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Large corvids and parrots possess the largest avian brains, harboring the highest absolute numbers of neurons (Fig. 1 D and E and Fig. S4C). Their total numbers of neurons are comparable to those of small monkeys or much larger ungulates (Fig. S5).

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/06/07/1517131113.full

the whole paper is a trip, read it if you’re interested in comparative neurobiology with a focus on avian brain structure. tl:dr is: bird cells are smaller than mammalian cells, and as a consequence can pack in twice to four times as many neurons in the same space. bonus: as avian brains scale up they preferentially devote space to the telencephalon with three times as many neurons proportionally in the pallium as compared against humans and holy fuuuuuuuuuck this is the dopest shit read it read it read it