Birds aren’t usually the first animal that people think about when they think about smart animals. In English, calling someone birdbrained means that they are stupid. And saying something is ‘for the birds’ means that it’s trivial or worthless.
However, these expressions couldn’t be more off base. Some birds, particularly crows, can be amazingly smart. In fact, their problem-solving abilities are as good as those of a seven-year-old child.
In one experiment, a crow worked out how to solve a complex three-step problem using tools. The crow was given a short stick hanging on a string, a long stick out of reach in a box, and a piece of food also out of reach in an even deeper box. The crow removed the stick from the string, then used that short stick to reach the longer stick, and then used the longer stick to reach the food in the deeper box.
Crows not only use tools, they are also the only non-primate animals to make tools.
In another experiment, crows were given a straight piece of wire and food that was out of reach in a tube. Unable to remove the food with the straight wire, one crow was recorded bending the wire to make a hook.
Even more amazing is that crows seem to use language. Researchers at the University of Washington began capturing crows for identification. However, after the first few times, the scientists found that catching new crows was becoming harder.
The crows were learning to recognize the face of the person that captured them and then telling other crows that that person was a threat.
To test how well crows could do this, the scientists started wearing a rubber mask when they captured crows. Soon after, the crows were sending off warning cries whenever anybody with that mask approached.
Later, the scientists observed that crows that had never been captured were giving the same warning cries in reaction to people wearing the mask. Over the months that followed, they reported that eventually, 89% of the crows, most of which had never been captured, were attacking anyone wearing the mask. It appears that news of the mask-wearing threat was spreading by word of mouth or, in this case, word of beak.
What do you think? If tool use and language is a sign of intelligence, is it possible that, given a few hundred thousand more years, crows might develop human-like intelligence?
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html?_r=0
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2590046/Crows-intelligent-CHILDREN-Study-reveals-birds-intelligence-seven-year-old.html
Some people think birds aren’t smart animals. Birdbrained is another way of saying someone is stupid. And saying something is ‘for the birds’ means that it’s worthless.
This couldn’t be more off base. Some birds can be very smart. Crows can solve some problems as good as a seven-year-old child.
In one experiment, a crow worked out how to solve a difficult three-step problem. They showed the crow three things. There was a short stick on a string. There was a long stick in a box. And there was a piece of food in a deeper box. The crow first took the stick off the string. Then it used the short stick to get the longer stick. Next, it used the longer stick to get the food in the deeper box.
Crows don’t only use tools. They are also the only non-primate animals to make tools.
In another experiment, they gave a crow a straight piece of wire and food that was in a tube. The crow couldn’t get the food with the straight wire, so it bent the wire to make a hook.
Crows also seem to use language. Researchers at the University of Washington began catching crows. They soon found that catching new crows was becoming harder.
The crows were learning the face of the person that caught them. They were then telling other crows that that person was dangerous.
The scientists next started to wear a mask when they caught crows. Soon after, the crows were sending off warning cries whenever anybody with that mask was near.
Later, crows that had never been caught were giving the same warning cries when they saw the mask. News of the mask-wearing danger was spreading by word of mouth.
References:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/science/26crow.html?_r=0
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2590046/Crows-intelligent-CHILDREN-Study-reveals-birds-intelligence-seven-year-old.html
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