Crows And Their Cognitive Abilities
A good introduction to our topic today is the infamous quote from Lewis Carroll: “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” Or rather, “Why are crowing like monkeys?” Because corvids have as the primate a large cognitive memory performance. This is amazing when we consider that they are two so different types. When we’ve piqued your curiosity about the intelligence of these enigmatic birds, just read on and find out more!
Crows and their cognitive abilities
The following birds belong to the corvid family: crows , ravens, magpies, jackdaws, carrion crows and Iberian magpies. Numerous studies show that this group of birds stands out for both their great intelligence and their cognitive abilities. Through their research, the researchers were able to show that corvids are characterized by the following things:
- Analog thinking. Crows can associate facts and experiences with previous experiences that have no similarities.
- Episodic memory. These animals can have very vivid memories of certain situations they went through.
- They use tools to solve problems.
- Your social interactions are complex. Corvians are able to decipher the social dynamics of other groups of crows. For example, they understand the relationship that exists between members of their own group and other outsiders. In a crow community, relationships are established by the social rank of each member. In addition, they have characteristics that indicate dominance or submission.
- Crows are aware of both their own and other crows’ mental states. Crows can see themselves in a mirror, which shows they know what they look like. In addition, they can also remember others of their kind.
Corvids have working memories
The high cognitive capacity of primates is due to working memory, short-term memory storage and the manipulation of information. For example, other mental skills, such as planning or cognitive flexibility, depend directly on working memory.
The results of numerous studies with corvids show that they have developed a large capacity for working memory in the course of their evolutionary history. In fact, it corresponds to that of the primates. There was an ethological experiment on this, carried out by the psychologist Balakhonov and his team, which we will explain below.
The cognitive abilities of crows and primates
Balakhonov initially trained two specimens of the black crow ( Corvus corone ) for ten months . This was similar to an earlier experiment done with two species of macaques. In the further course of the experiment, a series of visual stimuli were displayed on a screen and the head and eye movements of the animals were followed. The researchers had previously trained the birds to focus their gaze on the center of the screen.
The visual stimuli were colored squares that appeared on the screen and kept their shape. They then disappeared for a few seconds before reappearing on the screen with a few changes. When there was a change in shape, the animal pecked on the screen.
The researchers found that the raven bird could process a maximum of four elements on the screen. A result that was very similar to that of the primates.
Crows can solve complex problems
Crows’ cognitive abilities help them solve everyday problems. For example, they can create tools from memories of previous instruments made for similar situations. You can even remember the tools created by another partner.
As a result, they can solve problems that require multiple steps in a specific order. That’s because they have the ability to store this information and then apply them in turn.
While it may seem strange at first, it is still possible to repeat experiments on animals as diverse as birds and mammals. This is because they do indeed share some similarities, such as great cognitive skills, a very precise visual system, or color resolution.
Although different species have different evolutionary lines, these experiments show that due to convergent evolution they can still share common properties.
Problem solving can mean the difference between life and death in nature. In summary, it is therefore not surprising that living beings have such extraordinary abilities.
