They can use tools to get what they want, like New Caledonian crows (Scientific name: Corvus moneduloides) in a single South Pacific island of the same name, which shape twigs into hooks to catch grubs from rotting logs.
And according to new research, crows are even smarter than we thought.
Crows and other corvids (a family of birds that includes ravens and magpies) “know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds”, according to a 2020 study in Science. This is considered a cornerstone of self-awareness and shared by just a handful of animal species beside humans, such as monkeys and great apes.
Crows can also use their complex brains to find creative solutions, such as dropping nuts on the road so passing cars can crack them open, for example.
The ability to think through a problem and work out an answer may be due to crows possessing a high number of brain cells that process information. This trait appears not only in humans, but in non-human primates, too.
A study published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology in January 2022 comparing corvid brains with those of chickens, pigeons, and ostriches found that corvid brains have more tightly packed neurons – between 200 and 300 million neurons per hemisphere – enabling efficient communication between the brain cells.
Crow intelligence is at least on par with some monkeys, and in fact, may be closer to that of great apes (like gorillas), according to a 2017 study published in Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. Meaning, crows can do jobs, share knowledge, and even ritualistically mourn their dead.
All of this is cool – but I am bemused about this particular behavior:
😂😂😂
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