‘Bird-brain’ & Proud! Study Shows Birds Are Brainier Than Monkeys

Size does not matter.

Once and for all let’s put that debate out of the window. Current case in point, bird-brains.

The size of a parrot’s brain is the same as an unshelled walnut while that of the common monkey is as big as a lemon. Nonetheless, the parrot has more neurons in the area linked with intelligence in it’s tiny brain than a monkey!

Did you ever think that science would validate birds are freakishly more intelligent than primates? Clearly calling someone a ‘bird-brain’ is not a zinger of an insult it once used to be.

Big Brains Don’t Make For Smart Animals

We all know that parrots are incredible at mimicry. Look at ‘Einstein’ in the video above, his smartness will put chimps to shame! Exactly for this reason, scientists have wondered about the mismatch between some birds’ cognitive abilities, their cleverness and the size of their brains.

Renonwed Brazilian neuroscientist Suzana Herculano refused to believe the adage that the size of the brain determines one’s intelligence. If a big brain equaled smarts, then elephants and sperm whales would top the IITs. But that is not the case.

So if a human brain, modest in size to other animals is far superior to all other species, then maybe this law applies to all other animals as well? For us humans, it is said that we are special because our compact brain packs in more neurons than others regardless of its size.

And this is where the story started to bother Professor Herculao-Houzel. If humans are defying the laws of biology then other animals could do too, right?

Ounce For Ounce Birds Pack In More Brain Cells Than Monkeys

In this study, the Brazilian neuroscientist compared the brain composition of 28 bird species to different mammals. The findings were startling.

We found that birds, especially song birds and parrots have large number of neurons in their pallium, the part of the brain that supports cognitive functions such as planning for the future and making patterns. That explains their high levels of cognition at least as complex as primates. 

Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Neuroscientist, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee

The scientists also found that parrots and songbirds, contain twice as many brain cells as primate brains of the same mass and 2 to 4 times as many neurons as rat brains! And it’s not just the higher volume of brain cells but where they are parked which makes the study so interesting. 

Birds carry a lot many neurons in their forebrain, considered the highest region of the brain which differentiates humans from other animals. So they can process emotions, complex reactions better than other mammals like monkeys.

Pigeons are the scum of the bird world. Turns out even the pigeon brain has the functional connectivity that is found in a mammal, or a mouse, a monkey, or a cat brain.

The results of this study are revolutionary but it’s still incomplete. Scientists have shown correlation between the density of neurons in parrots and their ability to master vocals but they still have to prove causation.

The team of scientists will now study whether the brain cells in birds were always so small or did they shrink in evolution to keep them light enough for flights? One thing is clear, if you want to insult your dim friends, you need a new insult.

Also Read: Alert! Vultures On the Brink of Extinction in India