Exploring the mysteries of nature and the universe. - Research Reveals Crows Can Plan Number of Calls in Advance
In the world of birds, there are those who are number experts: a recent study shows that crows have the ability to control the number of calls they make. Researchers led by Andreas Nieder from the Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Tübingen conducted behavioral experiments, discovering that these intelligent creatures can learn how frequently they should call. Nieder explained, "They can decide whether they want to make a call or not." This exciting discovery was published in the journal "Science."
Working with three corvids (Corvus corone), the researchers conducted experiments where the birds were asked to emit one to four calls after viewing different picture symbols or hearing specific sounds. Following each sequence, they had to confirm their calls by pecking a button. All three birds managed to complete this task, demonstrating their capacity to count their calls in a series. However, they made mistakes when they lost track of how many times they had squawked.
The time between the presentation of the stimuli and the calls was considerably long, and it increased as more calls were expected. In other words, the more times the songbirds were asked to squawk, the longer it took for them to start.
Nieder suggests that the acoustic characteristics of the initial call provided clues about how many times the crows planned to crow. "This suggests that the crows construct an abstract numerical concept from the given information, which they use to precisely plan their calls before vocalizing."
Previously, studies had already proven the remarkable learning capabilities of crows and confirmed that these birds have a grasp of numbers. The ability to intentionally produce a certain number of sounds requires a combination of advanced number skills and vocal control. "Our findings prove that this is not just a human-exclusive talent," he added.
University Press Release on the study: Understanding the cognitive abilities of crowsLink to the study: Crows' genius in numbers and sounds
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Source: www.stern.de