Among high-IQ animals, the raven is the best among the birds, but there is also an outstanding species among the parrots, that is, the sheep parrot. So, which of them is the smartest? Scientists held an IQ competition for them.
Raven: Can distinguish the authenticity, or the drama
In the story The Crow Drinks Water, the crow can throw a stone into a bottle to make the water level rise and drink the water. Scientists have made the best of the crows-the raven more difficult. They put food and water in a tube container, and assigned two kinds of “stones” to the raven, which are real stones and foam that looks like a stone. Unexpectedly, the raven picked up the “stone” with its mouth and measured the weight, then accurately selected the real stones and threw them into the container to obtain food.
The ravens are still an “acting school”. When they prepare to hide the food they find, but find themselves being watched by other ravens, they will pretend to dig pits, bury the food, and then rush away, and the ravens that follow Ready to dig, only to find that I was being tricked!
Sheep parrot: flexible mind, well-developed limbs
The pecker is a kind of parrot that lives in the wild. They also use their heads for food. In one experiment, the researcher placed peanuts under a glass baffle, which the pecker couldn’t reach with its beak, but when it saw the small wooden ball in front of it, it threw a bowling ball and smashed the peanuts down.
Sheep parrots can even break through human hunting organs. They first use the branches to trigger the mechanism, and then forcefully use their beaks to pry open the mechanism’s wooden cover, and successfully eat the bait inside.
Crow VS Parrot: Outsmart Food in the Box
Since the raven and the sheep parrot are so smart, is there a way to make them compete? Scientists designed an exquisite box for this purpose, and placed food on the middle column. The box has holes or pipes on all sides, and the participating birds can obtain food in a variety of ways. Take a look at the performance of the raven and the sheep parrot!
One who dares to take risks, one who makes good use of tools
Scientists first tie a thin thread to the food, and the thread is connected to the outside of the box. When the raven and pecker see it, they directly drag the rope and successfully take out the food; after the thin thread is removed, the pecker takes the lead in using the beak Open the small window and put its head in to take food successfully. The raven opened the window cautiously after a while, but it didn’t dare to stretch its head, but picked up a wooden stick and stuck it in to poke the food;
The scientist provided the ball, and the raven picked it up and found the correct pipe to throw it in and hit the food. The parrot made a mistake and threw the ball into the wrong hole. The challenge was successful the second time; only the wooden stick was used. Under the circumstances, the raven successfully completed the task, but because of the bent beak, the parrot had to use both hands and feet to stick the stick into the hole and poke the food.
Two birds win or lose
Through these experiments, scientists believe that the raven and the sheep parrot did not distinguish who is strong and who is weak, but they have different strategies in solving problems.
Ravens are natural tool users. They have straight beaks and can easily pick up a variety of tools, but they are more cautious. They usually observe the situation first, and then tentatively take the next step; sheep parrots are full adventurers , Like to try all possible methods, including violent destruction of organs to achieve their goals, but their beaks are relatively curved, it is difficult to accurately control the tools, and do not think much before acting.
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