# Which birds are the smartest?



## BabbaYagga (Jun 24, 2005)

Which are smarter, crows or pigeons?


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Crows, if one goes by human definitions - like the ability to figure out how to do new things, weigh up situations, etc. Probably, birds in the Crow family are smarter than most other bird species (not sure about parrots and the like, though).

John


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## Jane01 (Feb 25, 2007)

I actually would have guessed that pigeons are smarter ???


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I think that every species of birds have unique gifts that are endowed them.

Homing pigeons are definitely the "smartest" at racing and homing, including memorizing where they have been, their built in solar compasses, and their eye to see the earth's magnetic rays.  They also have a good sense of smell and see well.


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

Crows are very smart. So smart that it is illegal to keep them as pets in my country because they can be taught to rob things and bring back. 

This is too smart.


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## abisai (Jan 30, 2007)

*Crows . . smart? They can count.*

Long time ago when I was in college I remember a study done where by crows were tested to see how well they could count. It seems - if I can remeber correctly - that they count up to 18. How'd they do this? First a farmer with a rifle hid in a blind (shed I think) and the crows waited 'till he left before they came out. Then two "farmers" went in the blind and one came out - the other still hiding. The crows knew there was one still in the shed. This continued with an additional farmer being added each time and always leaving with one to stay behind. Not untill the 18 farmers went in and 17 left did the crow lose count.


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

Please remember that crows are like dolphins for hawks are sharks. I have seen crows chase away hawks.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

warriec said:


> Please remember that crows are like dolphins for hawks are sharks. I have seen crows chase away hawks.


Yup, I've seen this as well, and sometimes I think they just plain taunt them. There is some good info here at PT on crows as hawk deterrents through the
search tool. Seems to me PigeonPal2002 posted quite a bit on crows.

fp


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

*Avian Intelligence ..*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_intelligence

http://www.princeton.edu/~asifg/braindiversity/Emery - Cognitive Ornithology.pdf

http://hisnibs.blogspot.com/2005/02/new-york-times-science-minds-of-their.html

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/NewsEvents/crow.cfm

http://www.alexfoundation.org/newsletter/Dec05News.pdf

Terry


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

Great links Terry, I've got them all bookmarked and now back at 
everyone w/some more bookmarks:

http://cogprints.org/2125/

http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/sutton/default.htm

http://www.pigeon.psy.tufts.edu/avc/huber/

http://www.psyeta.org/hia/vol8/barber.html

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/22/4/RC210

http://www.ornithology.com/lectures/Senses.html

fp


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Thanks for the links, FP! Those are great ones too! Still, anyone who has had a close encounter with a pigeon knows that they are plenty smart. They have an almost uncanny ability to "find" someone to help them when they need help and will choose that one person even when others are available .. I've seen this time and time and time again with pigeons. 

Terry


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## abisai (Jan 30, 2007)

*Maybe we should raise some crows . . keep our birds safe.*

Here is another regarding crows and their ability to count.

http://www.cappers.com/crows-2006-01-03

A.C.


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

Crows are smart sometimes they can be a nuisance. I have seen and heard rumours that if you hang a crow wing or a bunch of feathers it will keep them away from you premises


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Warriec...there are some strange people in this world!

Hopefully, no one is stupid enough to go out and purposely shoot a crow for its wing and some feathers based on a rumor!

OR, for ANY OTHER reason!


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## warriec (Feb 2, 2007)

Guns are illegal here but you find some dead crows which had been into accidents with vehicles so they are pretty common. Crow feathers can be found all over especially in parks.


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