How Smart Is This Bird? Let It Count the Ways

Alex the Pigeon :)

        
            This article was about a study of birds, specifically pigeons, who have showed numerical intelligence and counting abilities as proficient as a primate. Pretty impressive if you ask me. Apparently, to scientist, counting isn't a big deal. "But all sorts of animals, including bees, can count. Pigeons have now shown that they can learn abstract rules about numbers, an ability that until now had been demonstrated only in primates." The pigeons are able to pick, by pecking on a screen with their beak, the groups of objects from smallest to largest number. The results of birds are equal to the result of primates. That's the really impressive part. This article was really informative and interesting to read; and I know I'll never look at a pigeon the same way again.
           The author James Gorman keeps the article simple and straightforward. His purpose seems to be to inform the reader audience about the discovery. He uses quotes from reliable specialists to add to the ethos evidence in the article. "Elizabeth Brannon, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University, and one of the scientists who did the original experiments with monkeys, was impressed by the new results. “Their performance looks just like the monkeys’,” she said." (Gorman 10). He uses quotes from her and Dr. Damian Scarf, "a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Otago, in New Zealand" (Gorman 1).Quotes of similar discoveries from other labs, and opinions of specialists like these show the legitimacy of the result and strengthens the likelihood of truth in his story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/23/science/pigeons-can-learn-higher-math-as-well-as-monkeys-study-suggests.html?src=me&ref=science