crows Archives - Keith Shields

Stark Raven Mad

In other blog posts, I have told of the intelligence of ravens, crows, and other corvids. These birds have been shown to use tools, create tools, and communicate danger to others in their area. Recently, another study has shown greater detail on the communication abilities of these remarkable birds. The study shows that when…

Plan Like a Raven

Many will know of my fascination with crows, ravens, and other members of the Corvidae family. This group of birds also includes the jays, magpies, and whisky jacks (grey jays). I have previously described (blog posts here and here and my favourite here) the great intelligence of these birds (specifically the Corvus moneduloides or New Caledonian crow) and…

Otters, Shells, and Genomes

Science News is asking questions about animal intelligence in an article about otters and tool use in a March 21, 2017 article. The article entitled, “Tool use in sea otters doesn’t run in the family,” suggests that using rocks to crack open snails and other shells to get at the rich food inside, may truly be…

Animal Intelligence

I am fascinated by the intelligence of animals. On the farm where I grew up, we often had Border Collie dogs who were intelligent working dogs. They were exceptional herders and one dog was capable of finding the milk cows in the field and herding them into the barnyard on his own. Our daughter and…

Tools and Tool Management

Those who regularly read this blog will know that I have a fascination with crows. I have repeatedly sung their praises as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet (see here; here; and here). So, when I read another paper about crows and tool use, I naturally wanted to write about it here.…

Avian Einsteins

You may already know of my interest in crows, jays, and other intelligent bird species. (If not, you can catch up by reading previous blog posts.) Today I want to share with you another interesting study that suggests that crows have the ability to teach other crows to avoid dangerous human individuals. Researchers at the University…