Birds colour match their nests

[Catherine]

Birds are smart about nest safety. They match their nests to their environment which makes them so much harder to see.

http://phys.org/news/2014-10-birds-colou...erior.html

Every time we study animals we find they are smarter than most people think.

Maybe we should study people to see why we don't get it about animal intelligence.

[Tobi]

This article is fascinating, and new for me to learn! Yet for a long time now when clearing overgrown brush, ivy, etc I have noticed old birds' nests which have been almost invisible, they so blended in with their surroundings. The other day I was forced to cut back a large unruly shrub which had grown so big it almost reached the upstairs bedroom window, and it had become too tall for me to be able to trim every year. It was hard work....and in the middle of the shrub I came upon an old abandoned bird's nest. I never saw it until it was about to fall on my head.
That made me very careful about what time I trim shrubs, and how much I trim off them. The bird had found an ideal place for its nest, and I was ruining its chances of building there again next Spring! I felt quite sorry about that.

The article shows the birds have great intelligence, the ability to learn by trial and error -what works and what doesn't -and the ability to remember that until the next season. It must also show that they are capable of fine discrimination between many different colours, so their vision-spectrum must be excellent.

[Catherine]

Their nests are invisible. I never see any nests until the leaves fall. Birds seem to be sensitive to colour, but also texture. There is a lot more to bird intelligence than we realize. They make good nests every year, but think about it, they make a good nest the first year. That is impressive.

[Cibach]

There is a lot more going on in an avian brain that we could ever guess at!!

[Catherine]

Look how they navigate the globe every year. We think we know how they do it, but do we? Again young birds make it as well as old ones.
There are more things going on in a bird brain that we realize. So if someone calls you a bird brain, you should say thank-you.