How Smart Are Crows Actually?

Have you seen that adorable clip of a raven sledding down a snowy roof? We have, so we took a deep dive into how crows and other corvids exhibit tool use, intelligence, and maybe even consciousness.

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[jpopelish]

I have been feeding a large family of crows for several generations. Now, I often get recognition "Howdy" calls even miles from my yard. A month ago, I was at the nearby wooded dog park and my beagle followed an interesting scent into the dense, brushy woods. When I called her and she didn't come out, right away, A crow that was watching me, gave me a hello and flew a couple passes across the woods, then flew a tight circle over one spot, before flying off. I headed in to the woods under the circle and found my dog. Crows know about the importance of keeping track of family.

[thisisme]

I was working in the garden and I could hear the loud calls of a Crow and they seemed distressed. I went and checked it out and a young crow was trying to walk across a busy road to get to "Mom". I bent over and picked up the young crow and carried it across the road and placed it next to Mom and went back to work. For several years I would have a small flock of crows hanging out with me while I worked in the garden. I would throw caterpillars and bugs onto the sidewalk and they would feed on them. I started finding small shiny things, like bits of metal, and plastic on a nearby stump which might have been payment from them.

[heathernicol]

Someone once told me that the local crowd had figured out a couple of things;

1) that covering the light sensors on the street lights turned them on,
2) that the lights were warm when they were on, and
3) they could use it to keep THEMSELVES warm during the winter, by taking turns covering the sensor so the others could warm up.

Which I thought was awesome. ^_^

[anothersquid]

I have 2 parrots and see this sort of stuff all the time. Today, my macaw took a dump, as birds do, but apparently we did not jump to cover it up with a paper, so she climbed over to the stack of newspapers, grabbed one, and covered it herself. This isn't a taught trick, she learned this on her own by watching us. She's learned how to open cupboard doors. She has a mental map of the kitchen so we have to rearrange where we store treats because she's not above commando raids on the treats.

My grey is similarly cute/devious.

[kittypurr]

I absolutely *DO* know that crows remember human friends for a longgg time. So I live in a colder climate, but during winter, sometimes I'll leave to Florida for 2-3 months. I've been feeding my crow family for about 8 years now (unsalted nuts - which they love). The SECOND I arrive back home, my crow family lines up at my back door like no time has passed at all. They remember me! They remember my car, that I feed them in my backyard at sunrise, what I look like, everything. They simply do not forget. If you start feeding the crows in your neighborhood, you'll see for yourself.... you can leave home for months.... but the moment you come back, the crows know. They remember you. They never forget. That alone is smart enough for me. I love them so much. 💗💗💗

[gbprime]

I know first hand that owls remember individuals.

I was walking my dog one night and let him off the leash as I sometimes do so he can chase a rabbit. (He never hurts them, he just does lick-and-release, not that the rabbit knows this.) He catches the rabbit right at the same time as a great horned owl dives on it. They collide and the rabbit gets away. For the next three years we got hooted at and sometimes my dog would get buzzed by what I assume was the same great horned owl. It carried a grudge.

[chrisball]

I've befriended the crows in my local park by giving them dog biscuits. They always recognise me and fly over when they see me, cawing loudly so their friends come over too. They'll even follow me around the park to see if I've got any more. I've whistled at them ever since I started doing it to help them learn to recognise me, and today I got a big surprise when one of them whistled back. Amazing creatures.

[spindash]

I’m still mostly impressed by their grasp on Theory of Mind: understanding that not only does IT have thoughts in its head, but other creatures ALSO have thoughts in their head which push them towards certain behaviors, and that these minds can know things the crow DOESN’T know

[AMVH]

Walking down the street a few years ago, a came across a pair of crows who were hunting a pigeon to eat it. One scared the pigeon to get it to fly and the other dove from a power line knocking it into a passing car. The crazy part was that they coordinated this while timing where the car would be. They waited for the car to be closer so it would hit the pigeon and signaled each other when it was time. I was horrified since I walked past this as it happened but my mind was totally blown.

[AntonioBarba_TheKaneB]

there are a bunch of ravens where I live that throw nuts in front of passing cars so they break them open with their wheels. They have been doing it for decades and apparently they teach that to their chicks.

[paddington]

Crows can tell the difference between a lunch pale and another kind of bag of non food items, you have to be really careful leaving your lunch bag/box on the top deck of construction sites. I was having trouble with a crow trying to get into my cooler one day so I placed a 2x4 on top of the lid; I came back, the lid and 2x4 was off and everything was torn up or missing. I think theyre smarter than we give them credit for.

There's a famous humongous murder of crows that migrates every day around 5-530 PST in Burnaby BC Canada near me. There are even videos on youtube of it.

[ParadoxalDream]

Once a blue jay started making sculptures in the gravel near my basement window. It would bring white shiny rocks from elsewhere (I don't have such rocks nearby in my yard) and pile them on. Sometimes it would also bring all sort of plastic junk and put it in circle, and it would plant one of its feather vertically on top like a tiny flag. I don't know if it was some sort of elaborate mating ritual like most birds-of-paradise do, but it was adorable.

[publicguy]

Worth mentioning that crows hold grudges, remember specific people and will investigate deaths of their flock.

[Kikilang]

I was sitting in my car, watching people in park. On guy was eating at a picknic table. He finished, and threw the box holding his food in the trash. When the guy left, a crow flew down, and grabbed the box, and flew up, flipping the box on the ground with top up. The crow popped the box open, and took out the paper napkins, and the paper lining the box. Then the crow took out the three deep fried cheese sticks. The crow was standing on the paper, and stacked the cheese sticks. They were to heavy or something, because it picked up the stacked cheese sticks, and put them down. Then it ripped up the paper, and stuck the shreded under it's other foot. Sea Gulls were showing up. The crow plucked on shred of paper, and let it go. The wind took the paper, and the Sea gulls chased after it. So the crow kept shredding the paper, and stacking the cheese stick, and tossing off a bit of paper when the Sea Gulls got to close. The whole time it kept biting of chunks of cheese sticks. After a point the crow had a wod of shreded paper under one foot, and the cheese sticks half gone. It flew off with the cheese sticks, and a cloud of shreded paper flew everywhere. The large crowd of Sea Gulls chased the paper, and the crow flew off with it's cheese sticks.

[panqueque]

Watching an ape make a tool is impressive enough, but watching a bird do it, with a beak, is incredible.

[pamelamays]

There's an Aesop's fable about a crow who used pebbles to cause the water level of a pitcher to rise so it could have a drink of water.

[KurNorock]

Back in 1999 i was sitting in my truck in line at the local landfill waiting to dump a load of yard waste. As i waited, i watched a raven sneak up behind the landfill worker directing traffic, steal a can of coke out of his cooler, fly about 100 yards away, then pick up a bent spoon and use it to open the tab on the can of coke. Then another raven flew over with a plate. They ripped the can over, spilling the can into the plate and started drinking it.

The entire event left me absolutely amazed. That was the first time i realized that corvids were so intelligent.

[Sashazur]

I’m sure if scientists ever figure out how to measure consciousness they’ll find it in every animal to some degree, in the same way that every animal has some level of intelligence.

[GIBBO]

There’s a few good videos of crows problem solving on here! One of them using stones to raise food using water displacement is pretty cool!

[westzed]

We had some bird feeders out in our yard. The one had a spot for unshelled peanuts. A Blue Jay came every day and took all the peanuts, so we limited it to four peanuts a day. He would screech when all the peanuts were gone, but we'd tell him "No more today". One day we were in the den and all of a sudden the Blue Jay was at the window tapping and cawing. He worked it out and found us around the corner to the side of the house. The answer was still the same "No more today".🥜❌️🥜