Jay Intelligence Measured in Quality of Gifts

Jay Intelligence Measured in Quality of Gifts

A recent study involving Eurasian Jays found that the birds, related to Blue Jays and crows, demonstrate an aspect of intelligence previously thought only to exist in humans. Male Eurasian Jays present their mates with gifts as part of their natural pair-bonding behavior. In the study, male jays were given the option to present their mates with a gift of a mealworm larvae or a moth larvae. The male would observe the female bird eating either moth larvae or mealworm larvae, and depending on which the female had been eating, the male would offer her the other. The idea is that a "jay that’s gorged on moths will generally prefer to eat mealworms afterwards, and vice versa, just as a [human] satiated by chocolate will next take a slice of cake." This type of awareness of the feelings of others is called "theory of mind" and it was once believed that only humans had this kind of knowledge. You can read more about the study and see a short video of the experiment here: Gift-Giving Birds May Think Much Like People.

Give quality gifts like the Eurasian Jay

Comments

Harpy Eagle on July 4, 2017 at 10:26 PM wrote:
Awww...
Andrew on November 22, 2018 at 5:01 AM wrote:
eurasian jay
Spurwing Plover on June 28, 2022 at 6:13 AM wrote:
Related to the Bluejay,Our own Stellar and Scrub Jays,Magpies,Crows and Ravens and Clark's Nutcracker

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published

Bonanza Bird #5: Golden-crowned Kinglet

The fifth bird in our Birdorable Bonanza 2012 is the cute little Golden-crowned Kinglet! Golden-crowned Kinglets are active little songbirds native to North America. A little feathered dynamo, the Golden-crowned Kinglet is always moving, and always cute! They are named...

9 Awesome Lovebird Facts

The nine species of lovebird in the world all belong to the genus Agapornis, which is Greek for love (agape) bird (ornis). These small and colorful parrots are known for their social affection and strong pair-bonding between lifelong monogamous...

Our Pair of European Goldfinches

Since February we've been getting new visitors to our backyard: a pair of European Goldfinches. In the beginning just one came to feed from a bag of nuts we have hung up in a tree. After a few days he brought his mate along and since then they've...

Common Kingfisher Bird of the Year in Germany

The Common Kingfisher has been crowned Germany's Bird of the Year 2009 by NABU, the German BirdLife organization. NABU has been nominating the 'Bird of the Year' since 1971 to focus...