Ever been called a “bird brain”? Well, though the person using the phrase might have intended it as an insult let us look at it from a different perspective.
Birds do indeed have rather small brains. Yet into those minuscule craniums, they have some rather impressive processing power packed…
Can you even imagine the control needed to successfully fly? No, we can’t blow flying off as “instinct” – baby birds have to be taught how to fly by their parents.
And then there is their amazing ability to find their way back to their nest. Let’s put that into perspective as well. Imagine yourself in a city with no road markings, no street signs, no neatly mapped out grid lines where everything is painted the same color. Got that? OK, now add hundreds of levels, with paths interconnecting levels in a truly haphazard fashion, along with everything changing from day to day. Still comfortable with your chances of finding the cubicle you call home? OK, now let’s add scale to the story – this multi-level maze extends for miles. Still think you could find your way home – if you do you’re a lot brighter than me, or an even more delusional than I am – and that is saying something!
In case you’re wondering what circumstance in a bird’s life I have just described – it is this… Many birds make their nests in trees, which are filled with branches going in all directions, as well as constantly growing, forking into new branches, breaking, dropping and changing color. Yet somehow these creatures, with a brain often significantly smaller than a pea, can somehow find their way home. I call that impressive!
Bird brained? In my dreams, maybe…
