Bird Brain?

While birds aren’t smart in the same way we are, many species have excellent problem-solving skills, and can be trained to respond to both verbal and non-verbal cues. In the video above, both NonAmé (Female Red-Tailed Hawk) and Jasper (Male Harris’s Hawk) show off some of these problem-solving skills by solving a simple puzzle.

Raptors can also see colors (even better than we can, actually), so they can also be trained to identify different colors! Here’s a link to a video of a non-releasable Red-Tailed Hawk that I trained at a nature center I used to work at; she became very good at consistently picking the correct color! I’m currently working with Jasper on this same behavior. He’s not quite a pro yet, but he’s learning very quickly!

https://www.facebook.com/UMLYEnvironmentalEducation/videos/2067796596884240/

https://youtu.be/aOQhJOI9yA4