Crows Remember Every Human Who Ever Fed Them, and Scientists Just Discovered They've Been Quietly Leaving Gifts to Say Thank You

Observations made in 2012 have shown that one of the key features distinguishing humans from other living beings cannot be attributed only to our kind. Namely, scientists noticed the use of future-oriented behaviors in corvids while carrying out an experiment on animals' tool choice. According to the research results, which were published in Science, crows preferred to keep specific tools, even though there was no direct motivation at the moment for choosing particular objects. These results contradicted traditional ideas on cognition peculiar to the discipline. In order to think about future events and be able to plan certain activities, a living being should not rely on its instincts and previous experience but should anticipate the situation and do something to prepare for it in advance.

The point is important, as some animals' complex behaviors can actually be explained easily with regard to the theory of conditioned reflexes. In contrast, in the case under discussion, it becomes clear that crows chose objects not due to previous learning. The experiment was organized in such a way as to exclude conditioned responses; that is, the behavior pattern was observed when birds did something for the first time without prior motivation to do so.

Tool Use Changed the Conversation

There has been plenty of research into tool use in animals, especially in primates and particular birds. But the unique factor about this discovery of tool use by crows is the planning involved in it. According to Current Biology, the findings prove that corvids like crows and ravens can solve problems with impressive efficiency, matching that of primates in many cases. During a test conducted in a lab environment, it was found that crows had the ability to choose the right object among various objects that can be used as a tool in the future, despite not receiving any incentive immediately.


A second experiment that took place in Proceedings of the Royal Society B confirmed that corvids have the ability to delay gratification and take decisions that have future benefits in mind. It shows that decision making that depends on future implications falls under higher-order cognition. What the studies reveal is that intelligence cannot just be measured with respect to brain volume. Even though crows have comparatively tiny brains compared to mammals, their neuroarchitecture makes it possible for them to undertake advanced processes.

Rethinking Intelligence Beyond Humans

However, there are additional implications concerning the definition and study of intelligence that the crow experiments reveal. According to a study published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, cognitive capacities can manifest themselves differently depending on the ecological and evolutionary pressures in species' environments. Therefore, crows and members of the corvid family, in particular, have evolved to cope with such pressures in their environment that involve adaptability, memory, and problem solving. Thus, the ecological pressure experienced by crows could contribute to the emergence of cognitive capacities similar to those observed in primates but in a different biological system.

Therefore, the discussion of intelligence needs to move from an assessment of the order of animals to the consideration of different types of intelligence that could exist among them. Moreover, it becomes evident that cognitive skills previously associated exclusively with humans could develop in animals as well given appropriate circumstances. Furthermore, the crow experiments reveal additional issues related to the evaluation of animal intelligence since tests used thus far relied mostly on the evaluation of human-like capacities.