Talk about bird intelligence: the mockingbird has come in to the limelight recently as a result of a study of how this species adapts to urbanization.The focus of the study was 24 mockingbird nests in an urban area. Ten people with varying dress, hair, etc. would approach the nests and touch them; by the third such attempt, the birds would attack the researchers (one of the students had to park their car around the block because the bird even recognized the car and would sound the alarm). The birds could identify specific people and would ignore others. The conclusion of the study: mockingbirds are "naturally perceptive about their environment, especially threats to their nests." My conclusion: don't mess with a mother bird.
There have been many studies linking bird intelligence with ability of birds to mimic human speech. Mockingbirds mimic other birds, not humans, to attract females; that seems pretty intelligent to me. The big mystery is why mockingbirds imitate other birds rather than create their own songs.
