# Bird Brained: How Scientists Proved the Dodo Was Never That Dumb *Researchers CT-Scanned the Skulls of 57 Columbiform Birds, Including the Dodo and Solitaire* By Sandee Oster · Published 17 August 2026 Source: https://archaeologyteahouse.com/stories/bird-brained-how-scientists-proved-the-dodo-was-never-that-dumb Primary source: [The sensory world of the Dodo and Solitaire revealed by endocast and skull anatomy](https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlag123) Subjects: [Dodo](https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q43502) --- --- ![bird 1](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/media/01a00951-2dc0-7a56-a46e-06fce637c03e/960.webp) *Dodo skeleton next to a dodo replica at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, made in 1998. Credit: [Wikimedia Commons ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo#/media/File:Oxford_Dodo_display.jpg)* You want to know something cool? Every single ‘dodo egg’ you’ve ever seen is a fake! Well, all except for one. It’s in South Africa, and I have held it! Kind of, because it is the only one; it sits in a little glass case, so I held the case, but you know what? I don’t care; I held a dodo egg in my hands, isn’t that cool! Dodos are quite possibly one of the most famous examples of animal extinction caused by humans. In movies, cartoons and even some older documentaries, it is depicted as a bumbling idiot, whose own stupidity is to blame for its extinction. But we may have been somewhat unfair to our ‘dumb’ dodos, as a recent study suggests they weren’t quite so dumb after all, and they may have been the only known nocturnal pigeon relative in existence. ### The Dodo ![Edwards' Dodo](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/media/01a00950-e3f8-7b16-aab7-87744227499c/1600.webp) *R. Savery’s painting of a dodo, 1626. Credit: [Wikimedia Commons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo#/media/File:Edwards%27_Dodo.jpg)* The dodo was a flightless bird found on the island of Mauritius. Having lived there for millennia, it went extinct in just a century after humans arrived on its island home. Scientists have since studied many aspects of the dodo, including its physical appearance, evolutionary history, role in the ecosystem and why they went extinct, but most of this research was done only after the last dodo had long since died, making it incredibly difficult to piece together the remaining evidence. Interestingly, despite surviving for close to a century after human arrival, very little accurate information exists about its living behavior; I guess the people on Mauritius had better things to do than write journal entries on the behavior of the dodo. The most famous depiction of the dodo was painted by a Dutchman, Roelant Savery, who (although he claimed to have painted the bird from life), likely only saw some sad preserved specimen, hence why he gave it an absolutely absurd and rather dopey-looking body. That same image then became the inspiration for many dodo reconstructions, which brings me to my fun fact number 2. While in Mauritius, I wanted to visit the local museum and see a stuffed dodo; sadly, the museum was being renovated, so I never saw the dodo. Many years later, while at the East London museum, I learned that there are no stuffed dodos. Every single dodo you may have seen is nothing more than a replica made of ostrich and pigeon feathers. Point is we have little to go on when it comes to how the dodo looked, let alone how it behaved; from the little we can gather, it is thought that it likely nested on the ground and had very little fear towards humans (not uncommon for animals who live on predator-free islands). While we know little about the dodo, we know a bit more about its closest, now extinct relative, the Rodrigues Solitaire. The solitaire, despite also going extinct due to human hunting around 1761, was never labeled as stupid, and this may partially be because of first-hand accounts by two men (François Leguat in 1691–93 and Julien Tafforet in 1725–26) who were stranded on Rodrigues Island. While there, they made various observations about the bird, including its aggression towards other birds and possibly other animals, showing it was more than just a trusting fool (unlike the dodo supposedly was). That’s about the extent of our knowledge of these two birds; we know next to nothing about how well or poorly they could smell, hear, see or feel. In most birds, the size of the sensory organs, related nerves, and brain regions reveals how much a species relies on each sense. Because of this, a bird’s skull, which closely follows the shape of its brain, can give tantalizing insights into a bird’s behavior and sensory capabilities. And while we may not have any stuffed dodos, we do have some skulls of both dodos and Solitaires, which scientists can use to create 3D endocasts (molds of their brains) and study their brains’ sizes and shapes. ### Bird Brains ![Bird 3](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/media/01a00950-5367-72d1-b7bf-49eb579ff833/1600.webp) *This figure compares 3D skull and brain reconstructions of the Dodo, Solitaire, and Nicobar Pigeon, highlighting the optic lobe, Wulst, and olfactory regions. Credit: Silhouettes from PhyloPic, Gearty and Jones 2023 in Citron et al. 2026* To figure out how smart these birds were and gain just a peek at their behavior, scientists, including PhD student Sara Citron and her colleagues, CT-scanned the skulls of 57 birds, including 36 pigeon and dove species, 3 Dodos and 4 Solitaires, plus their closest living relative, the Nicobar Pigeon. From these scans, they created digital endocasts, measured the individual brain regions linked to vision (optic lobes and Wulst), smell (olfactory bulbs), and thinking/learning (telencephalon), as well as skull features linked to eyesight (eye socket size), touch (nerve openings for the trigeminal nerve), and hearing (inner ear canal length). They then compared these traits with other species to determine the evolutionary relationship between dodos, solitaires and other pigeon and dove species from around the world. And this is what they found. Dodos had unusually large eye sockets and a strong sense of smell, but noticeably smaller brain regions for processing vision compared to other pigeons. Its inner-ear canal was longer, hinting at a wider hearing range, and it had enlarged optic nerve openings linked to touch sensitivity with its bill. The solitaire, on the other hand, was much more typical; in fact, it was basically just a very large pigeon, having similar sensory features to the pigeons save for a proportionally smaller eye socket. The ‘biggest’ revelation was that the study found no evidence at all that the dodo was stupid; if anything, it was probably just as intelligent as your average pigeon. While the dodo was no Einstein, it wasn’t utterly idiotic either. This lends credence to the idea that it got its stupid reputation from being too trusting around humans. And humans simply labeled that trusting nature as stupidity. ### Awake at Night ![Bird 4](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/media/01a0094f-e72c-7c52-9b5a-f99f882c3be8/1600.webp) *Family tree of the pigeon and dove species studied, alongside reconstructed brain endocasts. Credit: Citron et al. 2026* Regarding its other senses, the dodo had enlarged olfactory bulbs (the brain’s smell-processing center). How this enhanced sense of smell may have helped the dodo is unclear; it could have helped it find food during harsh conditions or recognize and interact with other dodos. Interestingly, having a heightened sense of smell is something seen in many other flightless and nocturnal birds, including the kiwi and the kakapo, which may hint at a broader evolutionary pattern. Though unless more dodo specimens turn up, that hypothesis cannot be tested for certain. As you may have noticed, I said ‘other flightless and nocturnal’ birds. The dodo had somewhat larger eyes than expected, but its optic lobe (the brain region that processes visual information) was over three times smaller than its closest living relative, the Nicobar Pigeon.  In fact, it seems the dodo may have had vision comparable to that of many modern owls. Owls prioritize other senses over sharp vision (yes, the large eyes can be misleading). Based on this pattern and its similarity to other birds active at night, the researchers suggest that maybe the dodo was active at dawn/dusk or even at night, relying more on its sense of smell and touch to find food and other dodos. This would make it the only known nocturnal pigeon (or rather member of the pigeon family) in existence. Why it may have been active at low light or nighttime is uncertain; perhaps it was simply a means to escape the daytime heat or avoid competition with other animals such as tortoises active during the day. --- It seems dodos were not quite so stupid after all, and as many of you may have already known, their ‘stupid’ nature is more a relic of their trusting nature. New research suggests they were just as intelligent as most pigeon species, and on top of that, they may have been active during the night. It’s really a shame how many species have gone extinct, and we will never really know what they looked or acted like. But research like this is invaluable in the effort to try and find out. I wonder why so many flightless birds on islands turn out to be nocturnal; this was possibly also the case for the now-extinct Hawaiian ibis. Why do you think dodos were possibly active at dawn/dusk or even nocturnal, and do you have any other fun dodo facts to share? *Let me know what you think, and if you'd like to support this blog and the person writing it, you can *[*chip in once, monthly, or yearly*](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/support)[*.*](https://archaeologyteahouse.com/support)* Only if you'd like to.* ### References Citron, S., Hipsley, C. A., Hume, J., James, H., Hosner, P. A., Czeibert, K., … & Iwaniuk, A. N. (2026). The sensory world of the Dodo and Solitaire revealed by endocast and skull anatomy. *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society*, *207*(4), [https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/207/4/zlag123/8751003](https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/207/4/zlag123/8751003) ## Common questions **Where is the only real dodo egg located?** The only real dodo egg is located in the East London Museum in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. **Why do owls have such big eyes?** Owls have big eyes because a wider eye lets in more light, which help them see better in low-light conditions. **How many actual Dodo and Solitaire specimens were scanned, and does that small sample size matter?** Only 3 Dodo skulls and 4 Solitaire skulls total, one Solitaire specimen was endocast only. This is a notably small sample for statistical claims, and the study flags it directly. **How certain are the researchers that the Dodo was actually nocturnal or crepuscular?** This is "speculative," a hypothesis based on comparative patterns in other birds, not direct proof.