Not only do Kea parrots show evidence of complex cognition, they also have domain-general intelligence by being able to transfer knowledge to multiple problems in different contexts.
FORBES: ‘Those remarkable Kea are at it again: now the clever parrots are demonstrating their understanding of statistical probabilities to a team of scientists in New Zealand. It turns out that their grasp of mathematics rivals the great apes, which include gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees. This is the first published report of statistical inference demonstrated by an animal other than great apes…
Statistical inference has a number of important characteristics. First, the observed relative ratio of distinct objects within a study group are used to infer the most likely sampling outcome… Basically, statistical inference is something we are informed by every day because it is used to generate opinion polls, amongst other things…
Studies have found that statistical inference first emerges in human infants — much earlier in human development than might be expected for such an advanced form of cognition — but this ability has never been identified in animals other than great apes. Of course, no one has ever seriously looked at other animals to see whether they have this ability.
But New Zealand’s kea, Nestor notabilis, are an ideal study system to investigate whether birds might also be capable of statistical inference, despite their brain architecture radically differing from great apes. Not only do kea show evidence of complex cognition, but their behaviors suggest they also have domain-general intelligence, which is the ability to transfer and combine information flexibly to multiple problems in different contexts…
In addition to kea, Amalia Bastos of the University of Auckland, studies intelligence in New Caledonian crows and in dogs, so it seems she is a good person to ask which of the three species is most intelligent. “I think the phrase ‘you can’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree’ describes the challenge of comparing intelligence between species rather well”, Ms Bastos replied in email. “Different species evolved in different environments, and were subjected to different selective pressures. Just as these pressures have shaped the physical appearance of different species, it moulded their minds as well”.’ SOURCE…
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