Les chouettes sont-elles aussi « intelligentes » que des corbeaux ou des perroquets ?

A common way to assess animal’s comprehension of means–end relation is to offer them tasks which could be solved promptly and without previous learning. In order to assess this capacity, the so-called string-pulling paradigm is widely used, in which an animal has to get the remote bait to which a string is attached. An ability to solve string-pulling tasks has been studied in various bird species: corvids, parrots and passerines. In general it is possible to conclude that large-brained bird species, such as big parrots and crows, are presumably able to comprehend the cause-effect relationship between string and bait in the respective tasks.
Owls are characterized by a high level of brain complexity, and one may suggest that owls’ capacity to solve cognitive tests could be comparable to those in the large brained birds. Indeed, owls
have never been investigated in cognitive studies. Two Russian biologists have tested Great Grey Owls Strix nebulosa means–end comprehension using tasks that have been successfully used in previous studies about birds cognitive abilities.