39. What Does It Mean to Be Human? Ask a Bird

Today we talk with Antone Martinho-Truswell, a biologist who studies learning and cognition in birds, and author of the just-released book entitled The Parrot in the Mirror: How Evolving to Be Like Birds Made Us Human. Our conversation today is about much more than birds. We as humans recognize the unique place birds occupy amongst animals, whether it is by putting an eagle on top of a flagpole or a raven on the dial of a watch, and we talk with Antone today to learn about the uncommon traits that birds and humans share, and what they teach us about what it means to be human. In our conversation, Antone describes the features that humans and birds share, how both of these groups converged on similar solutions to specific problems, some of the early studies on well-known organisms like the horse Clever Hans and Alex the parrot, and the incredible evidence of intelligence in birds like crows and parrots. Ultimately, these examples help us understand fundamental aspects of humanity, and some of those important life questions like why it is that when you tell your dog to sit, it isn’t able to reply, “no, you sit.”