(Credit: Natthawat Wongrat/Shutterstock) Calling a person a birdbrain isn't the insult to intelligence it used to be. Sure, bird brains are small, but, according to a new study, their surprising intellect might arise from packing more neural connections into a smaller package. Some birds excel at tasks believed to require "higher thought," such as planning for the future, using tools and recognizing themselves in mirrors. Birds accomplish these challenges at a level that matches or exceeds primates' problem-solving skills, despite having brains that are several times smaller. Researchers in the past suggested that bird brains are wired in a completely different way than primates', a theory that was disproved two years ago in a study examining pigeon brains. Instead, birds might be living proof that big things come in small packages.
Rather than working with brains that are organized differently, researchers from Vanderbilt University believe birds simply pack more neurons ...
