The old joke goes something like this:
An angel appeared to three fishermen and says to one of them, "I'll grant you whichever of three blessings you choose: wisdom, beauty, or ten million dollars."
The fisherman thinks for a moment and chooses wisdom. There is a flash of lightning and the fisherman is transformed, but then he just sits there, staring blankly.
His two friends poke him and say, “You have great wisdom. Say something!" The fisherman says, “I should have taken the money!”
Poor bird. To borrow a phrase from Richard Adams, "He had the jewel in his pocket all along."