'Theory of Mind' in birds

In this post, I wish to introduce you to an interesting concept called ‘Theory of mind’ in birds.

#background -
What is theory of mind? Mind is different from brain and is defined as set of mental faculties which enables your perception, thinking, understanding and judgement. Whereas brain is just physical part of the body. In simpler terms, mind is the outcome of functioning of brain.

In short - 
Theory of mind is the ability to perceive and assign mental states to another individual. Obviously, humans have it and we are here to see if birds have it. Children with autism are shown to lack ‘theory of mind’ to some extent.

Bee eaters, as the name suggests, feed predominantly on insects, bees and wasps. Most of their species are found in Africa and Asia with limited occurrence in Europe and Australia. (Find more about them here).

Small Bee eater                                       Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Bee eaters are shown to avoid nests whenever an intruder is near the nest. It is interesting to note here that Bee eaters are shown to be able to compute the intruder’s scope of vision, line of sight and avoid the nests based on it. This showed that birds have a sense of geometry and that they use that ability to make decisions. These findings were consistent even when it was carried out with two intruders and different line sights with or without obstacles. Bee eaters were able to include the obstacles in line of sight and calculate accordingly. Many such studies have shown similar capabilities in other species as well. You can find the brief version of study here. Interested readers can mail me for further info or clarifications on the same.

This week On-campus bird is

Common Myna                                                          Image courtesy: Wikipedia

Common Myna or Indian Myna is one of the most common species that we can observe in urban environment. These are endemic to SAARC countries but have been recently introduced in Australia, Madagascar and island nations of Indian ocean. 

 

For people interested in bird watching, please buy The Book of Indian Birds by Salim Ali. It is an essential guide for any birdwatcher in India. 

Salim Ali is the ‘Birdman of India’ and a Padma Vibhushan awardee. His life was totally dedicated to birds and is an inspiration to all the ornithology (scientific study of birds) fraternity. Govt. of India established Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) to honour and pursue his work in 1990.