Animal Intelligence

Patrick sent me the story of Peanut the parrot, who saved the life of his family by imitating a smoke detector. Here’s the story from the Associated Press (it’s short, so I’m quoting the entire thing):

MUNCIE, Ind. - A noisy parrot that likes to imitate sounds helped save a man and his son from a [...]

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Since moving to our new house a little over three years ago, my wife and I have begun to love watching birds. We’re not serious about the hobby — we just dabble in it. We’ll stand at the kitchen counter and watch the jays, crows, pigeons, starlings, flickers, nuthatches, and more, as they go about [...]

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I believe that animals possess greater intelligence than most people give them credit for. But plants? I’ve never considered the possibility of plant intelligence. The idea seems absurd.
Yet I’ve had friends argue that plant intelligence might exist. “What are the differences between plants and animals?” they ask, and then argue about certain species (none [...]

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If I saw it on Digg, it must be good, right? The Presurfer writes:
These video clips are from the film, Daylight Robbery II, which aired on the Discovery Channel in November of 1995. It was produced by the B.B.C. and presented by Dr. Jessica Holm.
In any event, it’s amazing stuff:

We have a lot of squirrels [...]

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Golb Guru passed along yet another article about the intelligence of the of the New Caledonian crow. Like the last one, it’s written by Rebecca Morelle of the BBC. This time she reports that scientists have developed away to mount small cameras to the birds in order to learn more about their behavior.

Recent advances in [...]

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Birds are smart. But some birds are smarter than others. I’ve mentioned before the tool-making skills of New Caledonian crows. Turns out these animal are capable of complex problem-solving. Here’s what Rebecca Morelle says, writing for the BBC:

A University of Auckland study has revealed that New Caledonian crows can use separate tools in quick succession [...]

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My father-in-law forwarded this story of a wayward bear and the people who saved him:

The black bear had tried to cross the two-lane California highway on Sept. 15. But…cars approaching in both lanes honked, and the scared bear climbed over the concrete railing. Somehow in his panic, the bear reached the bridge arch, a few [...]

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