Birds cognition brain size and structure

Question 1

Describe the cognition of a bird.

Answer 1

• Very fast and some flexible learning.
• Have a very high metabolic rate.
• They live in groups and show social learning.

Question 2

Why do birds need to have fast cognition?

Answer 2

They have a short life span compared to primates.

Question 3

Describe the life history and ecology of birds.

Answer 3

• Have a varied life span and have a broad niche.
• They fill the niche of a mammal when the opportunity presents.
• Most species fly.
• They are oviparous so need a nest to incubate their eggs.
• Incubation of eggs is done by either sex.
• Monogamous mating systems are common.
• They have a high metabolic rate and high body temperature. Therefore, they are constantly foraging for food.

Question 4

Describe the morphological adaptations of birds.

Answer 4

They have adaptations which help their niche.

1. Forelimb adaptations for flight:
   - No grasping forelimbs.
2. Weight saving adaptations:
   - No teeth in their jaws.
   - No uterus and they lay eggs.
   - Don’t store energy as fat.
   - Hollow bones which are linked to air sacs.
3. Metabolic adaptations:
   - Have a one way air sac system for gas exchange. Uses less energy.
   - The air sacs are throughout the femurs and humeri.
   - The air is brought in through the air sacs and breathed out through the lungs.
   - Don’t have a diaphragm.

Question 5

What is the life span of a bird?

Answer 5

Varies between species.

• Most live longer than mammals of an equal body size.
• e.g. large parrots live as long as humans.

Question 6

What can be concluded when studying birds of different sizes and lifespan?

Answer 6

Brain size doesn’t affect cognition.

- Comparing a bee hummingbird to a swan, cognitive abilities are very similar.

Question 7

What consequences does birds life history have on their cognition?

Answer 7

• They will not fly if they have the choice, as flying takes up a lot of energy.
• They have to cope with dynamic changes due to their longer life span in some species.
• They must co-operate or compete with others when mating.
• They must react very quickly, e.g. to avoid collisions when flying and to forage the best food.

Question 8

How are birds brains structured differently to mammals?

Answer 8

1. Birds have a smooth dorsal telencephalon (equivalent to neocortex), it is not folded like in mammals.
   - This reduces the SA but they are not uninteligent.
2. They have a nucleated structure, whereas mammals have a laminar structure.
3. They have a very well developed visual system which allows them to see advanced colour, including UV light (tetrachromatic species).

Question 9

Where are the similarities in mammalian and avian brains?

Answer 9

In the function - they both have functionally equivalent structures.

Question 10

What is the function of the hippocampus in birds? How does structure enhance the function?

Answer 10

Memory and recognition.

• The hippocampus is on the surface of the brain and is enlarged. This allows for an improved memory.
• The neurons between the hippocampus and the brain are densely packed.

Question 11

What are the 2 main areas of the avian telencephalon?

What are the input, output and association regions here?

Answer 11

Wulst (top hemisphere) and the DVR (dorsal ventricular ridge, bottom hemisphere)

Input:
- IHA (visual and somatosensory), E (visual), L (auditory)
Output:
- HA, A
Association (connect with each other and with output regions):
- Md, Mv, N

Question 12

How is the level of function of avian brains similar to that of mammalian brains despite the huge differences in size?

Answer 12

Avian brains have:

• Neurons packed more densely.
• Less tissue in the brain (makes the brain lighter and more room for neurons).
• Different neuronal connections.
• The cerebellum (function of movement) has even more neurons than the telencephalon (=neocortex), allowing for faster movement.

Question 13

Function of the telencephalon?

Answer 13

Same as the neocortex - sensory perception, motor movement, spatial reasoning and conscious thought.

Question 14

Function of the cerebellum?

Answer 14

Movement.

Deals with sensory and motor input.

Question 15

Function of the diencephalon and the tectum?

Answer 15

Control unconscious activities such as heart rate, breathing.

Question 16

Function of the brainstem?

Answer 16

Links the brain to the body and the rest of the neural system.

Question 17

Describe cognition in birds.

Answer 17

• Varied across species.
• Some species have more flexible intelligence than others, e.g. crows vs parrots.
• Some species have specific adaptations.

Question 18

Describe the outcome of the experiment investigating cognitive response to a bird call song.

Answer 18

Found that the structural composition of the song is important.
- If the order is reversed, the response from other birds is significantly weaker.

Question 19

Why is spatial memory important in birds?

Answer 19

• Most birds fly and are involved in migration and navigation. Spatial memory is important for these tasks.
• It is important when foraging for food and remembering where to get the most nutritional food from. This is important due to the lack of fat storage in birds.

Question 20

Give an example of time-place memory in birds.

Answer 20

Birds remember which flowers do not have any nectar, as they do not visit these ones when foraging for food.
- This was tested in rufous hummingbirds.

Question 21

Why is it important that birds build good nests?

Answer 21

• They protect eggs and nestlings from predators.
• They help thermoregulation, keeping the eggs at body temperature.
• They protect the eggs from wind, rain and from falling out of the trees.

Question 22

How do birds build good nests?

Answer 22

By social learning.

- Larger sticks are used on the outside for structure and small sticks are used on the inside for thermoregulation.

Question 23

What experiment was done to test tool use in crows? How does this relate to their tool use in nature?

Answer 23

The crows were trained to drop pieces of paper into a vending machine to get a reward.
- The size of paper needed was changed, this was done by only giving a reward when the correct size paper was dropped.

Showed that crows learn very quickly.
Therefore, it can be concluded that crows manufacture tools in nature by learning by patterns, e.g. seeing cutouts on trees. Direct social learning is not always involved.

Question 24

What is theory of mind?

Answer 24

Knowing that other individuals have thoughts beliefs and goals.

Question 25

What experiment was done to test if ravens display theory of mind? Outcomes and conclusion?

Answer 25

Ravens were put in different environments and allowed to cache food (hide it for later).

• When they were alone and unobserved.
• When they were observed by another raven.
• When they were in the presence of another raven who can’t see the hiding event.

Outcomes:

• The cache was only retrieved in the first 2 scenarios and when the second raven got within 2m to the cache.
• When the second raven could not see the hiding, the cache was not retrieved.

Conclusions:
- Shows some evidence of theory of mind, however, this also shows a strong behavioural evidence.

Question 26

How is the neurobiology of birds linked to their cognition?

Answer 26

1. Increased neuron density - allows more cognitive tasks to be done.
2. Adaptations to minimise brain weight, e.g. loss of tissue and shrinkage of brain - allows efficient cognition.
3. The ability to grow and shrink parts of the brain depending on need - allows for efficient cognition.

Question 27

What are areas for further research in bird cognition?

Answer 27

• What the cognition is specifically used for in the wild.

- How the brain structure supports association between different brain regions.