Pigeons can categorize innumerable naturalistic and artificial visual stimuli they encounter. Computational models suggest that elementary associative learning lies at the root of the pigeon’s category learning and generalization. In addition, ongoing computational and neuroscientific investigations suggest how naturalistic and artificial stimuli may be processed along the pigeon’s visual pathway. Given the pigeon’s availability and affordability, there are compelling reasons for this animal model to gain increasing prominence in contemporary neuroscientific research.

Wasserman, E.A., Turner, B. M., Güntürkün, O., The pigeon as a model of complex visual processing, Neuroscience Insights, 2024, 19: 1-5.