Do you think that birds eventually realize that their eggs contain babies?

I think they’re running strictly on instinct.

I’ve never read on the topic either way…but I’m generally of the opinion that we underestimate how smart animals are. I don’t mean to suggest they think the same way we do, but we regard them as this simple automatons and it’s definitely not true of things like sea mammals or smart birds.

So just running on my intuition, I’ll bet they know on some level. Like if you could read their mind, they might not say “Hey, that’s my egg. It’s got my baby in it”, but I think they know this isn’t just some random white rock that popped out of their body and into their nest. They know enough to protect it, to incubate it, and to have actually built the nest for it in the first place.

We can dismiss that by saying it’s instinct…but instinct is a form of knowledge too. I hope I’m making sense. It makes sense in my head.

Makes sense @Entropy

Birds, like other animals, do not have the ability to reason. So, no.

It is difficult to say what birds know or do not know. It is certain that they do not understand language as we do but they certainly do a far better job of raising their chicks than you or I could.

Of course.

(So many humans are so dismissive of other animals . . . )

I think they know that it is their offspring. Maybe not to the extent that we do but they know enough to protect and provide for them. Something that some humans seem to NOT understand. :(

No, they don’t have the introspection and sense for that sort of leap.

“I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is.” – Forrest Gump.
It irks me every time, that just because animals have not managed to develop complex tools or technology, that humans, in their infinite arrogance, then conclude that animals are so stupid, that they can not even grasp to any degree the most basic biological concepts, that the eggs they lay contain their offspring. I mean, come the fuck on.
We know that primates habitually use tools for everyday tasks.
We know that certain birds use tools, as well.
We have experiments demonstrating that certain birds are capable of complex problem solving, and have a solid understanding of basic physics, including water displacement.
I have seen the experiment where a dog was told to fetch an unknown toy from a pile, and the dog deduced that on a pile of toys that she knew by name, the one toy she did not know, had to be the one she was supposed to fetch, and chose it accordingly. They are capable of logical reasoning.
But no, despite all that, people continue to be convinced that animals are just rote automatons, because they want to continue to cling to their belief of being a special creation, made in the image of god, because god forbid they should be forced to accept that the animals they deem so inferior, are a lot closer to themselves than they would like.

But to be fair the dogs have to be have to be trained.

And I have also personally witnessed crows placing nuts on the road, and waiting on the sidewalk for cars to run over the nuts to crack them open for them.
They may not be able to build a car, but they sure as hell are using them as tools for their own ends.

@ragingloli If what you say is true, animals also know that they are naked. Why do they not possess the ability to speak? Why do they have sex out in the open and not go hide someplace where they cannot be seen?
I think you think too much into what animals may think.

Dude – There are still humans who don’t know where babies come from.

I think the birds will be better off without our help.

Why would they care that they are naked, or that they are having sex in front of others? Shame is the result of social conditioning, not of intelligence.
And how good are you at speaking crow, dog, or cat?

@kritiper D’uh, animals speak all the time. Geez, where have you been? Some people even have sex in public…I thought I was the youngster here?!

@RayaHope Yet they are unable to reason things out. They are of only one mind, not two like us humans.

@kritiper wearing clothes and hiding sex are religious human constructs.

Well @kritiper, my cat really sucks at math and so do I, but when he gets hungry he reasons good enough to come and get me to run and put out some food for him so he no longer has a grumbling belly. That takes some kind of thought process now doesn’t it? Animals are much smarter than YOU give them credit for. After-all, they have been on this planet much longer than we have been and probably will be here long after we kill ourselves off.

@kritiper ”@ragingloli If what you say is true, animals also know that they are naked.”
– What?

“Why do they not possess the ability to speak?”
– OMG really? Biology. And, animals do speak.

“Why do they have sex out in the open and not go hide someplace where they cannot be seen?”
– Because they weren’t told that was impolite by anyone that thought so?

q.v. the book Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

Here is a door, forcibly blocked using a wedge, being opened by a cat:
https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/zowtf8/the_cat_has_a_very_clear_logic_im_shocked/

Smart cat @ragingloli

I wonder if that cat can help me with my math? Cat 1 @kritiper 0

And here is a cat operating a cash register:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hmm/comments/zp2gz2/hmm/

@ragingloli Well damn. That is a smart cat.

Ha! That’s an amazing costume. Makes me think of Yuko Higuchi.

@ragingloli I know you’ll push me away, but screw it {{{HUGS}}}!!! :D