Hello, All,
I am a little late in introducing myself. I have have had tons of great advice on our rescued duck in the last week in the duck forum.
I teach general psychology and human growth and development at a local community college in Huntsville, AL. In the last week, though, Daffodil (now crippled with an arthritic hip), rescued from the farm pond across the street, has taught me to look into the brains of birds, too. She has visited us since she was dumped at the pond with her friend, Daisy (Daisy has been missing for probably close to a month now), but until she was taken in, I had no idea how smart she was. She has learned to use the ramp to get in and out of her baby pool in no time. After one night, she knows to go to her cage so we can keep her safe. Wow!
So, if you get a chance, please look at NOVA's tutorial on bird brains.
I was in awe!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/03-brain.html
I am a little late in introducing myself. I have have had tons of great advice on our rescued duck in the last week in the duck forum.
I teach general psychology and human growth and development at a local community college in Huntsville, AL. In the last week, though, Daffodil (now crippled with an arthritic hip), rescued from the farm pond across the street, has taught me to look into the brains of birds, too. She has visited us since she was dumped at the pond with her friend, Daisy (Daisy has been missing for probably close to a month now), but until she was taken in, I had no idea how smart she was. She has learned to use the ramp to get in and out of her baby pool in no time. After one night, she knows to go to her cage so we can keep her safe. Wow!
So, if you get a chance, please look at NOVA's tutorial on bird brains.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3214/03-brain.html
Snippet:
In the past few decades, scientists have learned that the basis of everything they thought they knew about bird brainsthat they were largely comprised of the most primitive and instinctual of brain structureswas wrong. Fully 75 percent of the brains of parrots, hummingbirds, and thousands of other species of songbirds is actually made up of a sophisticated information processing system that works much the same way as the locus of human higher-mindedness, the cerebral cortex. Below, take a look at a songbird brain model the way Erich Jarvis and other neurobiologists now see it.
So nice to meet everyone, and thanks so much for all of the help!
In the past few decades, scientists have learned that the basis of everything they thought they knew about bird brainsthat they were largely comprised of the most primitive and instinctual of brain structureswas wrong. Fully 75 percent of the brains of parrots, hummingbirds, and thousands of other species of songbirds is actually made up of a sophisticated information processing system that works much the same way as the locus of human higher-mindedness, the cerebral cortex. Below, take a look at a songbird brain model the way Erich Jarvis and other neurobiologists now see it.
So nice to meet everyone, and thanks so much for all of the help!
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