and psittacines (parrots, macaws, and cockatoos) are often considered the most intelligent birds, and are among the most intelligent animals in general. Pigeons, finches, domestic fowl, and birds of prey have also been common subjects of intelligence studies.
Their findings, which have been published online in the journal Behaviour, denote that some parrots could be almost as cognitively-capable as a five-year-old human being.
Dogs can join the police force and monkeys are our fellow primates, but new research found that parrots might be the smartest animal of them all. A new study found that African Grey Parrots performed as well as three-year-old children on a mental test.
Bird intelligence comes in many forms, and scientists are finding that many species exhibit intelligence similar to that of marine mammals, apes and even humans. Parrots come to mind, with their ability to solve problems, form emotional bonds, mimic speech and even understand some rudimentary grammar.
Parrots are intelligent birds capable of complex cognition, and it turns out that the genes that play a role in their brain development are similar to those that evolved to give humans large brains.
Parrots and the corvid family of crows, ravens, and jays are considered the most intelligent of birds.
CHIMPANZEES. RECKONED to be the most-intelligent animals on the planet, chimps can manipulate the environment and their surroundings to help themselves and their community. They can work out how to use things as tools to get things done faster, and they have outsmarted people many a time.
Scientists compare the intelligence of crows to that of a seven-year-old human child. Crows, ravens, and other corvids are the only non-primates that make tools. Crows are capable of abstract reasoning, complex problem-solving, and group decision-making.
In general, an IQ score is defined with a median and mean of 100. Scores above 130 are labeled as above average or “very superior,” while scores under 70 would be considered below average or labeled as “borderline impaired.” Most people have an average IQ between 85 and 115.
In fact, parrots are so intelligent and are such keen observers of human behavior that it has been alleged that they have a “Theory of Mind”.
As many of us learned in years past from studies conducted by Irene Pepperberg and her beloved colleague, Alex, parrots demonstrate sophisticated problem solving abilities, they can communicate their desires, they can count, add and subtract, and remarkably, they even understand the concept of zero (more here and here) ...
Parrots accept us for who we are. They do not demand that we “change” but instead they learn to adapt. Perhaps it is time to open our own eyes a little wider and see ourselves as they see us… and to place our heart in our hands and feel “for” them as much as they feel for us.
“Independently, parrots have evolved an enlarged area that connects the cortex and the cerebellum, similar to primates.” The presence of large, corresponding neural connectors in parrot and primate brains might explain why parrots are able to engage in a variety of complex tasks.
“Parrots who talk know what they're saying if they are taught appropriately,” Pepperberg says. For example, a bird trained to identify favorite foods knows exactly what they mean when they ask for them.
The average dog's IQ is about 100. Based on the results done to test a dog's IQ, it turned out that dogs, even the average ones, have the IQ same as a 2-years old human.
Among birds, crows and ravens (or corvids) are the most intelligent. They have the largest brains for body size; they're more like primates than birds. In fact, some people call them “flying monkeys”. The family Corvidae originated from a forest ancestor in the Australian fragment of Gondwana.
Pigs have the intelligence of a human toddler and are ranked as the fifth most intelligent animal in the world! In fact, pigs are more intelligent and trainable than any breed of dog. They learn their names in just two weeks and come when they're called.
The common magpie is one of the most intelligent birds—and one of the most intelligent animals to exist. Their brain-to-body-mass ratio is outmatched only by that of humans and equals that of aquatic mammals and great apes.
Chimpanzees
This research has firmly established that chimps are one of the most intelligent species on earth.
Dolphins are often cited as the second smartest animals on Earth due to their relatively high brain-to-body size ratio, the capacity to show emotion, and impressive mimicry of the dumb apes who research them.
Answer and Explanation: A variety of cognitive research on chimpanzees places their estimated IQ between 20 and 25, around the average for a human toddler whose brain is still developing the ability to use various cognitive abilities.
Researchers have tested them on toolmaking, shape-matching and other tasks, and found that a cockatoo can learn how to solve a problem from watching another cockatoo do it just once.
Magpies can also be taught to speak. They hide food and can relocate hidden food with incredible accuracy." With regard to their intelligence, magpies are very much like fellow corvids – jays, rooks, ravens and crows, says Walt Koenig, a senior scientist with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.