This is bird note.

It's time to retire the insult bird brain.

Many birds, especially jays, crows, and parrots are remarkably

clever, capable of problem solving, and even using simple tools. And in recent years, we've gained a better understanding of how they

can be so smart.

In humans and other mammals intelligence is is seated in the neocortex, the large rounded

mass of neurons that gives our brains their distinctive shape.

The neocortex is organized in vertical columns and horizontal layers of neurons.

Birds lack a neocortex.

Therefore brains were thought to be entirely organized into simple clusters of neurons.

But when scientists took a closer look at a structure in birds' brains called the

dorsal ventricular ridge, they found similarities to the neocortex at the cellular level.

Specialized microscopes revealed that the ridge has neurons in layers and columns,

different circuitry from the rest of a bird's brain, and similar. and

similar to the structures in the near cortex.

This physical basis for intelligence

this physical basis for intelligence helps us understand birds and their behaviors.

And it's a good reason to stop using bird brain as a put-down. For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein. You're going to be.