Alex an African gray parrot could say and understand 150 words Alex talked with people and used words correctly He asked for food or toys and said no when he did not want to do something Sometimes he chewed important papers or knocked over a cup Then he would lower his head and say I’m sorry He told his owner You be good I love you Alex also made up words His word for apple was ban erry He thought apples tasted like bananas and looked similar to big cherries African gray parrots are one of the smartest known birds They learn from people and from other parrots They can name colors and shapes and count corners on objects They do this as well as some young children Alex was shown a green cup and a green key When asked What’s same he said color When asked What’s different he said shape His answers show that he understood the words He was not just copying sounds If an African gray parrot sees an object and someone then covers it Wild African gray parrots make their nests high up in trees AFRICAN GRAY PARROTS CREATE NEW WORDS 1 4
the parrot understands the object is still there They can watch a person put two types of food into two cups They remember which cup has each type of food If a scientist removes the food from one cup a parrot picks the cup that still has food These behaviors show intelligence African gray parrots have excellent memories so they learn easily They can learn an amazing amount partly because they live so long A healthy happy African gray parrot can live up to 70 years in captivity They also live in the African tropics and travel in large noisy flocks THINK ABOUT IT Reread this section about African gray parrots There are many examples of intelligence Which examples do you find most interesting Explain 150 Number of words Alex the African gray parrot could understand Parrots understand words and can speak to people They show the intelligence of a 3 5-year-old child They have excellent memories and learn easily African gray parrots can solve problems African gray parrots use their beaks to open hard objects such as nuts 5
Ant colonies can grow to be massive Most people think smart animals must have big brains So how could ants with their tiny insect brains be smart There are 12,000 different kinds of ants on Earth Ants are social insects They live together in large colonies or communities They depend on each other Ant colonies can contain thousands to millions of ants The number of ants varies based on the type of ant and the age of the colony Ants divide their work Different ants do different tasks Only one is a queen that lays eggs A few are soldiers that protect the colony Most are workers that build and repair the nest They care for the queen and the young Many go out to look for food Ants find the shortest path to food over long distances They communicate and defend their colony against enemies They care for their larvae or babies by feeding and washing them ANTS SWARM TO HELP EACH OTHER 2 6
Ants use swarm intelligence In an ant colony a single ant is not in charge It communicates by touch and smell When two ants touch antennae they smell each other Every ant has a different scent When all ants act together as a swarm their behavior is smart When an ant locates food it takes a piece of it home Along the path the ant leaves a trail of a pheromone or body chemical Other ants follow the trail back to the food but the smell disappears quickly At first the ants wander around but they soon learn the quickest path As more and more ants follow this path their pheromones make the trail clearer HUMANS COPY ANT INTELLIGENCE Humans copy ant swarm intelligence to decide the best routes for trucks Companies deliver products over long distances They choose the quickest routes to get the job done This helps them save time money and gas 5,000 Average number of harvester ants in a colony Ants are social insects and live in colonies They cooperate and care for each other They use swarm intelligence Ants communicate with body chemicals called pheromones Ants work together to make the colony run smoothly 7
