The New Caledonian crow, known for its ability to use tools, is considered one of the most intelligent members of the corvidae family. In other words, crows are to birds what humans are to primates. This medicine has such skills that people can only do some of these skills when they are 7 years old.
New Caledonian crows arouse curiosity for researchers with their uniquely human behaviors such as being able to solve complex problems, recognize and remember human faces, and understand whether the image they see in the mirror belongs to them. Let’s take a look at the amazing abilities and intelligence of these crows.
Although we think that the intelligence of mammals is more developed than other animal species, crows officially challenge this knowledge and amaze us with their abilities.
Many experiments are being carried out on New Caledonian crows, which are known for their tool use. You will not believe the results of these experiments, because as a result of the experiments, it turns out that the brain of crows is as developed as the brain of a 7-year-old child.
This means that humans cannot acquire the abilities specific to some crow species until they are 7 years old. So, what are the skills that make these crows so special?
In the experiments, crows are given some puzzles. It’s hard to believe, but the only species other than primates that can solve these puzzles are New Caledonian crows.
In previous experiments, it has even been observed that crows leave food on the road to break the shell of shelled foods such as hazelnuts, and after the shell is broken, they come and take back the nut inside.
In the latest “stick-tube” puzzle, the New Caledonian crow is seen solving complex structures. In the experiment, food placed in the middle of a long tube is expected to be taken by crows. Okay but how?
Researchers leave sticks of different lengths around the tube, and this is where the intelligence of the New Caledonian crow comes into play. The crow can argue which length of stick can get the food inside the tube.
We all know another experiment similar to this. Being able to reach food in a bowl full of water!
Crows can distinguish sinking objects and reach food by throwing the objects into the water and raising the water level. However, these crows not only use tools but can also make multi-cutting tools.
For example, they understand that adding a very short stick together and turning it into a long stick will make it easier to reach food. These make us believe that nature is a mysterious place and that animals actually have a certain level of intelligence.
Planning is one of the cognitive abilities that humans have. So do you know what New Caledonian crows do to solve problems? Our response is the plan.
Initially, it might be thought that birds could not have this level of intelligence. The reason for this is the idea that their brains are small. However, recent studies have proven that what is really important is not the size of an animal’s brain, but its brain-body ratio. Crows, on the other hand, tend to have large brains compared to their body proportions.
Apart from the brain ratio, the number of neurons also affects the level of intelligence. Crows have spots that can produce heavy clusters of neurons. This proves the intelligence that crows have.
Nature contains all kinds of miracles in its unknown. More importantly, although it is thought that intelligence or cognitive skills are unique to humans, nature shows us the opposite every day.
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