The bird's brain and its features

Despite the fact that the birds are much lower in terms of organization than the mammals, the central nervous system of these animals favorably differs from amphibians and reptiles. In particular, the brain of birds is much more complicated, which allows them to develop new types of activity, forms of behavior. The mass of the bird's brain is from 0.2 to 5% of the total mass of its body.

Cortex of the brain of birds

The first thing you should pay attention to when studying the brain of birds is a peculiarly developed cortex of the brain. Despite the fact that it is not very complicated, it does not prevent birds from showing fairly complex forms of behavior. This gives us the opportunity to draw conclusions that the degree of development of the cerebral cortex is far from always directly proportional to the development of a particular species. Moreover, studies have shown that this part of the brain in birds responds to a greater extent not for intellectual development, but for smell. This is explained, first of all, by the fact that during the evolutionary process it lost its original purpose and significantly decreased in size. The behavior of birds is coordinated by a somewhat different department of the brain, which will be discussed a little later.

Divisions of the brain of the bird

Consider the main sections of the bird's brain. The forebrain of birds was inherited from reptiles related to them. However, the functions and structure of this part of the brain in animals are different. The bark of the forebrain of birds covers it mainly in the region of the lateral and upper parts. Separately it is worth noting the lower part of the forebrain of the bird called the striatum. The upper region of the striatum - hyper-striatum - is responsible for the intellectual development of the bird, and it is noted that the more the brain region is developed in the bird, the more perfect forms of behavior it is capable of demonstrating (it is not difficult to guess that wavy parrots, canaries, ravens are the most developed hyperstratum). Removal of this area of the brain provokes a deterioration in the ability of birds to learn, as well as memorization and recognition. Another sufficiently developed department of the brain of birds is the cerebellum, which provides birds with the opportunity to perform the most complex movements during the flight. The intermediate brain is rather weakly developed, with a small epiphysis on its surface. The visual lobes of the brain are developed quite well, which provides birds with a well-developed vision, which allows them to orientate well on the terrain. Another developed sense organ of any bird is hearing. Touch, taste and smell are mainly developed in night predators, in other birds they are medium. Also, the bird's brain has 12 pairs of cranial nerves emerging from it. It is connected with the spinal cord by means of an oblong brain.

The importance of the divisions of the brain of birds

Such a structure of the brain of birds provides them with the development of such complex and diverse behavioral forms as the ability to migrate, caring for the offspring, rational activity, good learning ability, nest structure.