Corvid Intelligence

In past blogs we’ve discussed how intelligent members of the corvid family (crows, ravens and jays) are—crows and ravens in particular.

As more and more studies are conducted with these amazing birds we humans have been astounded to discover just how truly smart these feathered creatures are—even seeming to use logic and reasoning to solve “problems” created to stump them.

Click Here to see one truly astounding demonstration by a wild crow named “007”.

Mischief, a White-naped Raven, has learned to accept donations from WBS guests (photo: Gay Schroer)

The next time you visit the World Bird Sanctuary be sure to spend some time observing some of our Corvids.  You may be amazed to see them creating and solving problems for themselves with some of the “toys” that we supply them for enrichment. 

Most of our naturalists will tell you that they really have to be on their toes to keep one step ahead of our crows and ravens.

Submitted by Gay Schroer, Volunteer/Photographer

Crows

As I was browsing the internet this past week I was intrigued by a film that looked at the behavior and the intelligence levels of Crows. 

 Because of the Corvid family's intelligence Hugnin teaches audiences that..."even a bird can recycle"

The film focused on a study being conducted at the University of Washington where John Marzluff and his team have been studying the Crows’ abilities to facially recognize humans.

John Marzluff and his team in Seattle have been conducting some very interesting studies on the Crows in the Seattle area.  In the past Marzulff has estabished that the Crows that had been tagged at the University have not forgotten their experience.  He is reminded of this when he puts on the mask that he wore when the Crows were tagged.  At first the Crows that were tagged would harass him when he walked by with the mask on, but he noticed that over time not only did the original birds remember, but that individuals also spread the word to other birds.

 

This left Marzluff with some interesting questions about what we truly know about Crows.  To prove (or disprove) his theory he designed a study to put the Crows’ facial recognition and cultural transmission skills through a simple experiment.  What he planned on doing was seeing if Crows were able to pass on information from not just one adult Crow to another, but from one generation to the next.  This ability has only been found in primates and humans.  Marzluff did this by banding adult breeding pairs in 5 different locations. While the Crows were being banded the team wore a mask so the bird would recognize them as a threat.

As the baby Crows developed the team would walk through the area with the assigned mask.  What they were hoping to accomplish by doing this was to have the babies see and remember what their parents did when the masked man was around.

 John Marzluff and one of the Crows he has been studying

 As the study progressed the babies were banded, and tracking monitors were attached by Marzluff and his team without the mask on, so Marzluff and his team could observe the development of the young Crows. Marzulff had a total of 8 young Crows in the study and by November of the Crows’ hatch year only one had survived. Marzluff was able to locate this Crow and could run the last test in the study.

Marzluff first walked by the crow to record a normal reaction to an unmasked human, and the bird responded by doing almost nothing to acknowledge his presence.  However, when Marzluff put on the mask the reaction was much different. The Crow took very much interest in Marzluff with the mask on, and after a few minutes the Crow became so upset that it let out an alarm call.

Marzluff was successful in showing that Crows are capable of passing on vital information from one generation to the next.  This means they are able to change and adapt to their environment.

 Because of the Corvid family's intelligence, Hugnin, a White Naped Raven has learned to accept donations

When you think about it are we so different from Crows?  Crows and humans are social, adaptive, intelligent, opportunistic, and omnivores. The building blocks of higher intelligence are not exclusive to just humans; other organisms have also had success by using their head.

   

When visiting the World Bird Sanctuary be sure to take a walk down the display line where several corvids (the family that includes Crows and Ravens) are housed.

Submitted by Adam Triska, World Bird Sanctuary Field Studies Coordinator 

      

The Rookie Files: Corvid Training

When I first arrived at the World Bird Sanctuary I was prepared to work with birds of prey, and even the parrots that I had viewed during my tour. 

After all, who doesn’t want a chance to interact with intelligent and mimicking birds? What I did not count on was meeting the crows and ravens who take bird intelligence to a whole new level.

 Lenore, a White Necked Raven--when no toys are available a twig will do

One of the upsides to working with Corvids?--their intelligence.  Crows, ravens, jays and magpies are all members of the family Corvidae and are some of the most intelligent birds in the world. They are able to learn numbers, colors, shapes and sizes, as well as mimic sounds. This includes everything from human voices to the calls of other wild birds.  Blue jays have been heard screaming like red-tailed hawks at crowded bird feeders. These creative Corvids then enjoy all of the tasty seed left by the other songbirds, which vacated when they heard “the Red-tail.”

This characteristic intelligence makes them a great joy to work with and train. They are able to understand a variety of different behaviors including stacking rings, puzzle balls, recycling, toy pick up and painting. We also use them to collect donations after programs by harnessing their natural behavior of caching. Corvids will set aside and hide food to eat later.  By giving our birds a food reward we can encourage them to stash money instead--turning caching into cashing.

Mischief, a White Necked Raven, demonstrates caching behavior 

One of the downsides to working with Corvids?--their intelligence.  Being such clever birds also makes them excellent problem solvers and sometimes they problem solve against us.

Our crows and ravens are not so thrilled when we go to collect their leftovers, including anything they may have cached, so they will occasionally fake us out. Instead of standing protectively by their real cache, they will guard an empty pile of shavings in a corner of their enclosure. By the time they have moved and we discover the deception they are sitting on their perch enjoying some leftover tidbits from the still undiscovered cache.

During show season they become escape artists, undoing show clips and untying knots. They also have excellent memories so if they happen to find food that someone has dropped they will head back to that same location, show after show, in search of more.

 Corvid toys look suspiciously like what you might use to entertain your 2-year-old  (except for the soda can)

 This creativity means we need to keep our birds entertained with a variety of activities and toys. If we don’t, they invent their own ways to keep entertained. Lenore, one of our White-necked Ravens is a big fan of “help I’m stuck”. She will sit on her perch in the Nature Center weathering area, wait for a large group of people and then hop to the ground. She will then hop pathetically towards her perch, giving the appearance that her jesses are caught and she is stuck. Once a staff member has been alerted by a concerned guest, Lenore will hop up to her perch without any problem. This is one of her favorite games, and since our birds’ safety is such a priority we always check on her.

Little Guy carrying one of her rings

Little Guy, another White-necked Raven, enjoys seeing how often she can be rewarded during a behavior. When stacking rings, she will look up at unsuspecting humans between rings hoping to prod them into giving her a treat for every individual ring rather than stacking the whole tower.

Cherry an African Pied Crow is excellent at tricking people into doing most of the behavior for her. She sits and stares and will on occasion nudge the items, causing many people to think she needs help…clever crow.

Cherry, an African Pied Crow, trying to train the trainer 

Corvids have a bad rap, often being connected through myth and legend with death and murder. What many people do not realize is that they are incredibly intelligent and social creatures. Working with them is a true delight although it does often pose the question: who exactly is being trained?

 Mischief, a White Necked Raven, accepting donations from an audience member

If you would like to interact with one of these incredibly intelligent creatures, join us for World Eagle Day on March 20 when one of these remarkable birds will do it’s donation collection routine. 

Submitted by Leah Tyndall, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Trainer