What Scientists Are Learning From Video Game-Playing Pigeons

Crows, we know, are among the more brilliant animals urbanites: They've got a pocket dictionary's worth of language calls, can use tools, and can pick out your face in a crowd (just hope they don't poop there). A crow could be, in some ways, more clever than a three-year-old kid.

But another, decidedly less-revered city bird may also register on the human-toddler scale of intelligence: According to a study published this week, pigeons can categorize and "name" objects, using a learning process that might be similar to the one young children go through.