People usually admire birds for their vibrant feathers and beautiful songs, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. Many birds possess extraordinary intelligence. They can solve problems, communicate with gestures, and even navigate thousands of miles. This article explores 12 of the brainiest birds and what makes them so clever.
African Grey Parrot
The African Grey Parrot ranks among the smartest birds. Besides their ability to mimic human speech with uncanny accuracy, the African grey parrot parrots possess impressive cognitive skills.
They demonstrate advanced problem-solving and conceptual understanding and can even count and solve puzzles. One Harvard-sponsored study even showed the African Grey Parrot ranks could outperform 5-year-old humans on specific cognitive tasks, highlighting their exceptional intelligence and challenging previous understandings of animal cognition.
Green Heron
The Green Herons are known for their clever fishing techniques. They use tools like sticks, insects, and feathers to bait fish. Their ability to hover briefly to catch prey has earned them recognition as one of the most intelligent bird species. Green Herons also exhibit problem-solving skills.
They construct nests high in trees or bushes. They love engaging in playful activities like tossing and catching objects in the air.
Crow
Crows are widely recognized for their exceptional intelligence. They possess remarkable problem-solving skills and complex social intelligence and use tools (both in making and using them).
Crows can recognize individual humans, remember food caches, and adapt to diverse environments, including urban settings. Their cognitive abilities include understanding causality, reasoning, and even counting. A study from the University of Tübingen shows crows have sophisticated numerical competence, demonstrate abstract thinking, and show careful consideration during decision-making.
Kea
Native to New Zealand’s South Island, Keas are brilliant parrots. They excel at problem-solving, tool use, and navigating complex social dynamics, which are crucial for survival in harsh mountain environments. Kea shows an understanding of probability and can combine information from multiple sources.
These birds are fun-loving, curious, and thrive on social interactions.
Raven
Ravens are intelligent birds well-known for their ability to mimic sounds. They can imitate human speech and even sounds like car alarms. Ravens use tools to access food and have impressive memories, which help them remember faces. Ravens love to play hide-and-seek and can communicate with gestures. These birds are also known for their adaptability and unpredictable behavior.
They have large brains in proportion to their body size, which are responsible for their reasoning abilities and intricate behaviors. Recent research shows young ravens can perform well as great apes on certain cognitive tests.
Magpies
Despite the superstitions surrounding them, magpies are scientifically recognized as intelligent birds. Their brain-to-body mass ratio rivals great apes and marine mammals, placing them among the most intelligent animals. Magpies exhibit remarkable cognitive abilities, including tool use, mimicking human speech and other sounds, and complex social behaviors like grieving and teamwork.
They even pass the “mirror test,” which shows self-awareness, a trait only a few other species share. Magpies can also recognize individual human faces.
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds, though tiny, are surprisingly intelligent. These little geniuses have an exceptional memory. They can remember the location and refill time of a number of flowers. Researchers have discovered that hummingbirds possess an enlarged hippocampus, the brain region associated with memory.
They’re also known for their problem-solving skills and ability to adapt to changes in food sources. Their impressive navigation skills allow them to migrate long distances.
Woodpecker Finch
Woodpecker Finches are recognized for their skilled use of tools. They use sticks, twigs, and cactus spines, modifying and shaping them to extract insects from trees.
This sophisticated behavior indicates highly specialized cognitive abilities. Woodpecker finches have also demonstrated the capacity for social learning, acquiring new tool-use techniques by observing others.
Jackdaw
Jackdaws are considered intelligent due to their excellent communication skills. They produce a variety of vocalizations that are carefully adapted to meet the requirements of their social groups.
These clever birds use distinct calls to signal alarm, share information about food sources, and strengthen social bonds. Jackdaws are also skilled at using body language and visual signals to convey messages. Their ability to recognize themselves in mirrors further highlights their advanced cognitive capabilities.
Western Scrub Jay
Western scrub jays have the most brilliant food-storing strategies. Unlike other birds, they don’t just hide food; they actively try to outsmart potential thieves. They carefully observe their surroundings while caching food and shift their stores multiple times.
They even pretend to hide food in one spot while secretly stashing it elsewhere. They even have the ability to remember the type, location, and freshness of the food they store. Their capacity to plan for the future by storing food in anticipation of future hunger makes them a prime example of avian intelligence.
Pigeon
Known for their navigational skills, Pigeons have excellent memory, recognize landmarks, and use celestial cues. They remember faces, recognize human emotions, and even form deep bonds with humans. They adapt to new situations and learn tasks like distinguishing images and colors.
Their social intelligence is evident in their complex communication and cooperative behaviors within flocks. A Japanese study even showed their capacity for self-recognition.
White-Bellied Treepie
The White-bellied Treepie, found in the forests of India and Nepal, is a brainy bird. It demonstrates exceptional problem-solving skills like using sticks and twigs to extract food from difficult-to-reach places. Its remarkable memory allows it to recall hundreds of food cache locations, even months later.
These birds show complex social behavior as they form close family groups and work together to raise their young. White-bellied Treepies can also mimic the calls of other birds.
