Intelligence of a Duck
Ducks Think Abstractally
According to Smithsonian Magazine, “newborn mallards who were first exposed to two spheres (same), later chose to follow a pair or triangles (same) rather than a cube and a cuboid (different)…. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a non-human organism learning to discriminate between abstract relational concepts without any reinforcement training (1).”
Favorite Colors
Ducks have shown preferences for the colors green and blue meaning that they have favorite colors (2).
Duck Development
Ducks learned to communicate with their young while they are developing in order to try to synchronize development and make sure the young knew their voice when it hatches (2).
Citations:
1.Handwerk, Brian. “Defying Stereotypes, Ducklings Are as Clever as They Are Cute.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 14 July 2016, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/defying-stereotypes-ducklings-are-clever-they-are-cute-180959806/.
2. Barnes, Amber. “Fun Facts About Ducks.” The Open Sanctuary Project, 23 Dec. 2020, opensanctuary.org/article/fun-facts-about-ducks/.