Crows are widely considered to be among the most intelligent birds on the planet. They have incredibly complex social structures, advanced problem-solving skills, and large brains relative to their body size. But how does a crow’s intelligence actually compare to other birds and animals? In this article, we’ll explore what makes crows so smart and how their cognitive abilities stack up against other creatures.
What are crows?
Crows are medium-sized black birds that belong to the genus Corvus. There are over 40 different species spread across the world, with some of the most widespread including the American Crow, Northwestern Crow, Fish Crow, and Common Raven. They are omnivorous and extremely adaptable, thriving in habitats ranging from farmland and cities to forests and coastal regions.
Crows are highly social and live communally in family groups or large winter flocks. They have complex social hierarchies and engage in cooperative behaviors like mobbing predators as a group. Crows recognize individual human faces and teach their young about dangerous people, essentially creating a culture of distrust against threatening humans that is passed down generations.
Crow intelligence and cognition
Over the past few decades, scientific studies have revealed sophisticated cognitive abilities in crows that were once thought to be restricted to only humans and other apes. Some key hallmarks of crow intelligence include:
- Large brains – Their brains are exceptionally large proportional to their body size, second only to parrots among birds.
- Social intelligence – They have intricate social structures and interactions.
- Tool use – They are capable of manufacturing and using tools in the wild.
- Innovation – They can solve novel problems and improvise solutions.
- Long-term memory – Crows have impressive long-term memories, recalling human faces years later.
- Planning – They exhibit foresight and the ability to plan for future events.
- Reasoning – Crows understand concepts like object displacement and cause-effect relationships.
Studying crow cognition in the lab reveals their aptitude for tasks like pattern recognition, delayed gratification, and insight learning. Their intellectual abilities are on par with primates like chimpanzees and orangutans.
Crow vs. parrot intelligence
Parrots are another bird group renowned for their high intelligence and cognitive skills. But between crows and parrots, which one is smarter? There has been some debate around this question, but the two bird groups have distinct strengths and similarities:
Parrot intelligence
- Large brains relative to body size.
- Advanced problem-solving and tool use.
- Insight learning and creativity.
- Long-term memories.
- Complex social relationships.
- Vocal learning skills – parrots can imitate human speech.
Some individual parrot species like the African grey parrot have cognitive test performance on par with 5-6 year old humans.
Crow intelligence
- Large brains relative to body size.
- Innovative tool use in the wild.
- Fast learning and problem-solving.
- Long-term memory skills.
- Understanding of object displacement.
- Planning for future events.
- Ability to discriminate quantities.
New Caledonian crows in particular are remarkable for their spontaneous tool crafting abilities which rival primates.
Similarities
- Exceptionally large brains compared to other birds.
- Advanced problem solving and tool using skills.
- Long-term memory capabilities.
- Capacity for insight learning and creativity.
- Complex social structures and interactions.
Both crows and parrots demonstrate intellectual abilities on par with great apes that go above and beyond instinct. This suggests convergent cognitive evolution between the two distantly related bird groups.
Differences
- Vocal learning – Parrots can mimic human speech but crows cannot.
- Social complexity – Crows have larger social groups than parrots.
- Tool use – Wild crows manufacture more complex tools than parrots.
- Insight – Crows seem to have more inferential reasoning abilities.
Crow vs parrot intelligence: who wins?
Overall, crows and parrots have complementary strengths – parrots excel at mimicry and learning, while crows are superior at tool use and social reasoning. Neither bird has conclusively proven itself “smarter” than the other. Both corvids and parrots stand out from all other birds in their intellectual abilities.
How smart are crows compared to other animals?
Crows demonstrate cognitive skills on par with intelligent animals like chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants. Their relative brain size alone speaks to advanced intelligence.
Here’s how crows measure up in intelligence compared to other animals:
Crows vs primates
- Crows have similar problem solving skills to great apes.
- Their cognitive abilities are approx. equivalent to macaque monkeys.
- Crows understand concepts like cause-effect relationships and object displacement that challenge most primates.
Crows vs dolphins
- Dolphins understand symbolic language and have self-recognition.
- Crows manufacture more complex tools than dolphins in the wild.
- Both crows and dolphins have large brains and social complexity.
Crows vs elephants
- Elephants have self-awareness and altruism.
- Crows have larger brains relative to body size.
- Both crows and elephants have social structures, tool use, memory and planning abilities.
Crows vs dogs
- Dogs cannot independently use or create tools.
- Crows understand cause and effect better than dogs.
- Dogs have a superior sense of smell.
- Both crows and dogs can recognize individual human faces.
So in summary, crows demonstrate intellectual abilities on par with intelligent mammals like great apes, elephants, and dolphins. Their sophisticated cognition earns them a spot alongside the smartest creatures.
Crow intelligence experiments
Controlled experiments on captive crows have revealed the breadth of their cognitive talents and shed light on the bird brain:
Tool use
New Caledonian crows in captivity learned to spontaneously create tools like hooks to retrieve food. They also store tools between uses.
Insight learning
In Aesop’s fable experiments, crows drop stones into water to raise the water level and obtain a floating food reward. This demonstrates causal understanding.
Planning
Crows plan for future water shortages by caching pebbles that can be traded for water – showing episodic foresight.
Delayed gratification
Crows wait longer for a better quality food reward, rather than settling for a mediocre reward right away.
Pattern recognition
Crows can learn and discriminate complex visual patterns from each other.
Orthographic processing
Crows can recognize common English words and letters.
Counting
Crows have some numerical sense and can distinguish between different quantities.
Crow | Parrot |
---|---|
Large brains relative to body size | Large brains relative to body size |
Use tools in the wild | Advanced problem solving skills |
Planning for future events | Mimic human speech |
Complex social interactions | Complex social interactions |
Long-term memory | Long-term memory |
Why are crows so intelligent?
Scientists have a few theories about why crows evolved such high intelligence:
Social complexity
The complex social structures and interactions of crows likely placed selective evolutionary pressure on more advanced cognitive abilities.
Tool use
Their habitual tool use in the wild rewarded innovation and intelligence. Crows with better tool-making abilities would flourish.
Adaptability
Crows thrive in diverse challenging environments which could favor greater intelligence and behavioral flexibility.
Brain anatomy
The large forebrain of crows gives them enhanced learning, memory, and problem solving compared to other birds.
Long lifespan
Crows live 10-15 years in the wild on average, allowing more time for learning. A long developmental period promotes intelligence.
Conclusion
Crows possess remarkable intelligence that in some ways matches advanced mammals like primates. Their large brains, social complexity, insight learning, tool use and memory abilities are evidence of cognitive skills that are highly unusual for birds. While crows may not be the very “smartest” animal species, they undoubtedly rank among the elite intelligences in the animal kingdom alongside cetaceans, elephants, and higher primates. Understanding the evolution of crow intelligence can provide broader clues to how complex cognition arises in very different lineages including humans.