You must have heard people saying Bird Brained for someone who is not smart But Rhea and Emus will change your point of view completely .
Exceptionally Only Crows and parrots were considered smart ! But Scientists have found that some big, flightless birds, called palaeognaths, can be pretty smart too. This changes what we know about how smart birds were long ago.
Why is this a big deal? Because Palaeognaths are from an older family of birds. This shows that being able to think and solve problems might have started way earlier than we thought.
What did the scientists do?
- They gave emus, rheas, and ostriches a puzzle.
- The birds had to turn a wheel to get to the food.
Emus and one rhea figured it out!. They turned the wheel with their beaks to get the yummy lettuce. One clever rhea even took the puzzle apart!
How did they do it? The birds used skills they already had, like pecking and biting. They weren’t just guessing; they moved the wheel in the right direction to get the food.
Not all the birds were as good at the puzzle. The ostriches didn’t solve it. Scientists think it might be because they weren’t as interested in the lettuce or the puzzle was too awkward for them.
The rhea that dismantled the task did so by biting the bolt head and moving it from side to side, loosening the bolt. This happened twice in separate testing sessions. The bird later innovated the wheel solution and stopped removing the bolt.
These birds aren’t as smart as crows or parrots. But the birds could learn. They are still smart in their own way.
Scientists are excited to learn more about these birds. Palaeognaths could help us understand how dinosaurs acted. Because their skulls are poor references, observing living birds such as the palaeognaths, which share similar characteristics with dinosaurs, may give insights into dinosaur behavior and cognition.
This study is just a first step. Scientists want to make new puzzles to test the birds even more.
The research suggests that technical innovation may have evolved far earlier in birds than previously thought, and palaeognath birds are a compelling taxonomic group for further cognitive research.
What does it mean to innovate? Innovation means using old skills in new ways or making up new skills. The emus and rheas used pecking and biting to solve the puzzle.
This discovery matters. It shows that even birds with small brains can be smart. It also means we should keep studying all kinds of animals to learn about how they think.
