The Umpqua Valley Audubon Society and Roseburg Public Library invite the public to “Bird-Brained: Bird Intelligence and Behaviors” presented by ornithologist Dan Gleason at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10.
Gleason will visit virtually on Zoom, and attendees are invited to participate in person at the library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd., or on the library’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/roseburglibrary. A Facebook account is not required.
Have you ever been called bird-brained? It was likely intended as an insult, but perhaps, after this lecture, you might say thank you in reply! The assumption is that birds are of low intelligence because most birds are small and have small brains. But there is a lot packed into those small skulls and brains. Some birds, such as ostriches and turkeys, are not considered to be very intelligent, but many species of birds are highly intelligent, and some, such as crows and ravens, may be more intelligent than dogs.
In this program, we will look at a variety of behaviors that demonstrate the intelligence of birds, and we’ll consider some of the differences between intelligence and instinct. Watch the crows and jays in your yard, and you may be surprised at some of the clever things they do. (They have even been known to train humans to feed them!)
Gleason taught on the faculty at the University of Oregon for more than 30 years and continued teaching Field Ornithology even after retiring. He is the author of two books about birds, and his “Register-Guard” column, “Backyard Habitats,” ran monthly for more than 10 years in the mid-2000s.
Since 2013, Gleason and his wife, Barbara, have operated the two Wild Birds Unlimited stores in Eugene.
The program is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Roseburg Public Library staff at 541-492-7050 or
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To learn more about the Umpqua Valley Audubon Society, visit their website at www.umpquaaudubon.org.
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