Birds, Home Improvement Stores and Adaptation

I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.

I was making my weekly pilgrimage to Lowes today, had my cart full of 90% of the things I needed for my tiling project (the remaining 10% to be discovered mid-project) and headed toward the checkout.

Since I go to this Lowes quite often, it was no surprise to see a few birds flying here and there. If I was a bird in Seattle, I could think of worse places to start a family than in a home improvement mega-store. I was imagining a sturdy nest with vinyl windows and radiant heating when I saw one bird head toward the exit.

'This could be grim,' I thought to myself as the bird swooped toward the glass doors. My home (the one I try to improve) has a couple panoramic windows that, every summer, cause a major headache for a few unfortunate winged friends. But just as I was anticipating the 'thwack', the bird did something amazing.

It dove low to the ground and then performed a hammerhead stall... right in front of the doors motion detector! The doors opened and the bird flew out!

And the bird didn't just get lucky-- nobody was entering or leaving the store. I believe it was actually a learned behavior, hammered home after many, many headbutts. But the fact of the matter is one bird figured it out, and I can only assume these birds talk-- or at least observe what works for their brethren.

I mentioned this to the cashier and she just said, 'Damn birds, always letting the cold air in!'

Perhaps being called a 'bird brain' isn't quite the insult it used to be.