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
Birds have excellent eyesight, and their world looks different to them than it does to us. They can see into the ultraviolet spectrum, and brown seeds on brown dirt may appear different to them.
It is also a function of memory. No, pigeons are not very “smart” by our standards, but they are capable of learning. When they were young, they watched the items that adult pigeons selected, and learned which items were desirable food. Those pigeons learned from adults when *they* were young, and so on.
Also, birds intentionally swallow bits of grit, storing them in a specialized organ called a gizzard. The gizzard is what grinds the pigeon’s food before it enters their stomach, using the abrasive power of the pebbles or sand inside.
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