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Herald photo by JOE MANIO\nDr. Andrew Iwaniuk, U of L neuroscientist engages with an audience member after his presentation \u201cWhy would anyone bother studying bird brains?\u201d at SACPA\u2019s weekly meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n
By Lethbridge Herald on February 6, 2026.<\/p>\n
Herald photo by JOE MANIO
\nDr. Andrew Iwaniuk, U of L neuroscientist engages with an audience member after his presentation \u201cWhy would anyone bother studying bird brains?\u201d at SACPA\u2019s weekly meeting Thursday.<\/p>\n
By Joe Manio<\/p>\n
Lethbridge Herald<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) on Thursday, University of Lethbridge (U of L) neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Iwaniuk argued that bird brains\u2014often assumed to be small and simple\u2014have played a crucial role in reshaping how scientists understand intelligence, behaviour, and the brain itself.<\/p>\n
Iwaniuk\u2019s presentation, \u201cWhy would anyone bother studying bird brains?\u201d drew a strong turnout to the Atrium Dining Room at the Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization (LSCO). A professor of neuroscience and research chair in comparative neuroscience at the U of L, Iwaniuk studies how and why brain anatomy varies within and across animal species.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest misconception is that all birds are stupid,\u201d says Iwaniuk. \u201cWhen we see birds engage in behaviour we don\u2019t understand\u2014like crashing into windows, attacking their reflection in mirrors, or building poorly constructed nests\u2014we interpret that as stupidity. But it\u2019s exactly what birds are supposed to be doing. It\u2019s the rapid change in their environment that they haven\u2019t adapted to yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the most influential discoveries to emerge from bird research was that adult brains can grow new neurons. For much of the 20th century, scientists believed brains were fixed after early development. Research on birds helped overturn that assumption, opening new avenues for studying brain injury, aging, and neurodegenerative disease in humans.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany people still think brain size is a good measure of cognition,\u201d says Iwaniuk. \u201cWe\u2019re still trying to convince people this isn\u2019t the case. The strongest evidence is that birds pack far more neurons into a small amount of space than many other animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bird research has also provided early evidence that hormones can influence brain anatomy and function\u2014findings that were initially controversial but are now central to modern neuroscience.<\/p>\n
Beyond their relevance to human health, bird brains offer insight into bird behaviour itself. Iwaniuk illustrated this with examples from his research on hummingbirds, vultures, parrots, and even the extinct dodo. His laboratory at the U of L houses one of the world\u2019s largest collections of bird brains.<\/p>\n
Hummingbirds show specialized brain regions linked to memory and navigation, while vultures display adaptations related to long-distance soaring and social information-sharing. Even the dodo, reconstructed through comparative anatomy, helps scientists understand how brains evolve alongside environment and behaviour.<\/p>\n
Ironically, some of the birds most often dismissed as \u201cbirdbrains\u201d are among the most cognitively sophisticated. Crows and parrots excel at problem-solving, memory, and social learning\u2014abilities that rival those of much larger-brained animals.<\/p>\n
Asked by an audience member to share one of his favourite research memories, Iwaniuk pointed to a bird that is often dismissed or derided\u2014the humble pigeon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think pigeons get a really bad rap, especially in places where people see them as pests,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve been breeding them for centuries for homing, and even today\u2014through racing clubs here in Lethbridge and across Alberta\u2014we still understand remarkably little about how they do it. We know they can somehow detect the Earth\u2019s magnetic field, but how that works remains one of the biggest mysteries in biology.\u201d<\/p>\n
That same pattern of underestimation, Iwaniuk said, extends well beyond pigeons to other everyday birds that people rarely think of as intelligent.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often think ducks are simple or stupid,\u201d he says. \u201cThey actually have remarkable brains with an extremely keen sense of touch, and we think they\u2019re thinking more than people give them credit for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Raised in Edmonton, Iwaniuk studied in Canada and Australia and at the Smithsonian Institution. He has published more than 100 scientific papers and contributed to museum exhibits, National Geographic, and documentary series such as The Nature of Things.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t underestimate the smartness of birds,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
SACPA\u2019s next weekly presentation takes place next Thursday, February 12, with Don McIntyre, Professor of Indigenous Governance and Business Management speaking on \u201cWhatever Happened to Good Old-Fashioned Manifest Destiny? Imperialism and Colonialism in Our Modernity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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