Emus aren't as 'dumb' as we thought
Emus have a reputation for being "bird-brained" but a new study has found they can innovate
- solving a tricky puzzle to access a food reward.
I once visited an ostrich farm. I'm tall - 1m96 in intelligent units, 6'5" in... whatever...
Those birds were looking DOWN at me. That is a BIG FUCKING BIRD. Fortunately, they're herbivorous.
There used to be carnivorous cousins. Called TERROR BIRDS. Oh, yeah!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
But, despite widespread assumptions about emus' apparent lack of intelligence, very little is truly known about their cognitive abilities.
Coming to the defence of emus and other large, flightless birds, a new study has found emus and rheas can innovate - creating new techniques to solve a tricky task to access a food reward.
"A large body of research shows that crows and parrots are effective problem-solvers," says Dr Fay Clark of the University of Bristol in the UK, lead author of the study.
"And while scientists have recently taken interest in other birds like gulls and birds of prey, all of these birds belong to the same phylogenetic group, Neognathae."
Most modern birds - nearly 10,000 species - are neognaths.
"The problem? The more we study the same species repeatedly, the more we create an 'echo chamber' of knowledge and create a false impression that other species are less 'intelligent'," says Clark.
"But in reality, they haven't been studied to the same level."
Emus ( Dromaius novaehollandiae ) and greater rheas ( Rhea americana ) are part of the smaller clade of modern birds - Palaeognathae - that evolved flightlessness and gigantism.
Palaeognaths, which also includes ostriches, cassowaries, kiwis, and tinamous, have smaller relative brain sizes compared to other birds.
"The more we study palaeognath birds, the more we can understand the broader picture of bird cognition," says Clark.
Clark and her colleagues tested the problem-solving abilities of 3 emus, 2 greater rheas, and 4 common ostriches ( Struthio camelus ) against a new puzzle problem.
It required the birds to line up holes in a plastic wheel, held together by a nut and bolt, to obtain a food reward.
Each was first shown a solved version of the puzzle with the food freely available. Then they were given an unsolved one to complete within 30 minutes.
All 3 emus solved the puzzle on the first attempt and could solve it again once the puzzle was reset, moving the hole in the most efficient direction towards food 90% of the time.
A male rhea used this technique but also created a second one, rotating the bolt in the middle of the wheel until the task fell apart.
None of the ostriches were able to solve the task.
"We classify palaeognath innovation as low level or simplistic - and it is certainly not as complex as the innovation we see in crows and parrots," says Clark.
"However, it is still a very important finding. There were no reports of technical innovation in palaeognaths before our study, and there was a prevailing view that they are 'dumb' birds.
"Our research suggests that is not true and that technical innovation may have evolved far earlier in birds than previously thought.
And, because palaeognaths birds are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs, Clark says that further research might shed light on how they behaved.
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Yep, today's birds evolved from dinosaurs. Crows and ravens are rumored to be the most intelligent birds
Does this mean we should no longer use the expression "bird-brain"?
Pound for pound, bird brains are better than ours...
Well one insurance company uses an emu in it's ads, Lemu Emu seems smarter than Doug
Those are fun ads.
For a bit of fun , look up the great Emu war from the land down under ....
Let's not vex our Aussie friends...
Crickey... certainly not on my list of things to watch..