Birds of a feather? Parrot and corvid cognition compared

Abstract The last several decades of research on avian cognition have revealed surprising parallels between the abilities of birds — most notably corvids — and great apes. Parrots, albeit far less studied, are cited alongside corvids as “feathered apes”, but are these two taxa really that similar co...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBehaviour Vol. 156; no. 5-8; pp. 505 - 594
Main Authors Lambert, Megan L, Jacobs, Ivo, Osvath, Mathias, von Bayern, Auguste M.P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Leiden|Boston Brill 2019
Brill Academic Publishers, Inc
Subjects
Apes
Behavioral Sciences Biology
Biologi
Biological Sciences
Birds
Cognition
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive ability
Cognitive tasks
Etologi
Monkeys & apes
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Parrots
Primates
Review
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Abstract The last several decades of research on avian cognition have revealed surprising parallels between the abilities of birds — most notably corvids — and great apes. Parrots, albeit far less studied, are cited alongside corvids as “feathered apes”, but are these two taxa really that similar cognitively? In this review we aim to take a step back and present the broader picture, focusing on areas where there is now data from both parrots and corvids to facilitate first comparisons on a somewhat wider scale. By charting these birds’ performance in cognitive tasks, in many of which corvids perform on par with primates, we hope to highlight understudied areas and promising directions for future research. In reviewing the literature, the general pattern that emerges shows that different corvid and parrot species indeed perform similarly in a range of cognitive tasks to the extent that one may call them “feathered apes”.
ISSN:0005-7959
1568-539X
DOI:10.1163/1568539X-00003527