Skip to main content
. 2016 Jun 13;113(26):7255–7260. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1517131113

Table S1.

Cellular composition of the brains of 28 bird species

Species n Body mass, g Brain mass, g Total neurons, ×106 Total nonneurons, ×106
Parrots
 Green-rumped parrotlet 3 23.2 ± 0.7 1.146 ± 0.042 227.20 ± 3.81 135.00 ± 4.70
 Budgerigar 3 35.3 ± 4.6 1.317 ± 0.041 321.82 ± 10.62 176.05 ± 4.26
 Cockatiel 3 101.0 ± 4.6 2.205 ± 0.132 452.77 ± 44.51 234.66 ± 10.25
 Eastern rosella 3 102.0 ± 3.4 2.716 ± 0.032 641.88 ± 79.00 318.17 ± 47.28
 Monk parakeet 3 94.0 ± 1.7 3.420 ± 0.168 696.77 ± 75.26 393.49 ± 21.06
 Alexandrine parakeet 3 223.0 ± 5.3 5.699 ± 0.492 1,096.26 ± 89.81 572.74 ± 28.11
 Goffin's cockatoo 2 244.8 ± 3.5 8.275 ± 0.548 1,160.59 ± 101.87 792.22 ± 39.88
 Gray parrot 2 453.5 ± 47.4 8.827 ± 0.859 1,565.93 ± 128.99 880.59 ± 2.06
 Sulfur-crested cockatoo 1 430.0 10.131 2,121.93 1,001.81
 Kea 1 708.0 13.593 2,148.67 975.57
 Blue and yellow macaw 1 1,008.0 20.731 3,135.79 1,800.03
 Variation, max./min. 43.3× 18.1× 13.8× 13.3×
Songbirds
 Goldcrest 3 4.5 ± 0.1 0.357 ± 0.022 163.87 ± 8.67 44.16 ± 6.57
 Zebra finch 3 17.4 ± 2.1 0.494 ± 0.040 135.98 ± 6.82 59.75 ± 2.03
 Blackcap 3 16.6 ± 1.3 0.774 ± 0.037 156.73 ± 18.91 86.28 ± 9.18
 Great tit 3 17.1 ± 0.3 0.940 ± 0.066 225.98 ± 46.97 115.43 ± 23.43
 Starling 3 73.1 ± 1.9 1.855 ± 0.047 482.50 ± 88.29 215.64 ± 13.49
 Blackbird 3 85.0 ± 7.5 1.887 ± 0.117 379.41 ± 43.33 222.57 ± 27.48
 Azure-winged magpie 2 84.1 ± 16.0 3.393 ± 0.486 740.59 ± 0.35 349.49 ± 33.17
 Hill mynah 2 262.1 ± 30.7 3.670 ± 0.362 906.13 ± 45.38 380.79 ± 3.56
 Eurasian jay 3 160.0 ± 12.5 4.597 ± 0.307 1,085.42 ± 159.56 484.42 ± 32.87
 Magpie 3 178.6 ± 11.5 5.425 ± 0.617 897.27 ± 57.43 535.97 ± 15.96
 Jackdaw 3 209.7 ± 25.1 6.023 ± 0.305 967.99 ± 106.66 565.92 ± 37.87
 Rook 3 429.3 ± 35.6 8.357 ± 0.312 1,508.72 ± 38.25 855.55 ± 92.10
 Raven 3 1,070.7 ± 73.2 14.135 ± 0.558 2,170.68 ± 72.67 1,242.85 ± 98.19
 Variation, max./min. 237.9× 39.6× 16× 28.1×
Other birds
 Rock pigeon 3 322.5 ± 22.7 2.095 ± 0.123 309.96 ± 33.33 262.18 ± 18.94
 Red junglefowl 3 861.3 ± 107.3 2.819 ± 0.200 220.84 ± 44.50 286.68 ± 17.35
 Barn owl 3 369.7 ± 37.7 5.618 ± 0.404 689.54 ± 39.64 522.49 ± 25.29
 Emu 2 32,600.0 ± 1,414.2 21.811 ± 2.037 1,335.40 ± 29.01 1,528.66 ± 118.97

Species ordered by increasing brain size. All values are given as mean ± SD; n, number of individuals analyzed.