– How do birds seemingly know which small bits on the ground are edible and which are not?

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You see pigeons and other birds go mad when a bunch of breadcrumbs are thrown on the ground, but seem to know not to go for small rocks, earth, and other non edible things even if they were to be thrown in the same way.

Maybe I’m just underestimating the intelligence of pigeons or their keen eyesight? But they seem to know almost instantly what they can and can’t eat.

In: Biology

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Anonymous 0 Comments

I’ve watched pigeons in my city alternate trying to eat a cigarette butt or a rock. One would peck at it, drop it after realizing it wasn’t food. 2 others ran over, and fought over it. The winner pecked at it, then dropped it. The loser pecked at it, then dropped it. Then the original pigeon pecked at it again, and yet again dropped it because it somehow still wasn’t food.

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