“Bird brain.” It’s a favorite playground insult. A synonym for stupid. But there’s something you may not know about the brains of hummingbirds, songbirds, and parrots. These birds can do something only a few other species — namely whales and dolphins, bats and human beings — can do. They can learn to make new sounds.
Other animals can woof, mew, quack, or coo. But only hummingbirds and a few other species can imitate the new sounds they’ve heard.
Unlocking the mysteries of the hummingbird’s brain is part of the life’s work of a scientist named Erich Jarvis, whose own story has some personal triumphs worthy of singing about.
Guests:
Erich Jarvis, assistant professor of neurobiology, Duke University.