Having a 'Bird Brain' Is Actually a Compliment

(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.