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History has always spoken kindly of birds and stories of their intelligence abound in folklore and mythologies. Current research also affirms this belief, with definitive evidence of their impressive memory and language capabilities. So, whence this word?
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Pooh-Bah
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It is, so far as I know, a "townee" word (i.e., originating among urban rather than rural dwellers.)
The birds found in towns are, generally speaking, of the smaller varieties - sparrow, starling, thrush, blackbird, etc. They, naturally enough, have small heads so it would be assumed by "townees" who know no better, that the capacity, therefore the intelligence, of the brain is small.
Hence the unjustified pejorative effect.
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Pooh-Bah
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They certainly learn fast enough when there's a likelihood of food in the offing ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, SOME birds are pretty dumb, that's for sure. Some of them obviously don't have the brain power to figure out that they're attacking their own reflection. Either that, or their instinct temporarily overwhelms normal thought... I have heard, but not seen, that if turkeys look up when it's raining, they'll drown. And we have the expression silly as a goose; haven't witnessed any reason for that, myself, but it must have come from somewhere. I think the term birdbrain actually originated from how small a proportion of a bird's body the brain is. Here's a link that offers another opinion on bird brain power: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animalmind/intelligence.html
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks for the link, Jackie. I was about to mention a program on gray parrots that I'd seen on the Discovery channel and sure enuf, Pepperberg's research is mentioned in the link-article. On the Discovery program it showed the bird not only identifing a shape (square) it's substance(wool) but also the color (orange!!!) Intersting stuff.
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Pooh-Bah
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The birds found in towns are, generally speaking, of the smaller varieties - sparrow, starling, thrush, blackbird, etc.
I got to thinking more about this after I had posted.
Send your average Londoner through one of the many public parks in the capital and, afterwards, ask him which birds he saw. He - or she - will name the varieties mentioned above, and possible blue-tits and wrens, if he knows that much. But he almost certainly won't include the large birds he saw - swans, geese, ducks. All of them are water-birds, and by "bird", I believe that said av. Londoner would only think of non-water birds.
Very strange. And am I right?
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Thanks Rhuby and Jackie! The connection between the size of the heads, completely skipped my mind (shaking head-e); it does seem rather obvious, now that you mention it.
It *is somewhat hard to call swans, geese, turkey, ducks as birds. To my mind, a bird (water bird or otherwise) must fly eihter high, or far, or frequent, to be called that. It must use its wings. These larger birds don't use their wings as much and are therefore probably clubbed together as fowl or gaming birds. Just a thought....
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Pooh-Bah
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To my mind, a bird (water bird or otherwise) must fly eihter high, or far, or frequent, to be called that. It must use its wings.
That's a very reasonable explanation, maahey. The same tends to apply to chickens and turkeys - not water-fowl but similarly reluctant to aviate. And also referred to as fowl.
(Mind you, when a swan does decide to fly, it is an awe-inspiring sight!)
As an aside, I think that "game-bird" is a term only applied to ones that rich people go out and shoot - e.g., pheasants and grouse - pampered beasts that are cossetted by game-keepers until the time for their slaughter arrives.
Wild ducks and geese also get shot at, but not exclusively by rich landowners and their guests (often paying guests, at that!) nor are wild-fowl reaered (fairly obviously, I s'pose.) Wild-fowling is a sport - over here at least - that can be followed by anyone licenced to carry a shotgun.
(there are local regulations and licences, of course.)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thanks for the link Father Steve. Reminded me of something someone pointed out - animals who are prey (like birds) have eyes on sides to more easily see approaching predators, where predatory animals (lions par example) have eyes that look straight ahead to more easdily focus on prey.
Now, think about where your eyes are!
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Pooh-Bah
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I believe that said av. Londoner would only think of non-water birds.
Well, I live down in the middle of Sussex and commute each day so cannot claim to be an average Londoner and I don’t think I know an *average Londoner, but those Londoners I have met are reasonably aware of the wild life to be found in their city. There are also seagulls, crows, rooks and magpies (and even ravens!) to be seen in London which are rather larger than the smaller landbirds you mentioned. From my office window I can sometimes see kestrels and hawks, it is hard to tell, against the brightness of the sky, what kind of hawk; they just circle lazily up there. The kestrel has always been common of course but, following a programme of reintroduction, several other birds of prey are quite often seen in southern England now. Currently, hunting in our home area, we have a sparrow hawk that upsets the local children who sometimes see it make a kill in their gardens!
(Mind you, when a swan does decide to fly, it is an awe-inspiring sight!)
This may be a self-YART, but what the heck.
One evening I saw a swan flying over London. I am not good at estimating heights but I would guess it was flying at perhaps four or five hundred feet. The sun was reflecting from its feathers so that the bird had a golden sheen as it forged its way steadily northward. To be at that height it seemed that it must be going for some distance. The picture of that solitary swan has stayed in my mind ever since together with questions as to what pressures were driving it on. It was certainly both awe-inspiring and affecting.
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Carpal Tunnel
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What a lovely image - thanks for sharing that.
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Pooh-Bah
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A fairy tale image from real life. How lovely.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Q: What fish is born with eyes on both sides of its head and then changes to have both eyes on the same side?
A: Flounder are born upright with normally-placed eyes which migrate to one side while the fish is about 1/2 inch long. For the winter flounder, the eyes migrate to the right side of the fish's body. For summer flounder the eyes migrate to the left side. Having both eyes on one side of their body allows them to sit on the bottom of the ocean with both eyes searching for prey.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thus the expression 'flat as a flounder'. I've caught 'em; weird-looking things. Good eating, though.
Let me add my thanks, dxb--a lovely image indeed.
I had always thought that the term game bird applied to any bird that was legal to hunt; however, an accepted sense does seem to be that it refers to birds that are raised to be hunted. I have to say that here, hunters of game birds are not necessarily rich. My uncle and cousin on the farm were the opposite of rich. Mostly they, and my father when we were down there, hunted truly wild birds, primarily quail and dove. Only once to my knowledge did they hunt game birds that had been raised for it, and that was when my uncle the doctor brought some in. I shot one of those, as a matter of fact--a dove, I think. And there certainly wasn't anybody to pluck and dress them for us, either.
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm thinkin' a shark is a predator with eyes on the side of its head ... except for that one weird kind with two appendages which stick out to the side of its head and have an eye on the end of each one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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The exceptions to the rule exist to keep us on our toes!
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Carpal Tunnel
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that one weird kind with two appendages which stick out to the side of its head and have an eye on the end of each one.
Hammerhead?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hammerhead?
Yes, but you can just call me Father Steve.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hammerhead?
Yes, but
So does that make you predator or pray, Father? :)
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Carpal Tunnel
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There he (Maverick) goes again!
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Pooh-Bah
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Yes. In fact, if he lived in Northern Ireland, I'd characterise him as an orange roughy ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Er, perhaps you meant orange ruffians? 
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Pooh-Bah
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Oh no, I picture him as everybody's girl ... and that, in itself, is fishy!
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Carpal Tunnel
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I picture him as everybody's girl Hoo boy, can't wait to see the response to that one! 
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