Are you smarter than . . . a crow? Turns out, crows can peck—er, pick—out an item that doesn’t belong in a set of images. Is it becaws they’re smart or becaws they’re well trained?
According to a new study, crows can view a series of shapes and find the one that’s different.
Researchers know that humans recognize shape uniformity. But brain biologist Andreas Nieder claims his study marks the first time scientists have shown geometric perception like this in a non-human species.
Nieder and other researchers tested two lab crows. The carrion crows are no strangers to math-based tests: They regularly play computer games designed to test their math prowess and can count on a level with toddlers.
Still, scientists wanted more from these lab-bound bird brains.
For Nieder’s study, the crows stared at six shapes on a computer screen. Scientists wanted the crows to peck the shape that was different from the others—the intruder.
“Initially, we presented some very obviously different figures,” Nieder told NPR. “For instance, five moons and one flower.”
When one of the crows pecked the bloom, it got a snack of bird seed and mealworms, which are apparently Yummo! if you’re a crow.
The birds caught on, and researchers switched the game up. They started showing the crows shapes instead of pictures. The shapes included parallelograms, irregular quadrilaterals, and plain old squares.
For the shape test, the crows might see five perfectly square squares—and an off-kilter one. Researchers wanted to know whether the crows could still locate the intruder, or outlier—even if the differences were slight.
The crows understood the assignment. They pecked their way to scientific stardom by correctly distinguishing among parallel lines, right angles, and more.
Nieder’s study “Crows Recognize Geometric Regularity” appears in the online journal Science Advances. The results surprised the researchers.
Brain scientist Mathias Sablé-Meyer expected highly trained baboons to ace a shape test. But he “wouldn’t have expected crows to.” He admitted to NPR, “It seems the primates couldn’t swing it.”
“The evidence is actually quite convincing,” Sablé-Meyer says. He then poses another question about the crows’ counting abilities: “Where does that even come from?”
Christians know the answer: Just as with humans, any gifts the birds have come from their Creator. (James 1:17)
“Claiming that . . . only humans can detect geometric regularity is now falsified,” says Nieder. “Because we have at least the crow.”
Why? The animal kingdom is full of creatures that reflect the creative genius of the Creator God.
Recommended Reading: For more about the intelligence of birds, read Alex & Me by Dr. Irene Pepperberg.
