NOVA
Season 41 Episode 17 - Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius
When it comes to intelligence, we humans are clearly the most gifted animals around. But what make us so special? Is it our ability to make and use tools? To solve complex problems? Or plan for the future? It might seem that way, but today, researchers are discovering other creatures with impressive brains that have mastered all those skills. Surprisingly, many are bird brains. Crows bend and shape sticks to create custom-made spears for hunting grubs, and they are just one among a growing list of bird species whose impressive problem-solving abilities are shocking scientists and revolutionizing our understanding of animal intelligence. At the head of the class, we meet animals like Muppet, a cockatoo with a talent for picking locks; 007, a wild crow on a mission to solve an eight-step puzzle for the first time ever; and Bran, a tame raven who can solve a puzzle box so quickly that his performance has to be captured with high-speed photography. But are these skills really evidence of high intelligence, or just parlor tricks, the result of training and instinct? To find out, NOVA tests the limits of some of the planet’s brainiest animals, searching for the secrets of a problem-solving mind.
Episodes in Season 41
Ground Zero Supertower
55 min
Megastorm Aftermath
55 min
Making Stuff Faster
55 min
Making Stuff Wilder
55 min
Making Stuff Colder
55 min
Making Stuff Safer
55 min
Cold Case JFK
55 min
At the Edge of Space
55 min
Asteroid: Doomsday or Payday?
55 min
Alien Planets Revealed
55 min
Zeppelin Terror Attack
55 min
Killer Typhoon
55 min
Ghosts of Murdered Kings
55 min
Roman Catacomb Mystery
55 min
Great Cathedral Mystery
55 min
Wild Predator Invasion
55 min
Inside Animal Minds: Bird Genius
55 min
Inside Animal Minds: Dogs & Super Senses
55 min
Inside Animal Minds: Who's the Smartest?
55 min
Why Sharks Attack
55 min
Escape From Nazi Alcatraz
55 min
D-Day's Sunken Secrets
55 min
