Well no, maybe we are not so different from a cockatoo.

BarcelonaAs mammals, we're not surprised that parallels are often drawn between humans and certain species, or that we often draw on the similarities between some of primate behavior and our own. But perhaps we're more surprised to consider that we are much more like birds than we think, and how the behavior of some specimens can be a reflection of our attitudes. This is the thesis supported by ornithologist Noah Strycker, one of the world's leading experts on birds who, in addition to showing us their daily lives in a fascinating and captivating way, has used his years of study to focus on everything birds tell us about humans.

Strycker spent the entire year of 2015 traveling the world on an investigation that took him to more than forty countries and allowed him to set a world record by finding 6,042 species of birds—more than half of the birds on Earth—in a calendar year. This book was born from all his experience, That thing with feathers (Captain Swing) where he offers us a tour of the surprising and interesting life of birds. Noah Strycker acknowledges that his interest and fascination with birds dates back to his childhood. "I've been watching and listening to birds for as long as I can remember. Thanks to a project run by an elementary school teacher, I joined a bird-watching club and began to go farther and farther afield in search of new discoveries. It was the beginning of a lifelong obsession," he says. The American boasts of being a "bird geek" and recalls that they are still largely unknown. But because they are so much a part of our everyday lives, we think we know them. "They're mysterious. Every bird looks different, acts differently, and I think thinks different things, which is endlessly entertaining and uplifting for anyone who watches them." In this sense, as an Antarctic penguin researcher very familiar with these birds, he tells something he discovered when he thought he already knew almost everything about them: "One day I was watching the orderly way in which thousands of Adélie penguins on the Crozier head balanced along a highway of snow and ice between the sea and their nests. how do Americans do it? Are penguins right-wing?

The ornithologist claims the intelligence of some birds, such as crows, which "solve problems, recognize human faces, imitate sounds, use tools to obtain food and communicate in complex ways": "Like people, they can be cruel and vengeful, and they hold grudges that trans and also hold grudges that families are transients who hold grudges known for their cunning." He claims that observing almost any bird—and reflecting on what we see—"can teach us many things about ourselves and our world": "Birds do their best to navigate the same world we live in, and demonstrate physical qualities and behavioral strategies that we could copy for our own success." In this sense, he claims to find similarities between humans and birds in practically all areas of behavior: reproduction, repopulation, movement, daily rhythms, communication, navigation, intelligence, etc. There are deep and significant parallels with those of humans, such as the fact that cockatoos can dance to music, that magpies can recognize their reflection obeying their self-awareness, the ability of garden birds to create works of art, the ability of chickens to obey an established hierarchy helps parents raise their younger siblings following the common good (and also their own good, obviously). On the other hand, as Strycker explains, there are abilities of birds that humans do not have, some of them fascinating, such as the magnetic sixth sense that pigeons have to orient themselves or the ability of certain groups, such as starlings, to act as magnets. The ornithologist maintains that birds can behave in In a curious and surprising way, but they basically pursue the same things we do: food, shelter, territory, security, companionship, and a legacy. We analyze everything by following some of the most notable qualities.

The speed of the hummingbird

Hummingbirds are selfish birds that do not hesitate to fight aggressively over territory and food. They tend to lead solitary and antisocial lives and only pair up for a brief period in spring. They make a great effort to optimize energy consumption, and their stressful flight tests their hearts every day. The normal heart rate is 1,200 beats per minute when they are in flight, 250 at rest, and 50 when sleeping. They need to eat compulsively to compensate for the energy they expend. Does it compensate them? Trycker transfers this reflection to humans, who lead an increasingly accelerated pace of life. Do we really want to be like hummingbirds?

The Nutcracker Memory

To survive the cold winters in the high mountains, nutcrackers must stockpile food. This forces them to transform into veritable hard drives during times of abundance. They don't mark places, and there's no physical indication of where they've buried something underground, but a nutcracker is capable of locating virtually every hiding place during the winter. This means they'll have to memorize and mentally map up up to 5,000 places where they've stored food and return to it many months later. Proof that this supposedly unbeatable intelligence we humans possess is even questionable when comparing the ability of people and nutcrackers to remember where we put things.

The Mischievousness of Magpies

Common magpies are highly social creatures. They are able to recognize themselves in a mirror, something unusual among birds. Aside from this self-awareness so characteristic of humans, they are bright and mischievous birds, capable of thinking up strategies purely for fun, such as imitating certain sounds to get others to do what they want. One of the most enigmatic behaviors of wild magpies is their habit of holding funeral rites. When one comes across a dead companion, it often begins to call out loud to gather its companions around the corpse. The intelligence of magpies is displayed in many ways, especially in the emotional realm, because they are capable of feeling, for example, experiencing grief, resentment, mockery...

The Albatross's Falling in Love

The love life of albatrosses is dignified. We are talking about birds that spend most of their lives flying over the sea (they travel about 170,000 km annually), which makes it difficult to stay still long enough to conceive love, like humans. However, albatrosses are monogamous and have a divorce rate of around 0%. The search for a mate begins when they are approximately six years old, after a period spent at sea with virtually no social interaction. At six years old, they return to their native island and begin their courtship dances. Between their teenage years, the sea, and the dances, it will take about fifteen years until the albatrosses make their first nest. From then on, the pair relationship will continue over time, although both parents will be flying over the seas for much of the year. A basically long-distance relationship that continues throughout the albatrosses' long lives. Could this be the key to success? In any case, when they meet, making the most of the little time they spend together, it's not unusual to see them snuggled up in their nests, sleeping snuggled up or providing numerous caresses while cleaning each other's feathers.