Crow Facts: Intelligence, Behavior & Problem Solving

Crows are among the most intelligent birds on Earth possessing problem solving abilities that rival many mammals. These adaptable corvids live on every continent except Antarctica.

Why Their Intelligence Rivals Great Apes

Crows possess extraordinary intelligence that places them among the smartest animals on the planet. Their brain to body ratio is similar to that of great apes and even exceeds many monkey species. Crows can solve multi step problems that require sequential reasoning.

How They Create Tools From Wire

Crows are among the few animals that create and use tools in the wild. They fashion probes from sticks, leaves, and even wire to extract food from difficult to reach places. Crows have been observed bending wire into hooks to retrieve food from containers, a behavior not taught but discovered independently.

Why They Remember Faces for Years

Crows possess remarkable facial recognition abilities and can remember individual human faces for years. In famous experiments researchers wore masks while capturing and banding wild crows. Years later crows still scolded and dive bombed people wearing those specific masks even though they had never personally encountered them.

How They Communicate With Twenty Vocalizations

Crows are highly social birds that live in family groups and gather in large communal roosts. Young crows often remain with their parents for several years helping raise younger siblings. Crow communication is complex and includes over twenty distinct vocalizations.

Why They Cache Thousands of Food Locations

Crows are opportunistic omnivores with remarkably diverse diets. They eat insects, earthworms, seeds, fruits, nuts, small mammals, eggs, and carrion. This dietary flexibility allows crows to thrive in varied environments from forests to cities.

How Males Feed Incubating Females

Crows typically mate for life and maintain long term pair bonds. Breeding season runs from March to July in most regions. Pairs build large nests from sticks lined with softer materials like grass, moss, and fur.