie. I feel like you're oddly excited today. Well, I am, because I have a very important question for you. Are you ready? Yeah, okay, are birds? Oh, we're Parent Busters. By the way, I said that. Oh, that's the whole intro. Oh, sometimes I don't really pay attention during the podcast. I know I have a very important question though. Okay, are birds actually bird brains? Wait, you want to know if birds are really dumb? Yes, okay, because.
Speaker 1:So this came about because I you could probably tell from some of the episodes we've done in the past Ella's a bird nerd. I'm just gonna say it I'm a bird nerd. Oh, we need a sticker that says bird nerd. Oh, that's so good. Ella is a total bird nerd. I'm a bird nerd.
Speaker 1:I love animals. In any episode we do where it's like, oh, hey, we should do this thing about animals, I'm like yes, pigeons, sign me up. I like burst through the door. Can we talk about your love of pigeons? Oh, yes, how, no one else loves pigeons. No one else loves and I'll talk about that more later. So when we talk about, it's a sticker around. I'm a big advocate for animals and that are theoretically way smarter than people think they are. So when this Are they, I think we're gonna bust that, we're gonna bust that. So when this episode came around, I was just like, yes, let's do it, we're gonna do it. Yes, so we wanted to bust our bird's really bird brains. Yes, so that's what we're gonna talk about today and, honestly, it's way more interesting than you might think.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's get into what bird brain means. After our two truths and a lie. Okay, okay, you ready? Yes, here we go. Phase hold for a very important message. Number one owls are wise. Okay, yeah, because that's a saying too. Yeah, that's a big thing. Number two crows can hold grudges. I believe it. They seem like I don't know if it's true, but they seem like they would hold grudges. Yeah, they're like cats of the sky. Number three Number three pigeons can count.
Speaker 1:Okay, so listen through the episode and you'll be able to figure out which one is false and which two are true, or you can listen all the way to the end, where we give you the answers. Yes, hey, ella, why did the bird brain go to college? Why, because he wanted to get an egg-ucation. No, don't bring back the egg puns. No, how many egg puns can parent busters come up with in their history of? We need to make a list. I think we should. No, something important I think we should bring up what is bird brain?
Speaker 1:Okay, so if you haven't heard of the saying, there's a saying that says bird brain and it's usually referred to someone who's being a little bit dumb yeah, someone that people perceive as like not very intelligent or not clever. Yeah, basically, it's like calling someone stupid. It's an insult. Yes, so if you don't know a saying like bird brain, that's called an idiom and that's a phrase that doesn't have a literal meaning. So something you might know. Some of the other idioms you might know are something like saying break a leg to someone In a pickle Sorry, in a pickle, in a oh pickles. Or saying something as a piece of cake Okay, so they don't have, it's not the literal meaning. Like when you tell someone, when you're going on stage for drama and I say break a leg, I don't really mean you don't wish me to get seriously injured and hit by like one of the sandbags, that's right. And the raptors, what do you mean? When do you ever have sandbags. I'm talking about literal theater. I'm not talking about theater in the basement. Huh, which is another episode. Stay tuned. Stay tuned for Gate Line. That's my favorite horror book. Theater in the Basement. Theater in the Basement sounds like a Date Line episode. It does Okay. So Ella, stop, keep us on track. It means good luck, not she wishes me harm, right, and I'm not saying that's all idioms.
Speaker 1:So saying someone is a bird brain is an idiom. It doesn't really mean you think they have the brain the size of a bird. It means that you don't think they're very smart. So what? Where did this? Why did people start using this? Oh, do you know? We actually don't know.
Speaker 1:I do know the phrase is exact origins, but we do know that bird brain has been used at least since the early 1900s, so it's honestly pretty recent. There's also an earlier version that they have document that's been documented since the 1600s and that's bird-witted, which is way better. I disagree, well, I mean, I feel like you're in that era and you're like, oh, you're so bird-witted, right, I think bird-witted sounds smart and bird brain? Well, bird brain could sound smart too. True, ironically, it. It was also an insult though, yes, when people said bird-witted from the 1600s on. They meant the same. It was an insult.
Speaker 1:So the bird brings? It seemed like the bird brain slang really came in around the 1930s, yeah, and bird-witted was in the 1600s, so it has its origins pretty far back. Honestly, yeah, it can't. It probably comes from, like Ella said they. We don't. We weren't really able to trace back any origins because no one seems to know the exact origin.
Speaker 1:No, they think it comes from the fact that birds have smaller craniums and that's because they're little, that's because they're small. But there's a perception that small brains means lack of intelligence, doesn't it? And no, really, yeah, and we're going to talk about that, because many birds have craniums which is another name for your skull, or that bone part that hold your brain in that are actually big for their body, really. So, in reality, the size of an animal's brain doesn't necessarily correlate to intelligence. Yeah, birds like especially like, parents and crows, yes, who are very smart, yes, have demonstrated things like problem-solving abilities and other complex behaviors, like the ability to follow steps and doing things, and that actually indicates a higher level of intelligence than what people say are bird brains and something that even you can compare it like. It's a good mental comparison.
Speaker 1:Mental is a bird's cognition. The mental process of getting an understanding knowledge can actually rival that of apes and marine mammals. And to give you just something to compare that to, apes have been able to learn a simplified version of American Sign Language, right? So that's pretty. Not bird range, right? No, there are birds, many birds there.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's just say it some birds are stupid, some birds are stupid, but many birds are way smarter than we thought. Did you know that when they did study studies on bird brain, bird brain waves, it showed the same patterns that we humans have during their sleep. Wow, so it's the same pattern type that our brain waves have when we're sleeping. And so, even though birds don't have a neocortex the part of mammal brains for thought, perception and memory they have a pallium, which actually works in a very similar way. So there are more similarities than you would think. So the saying is rooted, even though people say it. We think it's because they say bird brain because of the size. But it's rooted in this misconception that intelligence is correlated with the size of the brain. Yeah, rather than their like cognitive abilities and the way the brain works. So we can tell you that we can bust that myth. Bird brain most birds are not bird brain, are not bird brain. So if someone comes up to you and they're like your bird brain, say thank you, say thank you, that's.
Speaker 1:And then she would whip out her button that says bird nerd, no card carrying laminated. Ella would have a laminated card. Okay, way, making a pen. That's a, that's a ID card. That's card carrying bird nerd. We are gonna make these. I will be making these later. Yes, and we'll let you know when they're. Yes, we have a whole stop up later that we're getting ready to release. Yes, if you don't want to, chicken earlobes magnet, that's okay. And if you know what that's from, go check out some of our egg episodes there. Only 142, no, there's like three of them. Yeah, we talk about chicken earlobes and we're I'm making a chicken earlobe button for myself. I actually have designs that I ever show you them. No, she holds out. See how she is.
Speaker 1:We all know who does all the work on this show and that's clearly the podcast. Okay, what? No, hey, it's kind of weird that we didn't let the cat, the pod cats, in the room when we were talking about birds today. Do you think that was some content, this. Yeah, we got them out of the room unintentionally and we were talking about, anyway. I feel like this is wow, okay, so let's just get back. I just feel like we're off of. You know, usual. Hey, how about a joke? Oh, what kind of bird works at a construction site. What a crane. I kid you, not, every time I'm with my dad I'm like, oh, there's a crane, and I'm talking about the bird. He's like where's the construction? How did I not get that? Okay, so let's move on.
Speaker 1:Yes, now that we know that many birds are not bird brains, they're actually pretty smart. Do you want to talk about some of the things that birds are smart at or good at? Yes, I'm just going to go through a list, yes, and then tell you, and then I'll add in a little bit of what kinds of birds, and then I think you're going to talk about some. I have some more birds. Specific yes, specific to birds. Okay. So, birds, birds. There are birds that are really good at problem solving. Really. They're like little feather detectives that can, you know, get treats, figure out how to bring people toys. Birds like crows and parents are really good at solving puzzles, really, yes, so that's one thing they're good at.
Speaker 1:This one might freak you out. Oh, did you know that some birds use tools? What they put on their little tool belt and they have like a little red tool box. This entire episode just going to be be me making squeaks of adorableness. I know this really like you that, and I'll talk about it more in a little bit. They, let's be honest, you've been asking for this episode for like a year, yeah now, and I plan on writing like three research papers on this problem.
Speaker 1:Okay, so some birds really use tools like how, no joke. So there's a. Did I have hammers? Yes, no, kind of. So there's a bird called the crow, called the new Caldonian crow. Oh, it uses a stick as a tool for removing insects from holes or on trees. Yeah, they actually bend them into hooks also. How crazy to use as tools.
Speaker 1:There was also the best known example of a tool using bird is actually the woodpecker friend finch. The woodpecker finch, really, this one is found in the Galapagos Islands and it uses items like twigs or like the spines of cactuses, and these are also the ones that they hook in there to get things out of nooks and crannies and trees, and they it's. It said one of the resources I read said up to 50% of this type of birds food is used obtaining tools. Wow that, and who do you think the first? Think about the first bird, the first woodpecker that did that and his mom was like Johnny, no, johnny, we don't do the woodpecker finch correction. And then his mom was just like wait, that's not how we get our food, these kids, these days. I already, back in our day, girls go get Johnny. He's using a tool again. Back in my day, we just risked the splinters, getting the grubs from the trees and the cacti. There's little Johnny out there, like with his full workbench construction helmet, like one of the like neon orange. Yeah, so anyway, birds can use tools. Wow, wow.
Speaker 1:Many birds have really good memories. They are like these little superheroes and they need them because they hide. Think about many birds hide some of their snacks, like they're preparing. Yes and so, just like when you hide snacks in your closet. You don't have to call me out like that. You don't. Why would you hide snacks? There's no reason, I know. I don't think that's called hiding. I think that's just called cashing, leaving in a teenager's room. That's not really called hiding. I hate to tell you.
Speaker 1:So there is a Clark's nut cracker, which is a North American bird. It hides seeds in over 3,000 different locations in the fall. What? Why do you think it does that? So it has a lot of backups if other birds find them. Well, what if they're doing it in the fall? Oh, winter, yeah, so it's called remember, yeah, it's called cashing that, yeah, and they hide them in. This one particular bird can do up to 3,000 different spots and they remember them all. I believe we talked about cashing in its fall, y'all is that? Yeah, yes, we did so. If you want to learn more about that, check that episode out. That's one of our most popular episodes, by the way. Great episode. It is a good episode, but surprising that that I mean. I always thought the fart episode was gonna stay right on top. I agree, okay.
Speaker 1:So birds, many birds, are good communication, good communicators. So think about like yes, they can call you. They text poorly, they don't have cell phones we should not spread it misinformation and they don't know how to text. You know, those opposable thumbs really come in handy when you're trying to text. They really do birds like parents. And stop, of course, on what? Birds like parents. You said parents, yeah, that too, our and song birds talk and sing. So, yeah, I think we forget that birds singing are their ways of communicating. Yeah, so you know, they're kind of like the little rock stars of the bird world. They're just out there.
Speaker 1:Um, they, some birds, learn tricks and you may have seen, like parents, you may have been to a show where they're doing tricks, like remember, I remember, like one of the big, what are the big ones? African parents, the big white ones? Yeah, no, no, no, cockatoos I saw, didn't we see one riding a bike, like at a show, like a little bike. I do not remember this, it could have been something I made up, that's true. Um, you can teach some birds to do tricks, just like you can teach your dog to do tricks. Wow, well, they're part of like zoo shows or you know, yeah, animal shows like that.
Speaker 1:Birds understand patterns. So explain that one a little bit. Well, just like, imagine you playing with blocks and like you put them in a certain pattern and then you recognize and you put the same ones in a certain pattern. Birds can spot patterns also, oh, and then they can learn from others, which is honestly how everyone learns, right, yeah, they watch other birds, so it's like they're attending a little birdie school. It's like a birdie home school. And one of the ways that they learn how to cash their food again, which is hiding all their food in all those different places, is also not spelled C a s h. It's C a C h e. Correct important notes. That's correct. So they learn from others. They learn from their parents by watching them cash food. But the Western scrub Jay is a little minx Not really, he's a little bird. He uses deception when cashing his food, their food. If they think they're being watched by, like other bird species or other bird types or like animals, they will re-hide their bird, their cash, multiple times in order to confuse the onlookers. And I've also heard of birds making fake caches. Correct, yes, that's the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, birds are better at navigating than us. That makes sense. I don't mean you personally. I mean, I do mean you personally. Oh, yeah, they're great. I don't even know what street I live on. They're great. Yes, you just stop. I barely do. We have to be careful making jokes like that, because then I get emails about how our homeschooling is failing. Ok, so we know we're joking, but there are some people who take that very seriously. I'm joking, I know what street I live on. I'm just very bad with directions. But birds are not, by the way. Birds are, so they have these like little maps in their head. They fly for very long distances without getting lost, even if they've never been there before, and they're great at navigating. I just you know, I'm going to have to remember to post a link to this.
Speaker 1:I just saw an article a couple of weeks ago and I can't remember what type of bird. I'm so sorry, but he was flying like in Europe. And then he got to the water and they tracked him. So they had a tracking device on him, ok, and it was showing his migration south for the winter and he flew almost in an exact straight line all the way down. He got to the water, he flew east and then went around the water. So he flew east so he would still be overland went around the part that was the water and then went back to the straight line all the way down. What? And it showed a map of it, like an actual map of his navigation. So that's crazy. Yeah, super smart, good at navigating, yeah, and think about, and I think you're going to cover some stuff about pigeons, yes, but one of the things that fall into this good at navigating category is, you may not know that people used to use something called homing pigeons yes, which are also called carrier pigeons and it was a way to get messages to other people.
Speaker 1:It was the medieval times email. Well, they even used some of that for spies in times of war. Whoa, homing pigeons. They would write this message on like a super thin paper and they would roll it into a tiny tube and they would attach it to the pigeons legs and they called it the pigeon post. And then they pigeons mentally mark a spot to go back to that they identify as their home. So it doesn't work just anywhere you have to. The pigeon mail, for example, can only work when the sender is holding the receiver's pigeons. Oh, so I would have to have your pigeons because they've marked your house as their home, and then I would send them a message and they would fly back home and then you would take the message off what I know. I think that that's a cool paper or research project all on its own. Yeah, that's crazy Problem solving in groups.
Speaker 1:So birds are really good at working together to solve problems in groups. They're like this little superhero team. They're like, hey, yo, you want to solve some problems today, let's go do that. And then, lastly, did you know that some birds can recognize themselves? What, in mirrors or reflections, I did? They know that it's themselves, and that's actually one of the tests of higher intelligence. So if I can't recognize myself, then you're having some issues. Because I have to tell you, there are some days I get up and look in the mirror and I'm like, ok, I don't even know, not in an existential way. Ok, ok, never mind then. Ok, so those are all cool things that birds can do, which, honestly, when I started putting this list together, I was super surprised.
Speaker 1:But I thought, like hiding and carrier pigeon, yeah, but let's put some of those things to a more specific name, ok, so one of the smartest groups of birds are the corvids. Ok, now do you know what corvids are? No, corvids are such as crows, ravens, magpies and jays, and the corvid family is actually home to over 120 species of birds. So it's huge, yeah, but why am I saying that they're some of the smartest? Like this, I'm noting this as a big thing, and we've talked a bit about crows. Ok, you like crows also, I like crows. They're awesome, they're interesting, but I find them scary. They are terrifying. I mean, a group of crows is called a murder, so like fair. So, first of all, the number of neurons, the cells that act as messengers, around the body in crows are nearly equal to some of species, that of species of monkeys, oh wow, yes, and the number of neurons in a crow's brain is about 1.5 billion, oh, wow. So that's a lot to be packed, especially if you think how I mean, crows are big birds, but they're not big. No, that's a lot of neurons to be packed in the brain, the size of a thumb. That's a lot.
Speaker 1:Yes, crows have been recorded to recognize human faces, so they know their people. And some people hey yo, yo, my people, hey yo, what's up? And some people you've probably seen a video online of someone saving a hurt crow and then that crow's starting to bring them gifts. Yes, or, I love when I see people post this they'll leave some nuts out for the crow or some little stashes of treats, yes, and then every day, the crow comes back and then they start bringing them presents, like here's a piece of yarn, here's a bottle cap. What if they were just putting down those things so they could eat? And they're like that dude keeps yo, marge, that dude keeps stealing our yarn. That seems right. So they have friends, they're friends with us. They know which humans they like and they know which ones they don't like, because they can actually hold grudges and they can pass those grudges down through generations. Wow, so it's just like humans, it's just like a family reunion.
Speaker 1:Yep, crows that were captured by scientists wearing masks would actually attack anyone they saw with that same mask. Wow, so if someone was wearing like I don't know what's a good, like a Frankenstein-like Halloween mask, if someone was out you mean Frankenstein's monster, thank you, frankenstein's monster Halloween mask. And some kids out-wearing a Frankenstein's monster Halloween mask during Halloween, that same crow who got captured is like oh, that's a get them. Nope, wow, they are known to actually attack the people. Stay tuned to our social media where we'll do a video of a crow attacking Ella. No, no, no, I mean maybe, I don't know. Please, please, no. Listen, sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for science. Yes, but I don't want to be attacked by crows. Okay, but if you have a crow suit on, I just sounded like a crow. I don't even know what that would entail.
Speaker 1:Okay, sorry, go ahead, but besides recognizing humans, they're able to imagine in their brains what they look like. How do we know that Like it's not like, on the brain waves it forms the outline of a human? Huh, I actually don't know, and it's not like we can ask them. Hey, jerry, are you imagining what Ella looks like right now and Jerry's like? No, that'd be weird. Why are you saying that? I? That's a good question. If we find anything, we'll link it in our research, or if you know anything about that, please let us know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so besides record, being able to recognize a lot of things, they also Drop hard-shelled nuts into the road, so cars will crack them open for them. Look, I just had a realization. What, from now on, we're not doing like Christmas nut cracking, we're just going to the driveway. That is genius, right? Yes, um, they also cooperate on tasks. They make tools yeah, we already talked about that and play games Like. So an example Mario Kart, not that type of oh, oh. An example that I saw that's not exactly monopoly, no, not exactly scientific.
Speaker 1:Take tech, um, but I saw this on Instagram was Crows taking turns? Who can see who can balance on an exercise ball longer. They jump on and they'd fall off, and then the other one would jump on and then he'd fall off, and then the same one would jump back on. Stop filming us. I have 20 bucks on this and I have 20 buttons and a PC on Chippies. Just credit real quick.
Speaker 1:This was recorded by flora and frost on Instagram, so please go check them out. Oh, cool, yes, um, we'll link to it. In case you don't know all of the resources that we use for our, our podcasts, we list them out and link to them over on the episode post on parent busters, comm, so anything that we say, hey, check them out, we have a link to, and more so, if you want to learn more about this topic, we'll have. We always have an episode post, and then it also a companion learning after listening post. So if you actually want to do like a unit study on this or like, do some fun activities at home Based on this, or you're having a read, doing research paper or project, yeah, have fun stuff over there. Yes, please go check it out.
Speaker 1:So we talked about a lot about me birds making tools, specifically crows. One of my favorite parts of that, though, is how um bitter they are about it and how scary it is. A little bit, oh, corvettes have been documented to turn scrap metal wire into tools, so they're using metal, and as normal, as well as normal wire, corvettes have started using anti bird spikes, which are these long metal bird things. They're terrifying. People put them like on Tull of barns or houses. So birds, yes, because they poop up there. I mean, I guess that's been on you, I still don't understand them to build their nests. Oh Wow, they're like. We'll show you. Thanks for giving us these anti bird spikes. Let's keep the other birds away. We make mech Bird nests so smart.
Speaker 1:Now can we just talk for a second about crows? It's not gonna be aliens that takes over this world, that is accurate. It's gonna be crow. We're we're gonna have to answer to crows. My money's on three things. Okay, let's hear that crows apes or naked mole rats, oh, okay, I'm glad you said mole rats after naked, yeah, well, naked, won't? Mole rats are terrifying, yes, and they're also evil, and I feel like we need to do an episode on them. What about otters? Oh See, I don't think they'll take over the world, they're just, they'll just co-conspire. Okay, all right, they'll be like the security guards, they will, okay, anyway, okay.
Speaker 1:So, moving on, I want to talk about the most amazing bird to ever exist. Oh, wow, the pigeon. Can you tell? They're my favorite bird. So a lot of people can serve pigeons to be Pretty bird brain and not in the good way.
Speaker 1:They do things like walk into walls or fly into windows, which I just want to know I also do. You might be a pigeon. Um, all birds fly into windows if there's a great enough reflection. That's true. I mean, we used to live on the water and we had huge, big picture windows looking out over the and we used to have, sadly, birds fly into the window all the time because the Reflection, a certain type time of day, looked like the sky and water continuing. Yeah, so you know, let's just not Single out pigeons for flying into windows, fair, but people do, sadly, pigeon hater, exactly, and people find this as a sign of not great intelligence, right, when actually they just have really bad depth perception. Oh, which is the you are a pigeon, I am the which is the ability to tell how far away something is from you and In reality, a pigeons intelligence is actually similar to that of a crows.
Speaker 1:Wow, that doesn't surprise me, though. I mean really no, because I've seen a lot of things about pigeons, especially, like about the mean carrier pigeons and about the things that they do. That's true. That's true. I never thought that they were stupid, okay, I I've never hated them either, like I know lots of people hate them.
Speaker 1:I don't know why they do, because they scavenge and they, they're just there's little guys, um, but like crows, they're actually able to remember human faces and places, right, um, they have been documented to recognize different styles of paintings. Oh, wow, so, like defer between different artists? That's crazy, right, they're like, I'm really not a fan of that Picasso dude, such the line work in the yeah, that's what pigeons sound like, right, and the brush strokes. I'm just not a fan of the color scheme. It's like they would be in a smoking jacket and like holding with like black rim glasses and holding a drink, and they're like what do you think about? What do you see when you look at the painting? Yes, um, pigeons are one of the few animals to recognize themselves in a mirror, which I mentioned earlier, is a sign of higher intelligence.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and if taught, they're able to count up to three. How so? Scientists taught them this by like a verbally saying one, two, three, no, no, no, visually. So you talked about earlier how birds are able to group things, right, um, kind of use going on this. Okay, scientists taught them this by displaying different groups of color shapes to represent numbers on a touch screen. So you had like a block that was there's one block and then there's a different color and there are two blocks and that's one too. And thank you for all explaining. You're welcome. And when the pigeons would correctly order them, they got rewarded. Um, so they were able to count up to around six or seven before they started having a lot of trouble differentiating between the amounts. That is crazy. So birds, pigeons, can count. Um, and while you might just think of pigeons as messengers, like you talked about, or little guys that are just walking around the city waiting for your chippies, waiting for your chippies, um, they have been trained to detect, detect cancer. Oh, wow, um, I had not heard that they are able to recognize this. Um, because they're able to see the markers in scans, like images they're, if they're taught. Of course, this is not like that would be another really great research paper, right? Or like study unit.
Speaker 1:So a lot of people think pigeons are dumb, but let's talk about owls. Oh no, well, they're wise. We know because everyone says everyone says this is mostly actually a Western thing Also that owls are the symbol of smart and genius, and all I can think of is the Tootsie Pop Owl. One, two, three, hey. Why did the owl become a teacher? Why, because it had lots of wise lessons to share with the bird brains. We're going to bust if owls are wise or not. I have some news for you. Sad news, no, it's news. Owls Surprising news. Yes, owls aren't that smart. What Come on? So we call the smart bird stupid and we call the stupid bird smart. Well, they're not necessarily stupid, and I'll get that in a second. But why do we think they're smart? Because they look smart. I mean, have you seen one of those little owls with the giant eyes? Yes, they just look terrified. Yeah, so I wouldn't necessarily say it's because of their looks.
Speaker 1:It is believed that this actually comes from the ancient Greek mythology Ta-da, your favorite, yep, and which? Athena. We always say that if you're ever unsure, on like a test, pick either ancient Greek myth, ancient Roman, ancient Greek, ancient Rome. There was another one. That's all I can think of right now. Yep, because everything goes back to that. Apparently so, in Greek mythology, athena, the goddess of wisdom, often had an owl as a companion. Huh, so it's thought that in Western culture, that kind of Athena Athena, come on. Maybe she was helping him with his math, maybe she was eating a titsy roll pop.
Speaker 1:If you don't know what we're talking about, how dare you one? You're not old like me, and to, I know it. I know, but only because of me, are you? They still play that come on occasion. They do, I think, at Halloween. Yeah, I'll link to. It was a commercial for to see it's beautiful, please go look at. Yeah, I'll link the old school Somewhere.
Speaker 1:So I'm that smart in comparison to Corbett's and Parrots, however, so I'll still have the best cognition. Over half of their brains are dedicated to their sight. What well, that's those big old eyes? It says big old lookers. Over there they go peepers, um. So while they're not the most like traditionally smart, they are their main skills hunting in sight. Their night vision is way better than a crows and their main specialty is Hunting. Yeah, wow, and comparison. Crows mainly rely on foraging and being resourceful.
Speaker 1:Did you if you didn't know this, owls have long, skinny legs. Okay, go look it up. Yes, so if you think that they're like fluff of fur and then just like feet, that's not true. There are pictures of, like Um, wildlife rescues, like lifting up their fur, very long legs. They have super, super long legs and super, super skinny and very thin faces. Please go look up an image, like someone. My friend found an image, someone illustrated of an owl Like underneath the feathers. It's an experience. And then also look up how baby owls sleep. And then we're not. I'm not gonna say anything else, just Google or search engine, just like. Just how do you know about owls are a lie. You're gonna be amused about how baby owls sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so for hunting, owls can actually determine the weight, speed and how far away their prey is From them in the dark. That's crazy. And while their memory is about equal to other migratory birds, they have a very strong, strong, short-term location memory. Huh, um, they use this to make a three-dimensional mental map, um of the area to determine where their prey came from, huh. So, for example, if there was, I don't know, like a mouse and they were looking for, like when the mouse is home was and they see that it came from that direction. They could Determine where it came from. What episode was it? And were we talking about mosquitoes? No, bats, it was the bat episode. So bats kind of do the same thing. But remember there were the tiny bats that would land on, like the farm animals, like, prick their skin, drink their blood and they would like vampire bats. They would locate them based on their heartbeat correct, something like that. Yes, go listen to our bad episode too. It's really good. Yes, if you're interested in other flying things, and Well, you may think that crows have all the tricks up their birdie sleeves, their bigs, their beaks tricks up their beaks.
Speaker 1:The owls actually have some hunting tricks of their own, including some owls, like the little owl, hides rotting meat to attract maggots. Yeah, gross. They have their own food traps Disgusting, and oh, it's gonna get worse. And some I like how excited you are, you're like it's gonna get a lot worse. And to end off my section on owls, some, like the burrowing owl, will use poop as bait for dung beetles to eat and then eat the dog and then eat the dung beetles. They set their own traps. That's so well might not be as smart clever rows or pigeons. They're pretty smart in their own way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, should we talk about our tutors? And a lie? Oh, let's, I have like two short fun times. Okay, the so I think most people know that parrots can talk. Yes, um, the African gray parrot is capable of learning over 200 words seriously, and they research has shown that some of the African gray parents Actually understand the meanings of the words that they've been taught. So they're not just parenting Back the word, but actually understand so kind of like dogs. Like we say to our dogs Do you want to go outside? Oh, they understand that. That means go outside. That's Wow. 200 words is a lot. That's a lot of words In relation to food.
Speaker 1:How big do you think a hummingbird's brain is? So hummingbirds are teeny, teeny, tiny raisin grain of rice. The hummingbirds brain is the size of a grain of rice. Oh, the little guy I know.
Speaker 1:All right, I'll say our tutors in a lie and you tell me what, if it's true or false. Okay, okay, all right. Number one owls are wise. That is the lie. That's the lie. They're not that smart. Crows can hold grudges. That is true, and I'm not surprised. And and pigeons can count. That is also true. Yeah, all right. So God, don't, don't be a bird brain. I was gonna say do be a bird brain. Oh, oh, okay here, do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. I mean, do whatever your parents or guardians. Yeah, that's also true. Okay, have a great day, lads. Bye, squawk. Hey, thanks for listening.
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