In my days as a wildlife rehabilitator, I became aware of the individuality and intelligence of birds of a feather. They are surprisingly observant and learn quickly. Some are gregarious and some are reticent. All learned to thrive and return to the wild with a minimum of human intervention. Much of this I attributed to instinct, also known as a fixed action pattern. This is something animals just "know". They are not taught it nor do they learn much of it from observation.

Timothy Q. Gentner, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, published a study in the April 27, 2006 issue of Nature. He had been experimenting with European starlings and found that they have the capacity to learn to include words and clauses within their birdsong. In other words, they could learn to use syntax in their own bird language.

This proves to Professor Gentner that the ability to form sentences this way is not only the realm of human language, as has been previously thought. "Our research is a refutation of the canonical position that what makes human language unique is a singular ability to comprehend these kinds of patterns," Gentner said. "If birds can learn these patterning rules, then their use does not explain the uniqueness of human language."

Bird Brain might someday become a compliment.

Could this information make backyard birdwatchers more tolerant? Might starlings be more welcome in your garden? If you find this information as interesting as I have, then click on http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060428151356.htm for the full article.

RESOURCES:

http://asci.uvm.edu/course/asci001/behavior.html

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syntax

---Coach Anne January 7, 2009---