Bird-brained and brilliant: Australia's avians are smarter than you think

Abstract

Calling someone a 'bird brain' is not usually meant as a compliment. But, as research continues to reveal, birds are much smarter than was once thought. Australian birds are arguably among the smartest in the world. Some display complex behaviours such as problem solving, learning and tool use comparable to behaviours observed in great apes. I've summarised what we know about Australia's exceptional birds in my book 'Bird Minds', showing how versatile and complex our native birds really are.