“In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.
Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.” –Aesop
I think that the majority of people reading this will be aware of this fable but are you aware that scientists have actually proven this to be true? This story was one of need being the mother of invention but maybe Aesop was just an observer of nature (much like me). I remember watching ravens in the shopping mall parking lot take the clams and mussels that they scrounged up from the beach kilometers away, flying very high, and dropping them to break them open. If that did not seem to work, they would wait until a car drove over them and then pick out the juicy bits. (Who hasn’t done this?) I love most animals but crows and ravens have always held a special place in my heart and I sing their praises to all who will listen. I also think that this will save me a place in this world at least as a pet once our beloved blackbird overlords take over.
Birds, and those in the crow family especially, have been much maligned in the past but they are so much more than anyone has ever given them credit for. Crows, and their blackbird brethren, are very social animals; form pair bonding similar to marriage, use tools, have spatial awareness, and remember when someone does them wrong (among other interesting things including the eventual overthrow of humanity…maybe that is a bit much. Or is it?). Many of these things have only been previously attributed to the higher apes, remember Planet of the Apes? Sorry, off topic.
In a world where there seems to be more and more animals and plants being put on the endangered species’ list, crows have not just survived, they have thrived. Adaptation is the crow’s middle name and the majority of their population lives in close geography to humans. In New Caledonia, the crows have been seen using tools to get food and in the suburbs of Tokyo, they have adapted to using cars to break open nuts that they have dropped in the road. Not only breaking nuts open but they actually wait for the lights to change to go into the road and not get hit in traffic. This behaviour was first noticed over ten years ago and each generation has taught this behaviour to the next.
Nathan Emery* of Queen Mary, University of London carried out a study with Christopher Bird at Cambridge University where corvids (crows) were able to figure out how to raise the water level in a laboratory container by dropping stones inside to retrieve a tasty worm floating on the surface, thus proving the Aesop proverb. This study proved that these birds were on par or far superior in the intelligence department with the great apes. “This [study] suggests that they can not only think through complex problems requiring the use of tools, but imagine the consequences of their actions without trial-and-error learning, and create novel solutions to these problems that have never been encountered before,” Dr Emery said.
These scientists also “proposed that crow and ape intelligence is an example of convergent evolution – namely that complex cognition evolved in these distantly related animals due to facing similar selection pressures, such as living in complex social groups or having to find and process a range of foods, some that are difficult to acquire or with external defenses.”
The next time you see a crow, say hi and be respectful. They may still come to own the world. Hop on the crow bandwagon with me! Celebrate the infamous blackbird! The crow is as intelligent as great apes, dolphins, and elephants and should be honoured as such.
–Janice Willson
If you want to watch a very inte
resting video about crows, please take a look at this: https://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_klein_on_the_intelligence_of_crows#t-110708
*Nathan Emery is Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Biology at Queen Mary University of London, UK has studied the intelligence of corvids, and parrots, as well as apes and monkeys for the last 20 years. Emery is the co-editor Social Intelligence: From Brain to Culture and The Cognitive Neuroscience of Social Behaviour, and is on the editorial board of the journals. He is the author of Bird Brain: An Exploration of Avian Intelligence, a visually stunning guide to the brain, behaviour and cognition of our feathered friends. Emery’s work has been extensively covered by international newspapers and magazines, in books, and on TV. He is currently working with the ravens at the Tower of London.
