Mountain Views News          Saturday, March 1, 2014

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDSMountain Views-News Saturday, March 1, 2014 10 JUST FOR BEST FRIENDSMountain Views-News Saturday, March 1, 2014 10 
Happy Tails 
BIRD BRAIN 

LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND,,, 

March Madness is around the corner and 

BRILLIANCE 

who better to spend it with than Donnie! 

Donnie arrived at the shelter in December 2013. 
He was unsure of the shelter environment in the 

by Chris Leclerc 

 I remember as a kid, hearing the term “birdbrain” 

beginning and a little timid when he met new 

often used in a derogatory manner, directed at someone 

people. As he got adjusted, he showed us what a 

who’d just done something really stupid or absent-minded. To me, it seemed like a rude thing to call 

loving, friendly boy he is. He loves to sit in a lap or 

someone, but un-like many other words that we kids could have used to convey the same sentiment, 

next to “his person” and get lots of pets and cuddles. 

birdbrain was one we knew we could get away with in front of the adults. The teasingly taunting term, 

When he is goes to the park, he will roll on his back 

“birdbrain” is assumed to have been derived from a similarly insulting moniker, “bird-witted”, which 

for a belly rub, smiling the whole time. 

dates back to the early 1600’s. The earlier, original term was used to describe a person with what we 
might call today, ‘attention deficit disorder‘, presumably applicable because a bird appears to lack 

He has had a few different kennel mates, and seems 

focus when flying to and fro in rapid motion, with no apparent direction. Ironically, in reality, this 

to get along with all of them, although he prefers 

notion could not be further from the truth.

the company of people to other dogs. Donnie often 
sits by the gate of his enclosure, hoping to catch the 

 The presumptuous premise behind the use of the ill-mannered idiom, “birdbrain” is based on 

eye of someone who will take him out, or come in 

the human‘s erroneous perspective that birds have proportionately small brains, and appear to lack 

and give him some attention. 

intelligence. In applying that thoughtless theory to calling someone a birdbrain indicates that a 
person who acts foolishly must have a small brain like a bird, and therefore he must be stupid. The 

Donnie enjoys his walks and has a nice steady pace. 

remarkable irony behind the use of the term “birdbrain”, lies in the fact that birds are far-and-way 

He likes to keep going, rather than stopping to sniff, 

more focused than the average human believes or perceives. As a matter of fact, some species of 

and when he gets moving, he has a very unique gait, 

birds are even considered to be among the most intelligent wild creatures in the animal kingdom, 

almost like a pacer horse with his front legs straight 

and certain species of birds possess some amazing brain capabilities that God apparently did not 

out, moving very quickly. Sometimes he gallops, too, and he is always very joyful to be out in the 

see fit to instill in the human being. I’m not talking only about instinctual behaviors, I am referring 

fresh air, getting some exercise. 

to scientifically proven facts about the biological properties of a bird’s brain that equate to higher 
intelligence as we humans define it.

Donnie would probably do best in a home where he is the only dog, because he enjoys having the 
The most blatantly obvious example of ‘bird brain brilliance’ was proven through an experiment 

attention and affection centered on him. He wants very much to be an important part of the family. 
conducted by animal psychologist, Irene Pepperberg at Harvard University. Doctor Pepperberg 
purchased an ordinary pet-store parrot that she named “Alex“ (a cute, catchy acronym for Aviary 

Donnie is about 4 years old and weighs 11 pounds. He is being called a Chihuahua and miniature 
Language EXperiment), and went right to work, teaching and observing him. By the end of the 

pinscher mix. He has a beautiful short coat of chocolate brown with tan highlights, which would 
experiment, Pepperberg wrote in her book, Alex & Me that Alex could identify 50 different objects 

not need a lot of grooming. Please come in to meet sweet Donnie if you are looking for a new best 
and recognize quantities up to 6; that he could distinguish 7 colors and 5 shapes, and understand the 

friend. He will love you forever.
concepts of “bigger”, “smaller”, “same”, and “different”, and that he was learning the concepts of “over” 

He currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue in 
and “under” when he passed away on September 6, 2007. Yes, it is true that a parrot will sometimes 

San Gabriel with his roommate. We are located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south 
simply mimic sounds and words with no knowledge of what they mean, but they are also capable or 

of Las Tunas. 
learning a wide vocabulary of terms and concepts with a complete understanding of what they mean 
and how to appropriately respond to them.

To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Donnie (aka….7990), please stop by any time from 10:00am to 
4:30pm Tuesday thru Sunday. 

 In case the brain power of a parrot does not convince the average human that a bird’s brain is 
indeed small yet brilliant, a particular very remarkable trait possessed by the pigeon is enough to turn 

His adoption fee is $120 which includes his neuter surgery, a microchip, first vaccinations and a free 

any human green with intelligence envy. What might that be, you say? Well, I’ll tell you. The pigeon 

wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian. Feel free to call us at (626) 286-1159 for more 

has an internal GPS (global positioning system) inside his ‘tiny little’ bird brain. The results of a recent 

information on Donnie. 

study conducted by Drs. Le-Qing Wu and J. David Dickman was published in Science, the world’s 
leading journal of original scientific research (April 26, 2012), describing the fact that “neuronal 

See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for information and photos of all our available pets. 

responses in a pigeon’s brain stem show how single cells encode magnetic field direction, intensity 
and polarity - qualities that are necessary to derive an internal model representing directional heading 
and geosurface location.” To put it in a nut shell, the pigeon possesses a unique neural substrate for 
a vertebrate magnetic sense. In other words, a bird-brained pigeon is capable of finding any location 
he wishes to find on the earth’s surface without having to strap on a Tom-Tom! Now run and tell that, 
Getting, Parkinson and Easton! Oh, and by the way, that thoughtless theory about birds lacking focus 
and direction goes right out the window when it comes to the common park pigeon. 

So, the next time you are tempted to call someone a birdbrain when they’ve done something 
stupid, think 
again. In fact, 
our seemingly 
flighty feathered 
friends have got 
it going on when 
it comes to brain 
brilliance. So, 
with all of this 
said and until 
next week my 
dear friends, I 
encourage you 
all to love and let 
live! 

YOUR AD COULD BE HERE!
Call Patricia at 626-818-2698 Today!