DailyDirt: For The Birds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Birds have long been a source of fascination for humankind, and remain one of the few classes of animals with an entire hobby community dedicated to simply watching them. Of course, there are a hell of a lot of types of birds, and most come with complex and intriguing behaviours and characteristics that are unique to them, and which we keep discovering whenever we watch a little longer. Here are just a few examples.

• It turns out parrots name their children, and those names stick for life. Parrots aren't the first animals discovered to use names, but their unique ability to mimic human speech seems to make everything they do doubly interesting. [url]
• Lots of birds choose long-term mates — but lots of them get divorced, too. The albatross is the most faithful, while flamingo couples break up 99% of the time. [url]
• Researchers have sequenced the golden eagle's genome, and made new discoveries about how it sees and smells. The mapping will aid conservation efforts, both by helping develop strategies to reduce deaths from things like wind turbines and by providing genetic marker data for tracking populations. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: animal cognition, biology, birds, brains, intelligence, parrot, smart animals, tool

DailyDirt: Talking Animals Are Real

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Parrots are well-known as non-human animals that can speak our language with some degree of intelligence, but there are a few other examples of animals that can perform similar feats. So far, the vocalizations of these animals are a bit difficult to understand, but it's clear that there are some non-human species that want to imitate us. Before anyone else says it... I, for one, welcome our new _____ overlords.

• An Asian elephant named Koshik can say five Korean words -- "annyong" ("hello"), "anja" ("sit down"), "aniya" ("no"), "nuo" ("lie down") and "choah" ("good"). This 22-year-old male elephant was born in captivity, and this may be the first time researchers have heard an elephant use its trunk to modify its vocalizations. [url]
• Some dog owners have trained their dogs to speak short English words and phrases. In a few more (hundred) generations of human-directed breeding, maybe we'll have dogs that are fluent in human languages. [url]
• Hoover the seal was famous for being the first non-human mammal to speak recognizable English words. He lived at the New England Aquarium and spoke with a thick Bostonian accent.... [url]
• Beluga whales are sometimes referred to as "sea canaries" because they're so vocal, but now there's recorded evidence that at least one of these creatures can mimic human speech. A beluga whale in captivity didn't actually say anything recognizable, but it made sounds in an audible range of normal human speech -- which is much lower than usual whale noises. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: beluga whale, biology, dog, elephant, intelligence, parrot, seal, smart animals, talking animals, vocalization

DailyDirt: Natural, All-Organic Intelligence... For The Birds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Computers might be able to beat people at games like chess and Jeopardy! -- but maybe while we're watching out for Skynet, we should also be looking out for other animals getting smarter. Artificial intelligence might never actually produce self-conscious thoughts, but we already have at least one example of animals that do (us?). In any case, here are some birds that show some potential, too.

• Alex the parrot was often described to be as smart as a 5-year-old kid. Time to clone some parrots and create an army of birds. How many birds as smart as a 5yo could you take in a fight? [url]
• Maybe your 401K would do better under the management of a parrot -- a parrot named Strawberry outperformed 8 out of 10 human investors. Random stock picks would probably also do better than most humans, though. [url]
• Some crows can actually make tools -- bending wires to form hooks in order to retrieve food. Who says a brain the size of a walnut isn't impressive? [url]
• To discover more fascinating wildlife, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

As always, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: crow, intelligence, parrot, smart animals, tool