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 Post subject: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 4:14 pm 
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Or anything of that nature? Sorry weird question, but I figured y'all might be able to answer. In people, one part of facial recognition is done with a fusiform gyrus. There's a few other factors to recognition as well, but I'm asking if birds have something like this. Danny screams every time he sees someone in the house he doesn't know. Otherwise, me or my father. Over the time I've had him, he still screams at new people, but since two other people come around a bit (mother and grandmother), he has finally stopped screaming when they enter the house. So, he recognizes them and he knows they won't hurt any one. Or is it having to do more with seeing ultraviolet light instead of facial recognition like people do? Both?



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 10:00 pm 
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I couldn't find any information on whether birds have a fusiform gyrus (which I had never heard of prior to this thread). But they definitely have the ability to recognize individuals based on their physical appearance. There are some birds who can recognize specific flockmates by the patterns on their feathers, in species where there's a lot of individual variation in feather color.

Some species can recognize individual humans too, and parrots obviously fit into that category. But the funniest example is the experiment where people put on masks and harassed wild crows, then came back later with the masks on to see if the crows still recognized them. The crows did. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html

There usually isn't a lot of ultraviolet light inside a house, so that probably isn't it. The birds just simply know what we look like and can tell when somebody is not us. It makes sense from a survival point of view. They're prey animals and need to know whether the other animals moving around in their environment are safe or not. They've spent enough time with you and your dad to know that you're safe. But they're not so sure about other people, and a smart bird will be cautious. A dumb bird will instantly be friendly to everyone they meet, which makes people love them. But these birds would last about 30 seconds in the wild.



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?du
PostPosted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 7:00 pm 
Cockatiel
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Interesting situation with my daughter who does live in the house with us.
Every time she appears near the flock, they fly like crazy, so I am assuming they find her scary. At first, I thought that her clothes are of colors/patterns that are scary for my birds but later I noticed that they start flying even before they see her but they know she is approaching (usually she is running from the basement into the living room and they start panicking as soon as they hear her not very calm steps). I even tell her all the time "Don't scare the birds"
I even suspected (not seriously) that she may be pulling birds' tails while I don't see it (like little children hurt cats or dogs)



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:23 am 
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Running is what land-based predators do right before they grab their victim, so the sound of running is naturally scary to birds. A smart bird doesn't wait around to find out who's running and whether they're running in the bird's direction, because it might be too late to fly away at that point.



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:02 am 
Cockatiel
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oh thank you. So you think all my birds are smart?



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:05 am 
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another very interesting question
I watch wild birds eating seeds on the ground by my house. They are small sparrows or maybe finches. Sometimes larger birds come join them, it could be a blue jay or some crow type birds. They still eat all together. And this other birds are much larger. How do small birds know that this large birds are going to be friendly and not a predator?



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:49 am 
Conure
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I’m not sure, but if they can’t determine, I’d love to walk outside in a giant chicken suit. Maybe I’ll make some more friends. :D


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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 5:35 pm 
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It might be familiarity - they've seen the common species enough to recognize them and know that this kind of bird doesn't try to kill them. Or maybe it's the way the birds approach the seed supply. Raptors usually cruise around overhead looking for victims. Birds that are looking for plant food usually stay closer to the ground and have a more definite destination in mind.



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 Post subject: Re: Do birds possess a fusiform gyrus?
PostPosted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:46 pm 
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I don't know for sure, but what I can tell you is that my boy is much nicer to people who are a bit similar to me, not only in the face, but also body build type etc.


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