From: Patricia Reaney, Reuters Published January 10, 2007 12:00
AM  Study Shows Bigger Brains Give Birds Survival Benefit
LONDON -- Birds with bigger brains like crows and parrots
survive better than their dimmer feathered friends, according to
a study published on Wednesday.  Scientists have suspected that
birds with large brains in relation to their body size lived
longer because they were able to adapt their behaviour and cope
with environmental challenges.  Now they have provided evidence
that it does.  "We have tested the hypothesis that the brain can
buffer animals against the environment and help them to survive
when they face environmental challenges," said Dr Daniel Sol, of
the Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications in
Barcelona, Spain.  After comparing mortality rates, brain size
and body mass of 236 species of birds from different regions of
the world, Sol and scientists in Britain, Hungary and Canada
discovered that the bigger the brain the better.  "We have found
that species t