It is very easy to tie human intelligence to success as a species. Farming, building cities, and surviving in harsh environments require a vast array of mental skills, from good memory to communication and the ability to work collaboratively. However, the role intelligence plays in species with less obvious intelligence is less clear. Even measuring mental capacity is often difficult. In other cases, it is difficult to speculate which abilities improve survival.
A new study looks at pheasants, a bird species that doesn’t often have a reputation for being bright-minded. However, the researchers behind this study found that pheasants have considerable differences in their spatial thinking, and that some aspects of their spatial abilities make a difference when birds are released into the wild. Birds that were able to navigate complex mazes better adopted larger habitats and better avoided being eaten. And almost by coincidence, the study found that birds tended to be eaten more often when they were wandering in familiar territory.
can’t outwit the fox
Parrots and crows have a reputation as the brains of the avian world. Pheasant, not so much. However, the study of psychic abilities has its advantages. They are easy to keep in captivity, can undergo a wide variety of tests, and adapt easily once released into the wild. It’s big enough to see if
For this study, the birds were subjected to three different tests of their mental abilities: one was simple, testing their ability to associate specific colors with food rewards; The other involved both the visual and memory systems by navigating a complex two-dimensional maze and accessing food. And finally, they were placed in a chamber with four exits, one food item for each exit. I put a burden on
Once the birds were tested for these mental abilities, they were attached to trackers and released into the English countryside. Of his 126 pheasants released, 45 from the experiment fell victim to predator attacks within four months.
After four months, the researchers analyzed the location data and found correlations with the mental abilities the birds had previously displayed.
