Scrub Jays—The Ultimate Bird Brain

That pint of chocolate ice cream
at the store was calling your
name. So you take it home,
and when no one is looking, you bury
it in the freezer under the bags of peas
and broccoli, hoping to eat it before
someone else finds it. You think you’re
clever, but did you know that some
birds called scrub jays also hide their
food when no one else is looking?

Scrub jays are members of the corvid
family of songbirds, along with crows,
ravens, rooks, jays, magpies, and nutcrackers.
Four species of scrub jays live
in North America: the Florida scrub jay,
the California scrub jay, Woodhouse’s
scrub jay, and the island scrub jay,
which inhabits only Santa Cruz Island
off the southern coast of California.

Scrub jays live in woodlands and
brushland habitats where they nest
in the spring and summer. They feed
on acorns, seeds, fruit, eggs, and small
creatures, such as insects, mice, lizards,
and small birds.

These birds are considered one of
the most intelligent species of the bird
kind, which God created on day five of
creation week. In our now-fallen world,
scrub jays use their God-given cleverness
to outwit other birds and predators.
In fact, their slick moves make
“bird brain” seem like a compliment.

The scrub jay has a special beak
for breaking open acorns, which it
gathers by the thousands each year.

Mega Mind

For their body size, corvids’ brains
are the largest of any in the bird family.
In fact, relative to body size, their brain
is the same size as an ape’s. Studies
have shown that, like primates (such
as monkeys and apes), corvids excel at
learning a general rule to solve a task
and then transferring that rule to a new
task. For example, when observed by
potential pilferers, scrub jays who have
pilfered food items from other scrub
jays take further protective action by
moving their caches to different unobserved
locations.

The size of a bird’s prefrontal cortex
(the outer, front layer of the brain) and
the number of neurons packed into
that part of the brain can determine
a bird’s intelligence. Songbird brains
contain about twice as many neurons
as primate brains of the same mass. In
corvids, the neurons are much smaller
and more densely packed than neurons
in mammalian brains. Plus, the proportion
of neurons in their forebrains is
also significantly higher, indicating a
greater level of intelligence.

Who, What, Where, and When?

Recent experiments on two species
of scrub jays in the western United
States (Woodhouse’s and California)
showed that these birds have the ability
to remember the who, what, where,
and when of specific past events. That
means they can recall where they
cached a food item and who, if anyone,
was watching them do it. In scientific
jargon, this is called episodic memory.

Until these experiments, scientists
thought that only humans had the
ability to remember specific, detailed
events in the past. But scrub jays can
remember where they store thousands
of seeds during a single season—up
to 200 different hiding spots. They
retrieve that food in winter and early
spring when fresh food is sparse.
They can also adjust their caching
behavior with future needs in mind.
For instance, when they retrieve the
stashed food, they return to the items
that might spoil first (such as larvae).

They also prepare for the future by
hiding food in places where they know
food might be sparse or where they
know they will be hungry the next day.

Scrub jays also demonstrate theory
of mind, the ability to consider what
others are thinking. For instance, if
another bird observes them caching,
scrub jays often pretend to bury the
seed or nut but then move the food
item several times until they think it
is safely hidden. This indicates their
ability to recognize that the other bird
is thinking about pilfering the food.

Birds of a Feather

As another indication of their superior
intelligence, scrub jays are also
among the most social bird groups.
They participate in cooperative breeding,
meaning that several closely
related family members share the
responsibility of raising the young.
This endeavor requires a high degree
of social cooperation. Anyone who has
helped care for a new baby can relate.

These brainy birds also watch out
for each other while foraging and feeding
in groups. Scrub jays post a sentinel,
or lookout, and take turns watching
for predators, enabling the other
members of the flock to forage with
greater concentration and less danger
of being captured by a predator.

Trouble for Evolutionists

The high intelligence of birds like
scrub jays presents a challenge for
evolutionists. Darwin saw humans
at the pinnacle of evolution and all
other creatures as less advanced. Until
recently, no one expected that birds,
so completely distant from mammals
on the evolutionary tree of life, would
prove to have brains comparable to
the brains of primates, which evolutionists
believe to be most closely
related to humans. To explain how
similar designs arise, evolutionists
argue that evolution keeps producing
the best designs—sometimes the same
designs—with whatever material is
available (called convergent evolution).
But this is just special pleading, not an
explanation for the impossible process
necessary to produce such marvelous
designs in incremental steps.

We know that God has given scrub
jays the right amount of reasoning
power to survive and thrive. If he provides
for the birds, how much more
will he take care of us?

Look at the birds of the air: they
neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them. Are you not of
more value than they? (Matthew
6:26)

Did You Know . . .

Illustration by Dave Mottram

The Woodhouse’s scrub jay stores
up to 5,000 seeds in a single
season, and the Florida scrub
jay stores 6,500–8,000 acorns
in a single season. Scrub jays can
remember up to 200 cache spots.

If scrub jays detect a predator such as a hawk, owl, or large snake, they will
mob it, scolding loudly. Scolding attracts other jays in the vicinity as well
as other small bird species. Mobbing may include nipping at a sitting hawk
or owl or biting the tail of a retreating snake, driving the predator away.

Because of their hardness and shape, acorns are difficult for birds to
open. Scrub jays, however, can easily crack acorns thanks to a specialized
jaw support and beak shape.

For their body size, corvids’ brains are
the largest of any in the bird family.

Scrub jays avoid eating noxious
insects by trial and error.
Once they learn which insects
are distasteful, the birds
avoid the noxious ones.

Illustration by Dave Mottram

SourceThis article originally appeared on answersingenesis.org

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