this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2023
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[–] SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.ml 77 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The 90s are nothing. I remember a flock of seagulls from the 80s that are still flying around.

[–] Hupf@feddit.de 29 points 11 months ago (2 children)

They just flew (so far away).

[–] somethingsnappy@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hello, fellow old people. My 10 year old is sporting that cut, unironicaly.

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[–] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 62 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

Any bird who lives primarily in the water is dumb as shit. They have unlimited protection above and around them, so they have zero adaptive pressure to put anything into their intelligence. Land birds have a lot to worry about so their brains are approaching human levels of intellect.

[–] PrincessZelda@lemmy.world 51 points 11 months ago (1 children)

If the land birds get any smarter they're going to have to start worrying about a whole lot more. Like taxes, or rent.

[–] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I mean some birds have been shown exchanging money for goods and services, so it's not that far off.

[–] Afghaniscran 24 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh god no, someone needs to warn the birds about capitalism.

[–] miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Birds are very good at stealing things, so I think it's too late for that

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 8 points 11 months ago

Stealing requires the belief that other people can own things. They are simply taking what is rightfully theirs. Birds are billionaires.

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[–] JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago (10 children)

A land bird flew into my window so hard I was worried it died this morning. This happens once a month to my knowledge and I don’t spend long in my bedroom outside sleeping. Land birds aren’t smart outside of a few select species lol

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 26 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

In all seriousness that's more of a sensory limitation than an intelligence limitation. IIRC birds' eyes work differently from mammals and they can't see glass pretty much at all.

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[–] roomey@sh.itjust.works 17 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Put some stickers on your window

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[–] Serdan@lemm.ee 9 points 11 months ago (6 children)

Wtf. Would you please do something about that?

[–] Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 11 months ago (4 children)

What do you want him to do, start a bird college?

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[–] BigNote@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not true at all. There's tons of adaptive pressure. If there weren't, we wouldn't see the thousands of pelagic and shorebird species that we do. But even if what you say about the threat from predation were true --its not-- there would still be adaptive pressure from differential reproduction rates and access to nutrients.

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[–] FUCKRedditMods@lemm.ee 40 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I’m sure there’s some seagull out there with a 1000-yard stare who went through the most fucked up shit of his life in the 90’s and still remembers it like it was yesterday. He hangs out down by the bars and drinks discarded alcohol out of the trash, trying to forget, and then flies around drunk bumping into things.

The other seagulls look at him and shake their heads with pity “he used to be such a good gull.. so full of promise.”

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Too soon, too soon, too soon.

He stole food from Madonna too soon.

Too young, too young, too soon too soon.

[–] Cornes@kbin.social 33 points 11 months ago (1 children)

This reminds me of a talk I had with my dad, an equine veterinarian for 40 years. I'd seen that video of a horse eating a chick online and someone in the comments explained that horses are naturally opportunistic eaters and that's why it took the chance to munch it down. I confidently told him this later on and he said, 'nah, they're just stupid'.

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago (3 children)
[–] Omgarm@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Are they stupid or do they know that death is just a dark void?

[–] 3ntranced@lemmy.world 14 points 11 months ago

Got me wondering weather or not horses actually know something we don't. They always had shifty eyes.

[–] Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Someone on youtube said it therefore it must be true. I believe it.

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[–] Donjuanme@lemmy.world 31 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I don't know that I'd trust an ornathologist to know how the brain chemistry works. But I do trust that they're dumb. Lacking memory isn't predictive of being dumb, but there's probably some correlation. Maybe seagulls have perfect memory but just want to flip human observers the bird.

[–] IMongoose@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ornithologists do actual science, they aren't just bird watchers. An ornithologist is pretty much the only one I would trust about this because they are the ones studying the birds.

[–] andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun 11 points 11 months ago (3 children)

That and the bird lawyers.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Idk bird lawyers probably don’t deal with birds at their smartest. Human lawyers likely don’t think we’re intelligent life either

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[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 6 points 11 months ago

Maybe seagulls have perfect memory but just want to flip human observers the bird.

My spirit animal

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 27 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Wait till this person hears about parrots

[–] leggettc18@programming.dev 26 points 11 months ago (2 children)

For real, there are at least some parrots that are likely to outlive their owners. Like if you get a pet parrot you do it considering you will likely pass it on to someone else in your fucking will.

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 16 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (7 children)

The sadder part of this is that many "pet" parrots live much shorter than their natural life in the wild because their owners don't know how to care for them. They're also extremely intelligent, some researchers argue that macaws can be considered sapient for example.

Even more widespread problem with koi and goldfish. They can live well into their 80s and can grow up to many pounds over that time, yet most people have their goldfish die after two weeks and just assume that's their natural lifespan because they're irresponsible owners. Hint: that glass bowl is not cutting it, there isn't a single species of fish that can be healthy in a tank without an active circulation pump and filter. Also fun fact: the Western misconception that goldfish can be kept in bowls comes from the fact that in China and Japan where they originate, owners would sometimes put them in clay bowls to show them off (which were about a meter in diameter BTW, not the soccer ball sized bowls you see nowadays), they were kept in those bowls very rarely, they were traditionally raised in large ponds.

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[–] Gamey@feddit.de 5 points 11 months ago

Or crows, they reach roughly the same age and ravens can turn fucking 80 in captivity, not sure how long they live in the wild tho!

[–] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 24 points 11 months ago (2 children)

They wait for cruise ships to leave to grab fish trying to swim away. They're probably smarter than most people.

[–] gizmonicus@sh.itjust.works 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Based on the 2020 US election, we know at least 74,222,958 people that fall under the seagull intelligence standard.

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Not a single seagull voted for Trump. Not one. How do libs explain this, other than by voter suppression?

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[–] Gamey@feddit.de 7 points 11 months ago

Not a especially high bar!

[–] TopShelfVanilla@sh.itjust.works 22 points 11 months ago (5 children)

They have enough thought process to play. Watch them fly. They play in the thermals. Do all manner of aerobatics. They know how to steal from humans. That's not "dumb".

[–] CADmonkey@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think a lot of birds have more complex internal lives than people realize. I have chickens, amd all four of them have a distinct personality and feelings.

[–] TopShelfVanilla@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

No kidding. My yard has had more chickens than I can count over the years. Every one an individual.

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[–] TinyPizza@kbin.social 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

"The greatest trick the devil ever played was making man believe he doesn't exist"

Those seagulls remember... and they'll have their revenge for that hot dog bun you scared them off in 04'. tick tok

[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 13 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Since there is videos of seagulls hunting pigeons i'd say they are pretty smart birds. They just dont give a fuck to pretend around people.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 22 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Just because an animal is territorial and good at killing does not mean it's smart.

[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Yes but we already know about cops.

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[–] tryptaminev@feddit.de 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

The approach is pretty smart though and it isnt standard seagull behaviour, so they are inventive. Also they are about the same size as pigeons.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xRPTBhmcyXY

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[–] unconsciousvoidling@sh.itjust.works 9 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I don’t remember the 90s either.

[–] EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

“You’re dumb”

-He

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