A Study of Bird Species Intelligence

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Juan del Calvo A study of Bird species intelligence, and their capacity to learn. Can learned traits be passed from generation to generation? Introduction: After researching through many scientific journals I have come to realize a question that has not been answered. In a study done by Rebecca D. Bryan and colleagues, it was found that burrowing owls actually use alarm calls from other species to be warned. The study I would like to conduct is to observe bird species that are known to have learned and adapted in a mutual co-evolution relationship and conduct an experiment in order to see if the parent bird species will either teach their adaptations to their offspring or will the new bird species genetically need the capacity to learn on their own. This brings up a major argument in evolution referred to the “nature vs. nurture” phenomenon. My experiment will be testing whether these adaptations can be taught or relearned through each generation. My hypothesis is that some bird species do have the capacity to not only learn behavioral adaptations but to also teach them such as humans and chimpanzees do. If my hypothesis is correct it can lead to extraordinary possibilities involved in breeding birds and using this teaching trait to train birds. Imagine a future where birds can be trained once to do a task for industrial or personal needs and not have to retrain the next generation but allow the birds to train their children. This is analogous to how lions teach their cubs to hunt or dolphins teaching their offspring to fish. We can eventually have birds do tasks for us without having to train them to do so with every generation. So consider the possibilities of a smart self-teaching species and know that this will not only be a grant but an investment. Study system: In order to best inquire results I propose researching four different bird species. The first
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