Understanding cause and effect – some say to the ability of a 5 to 7 year old human – leads them to master their environment, for example by dropping nuts on to roads to allow cars to crack the nutshells for them to eat the nuts. Scientists believe that New Caledonian crows specifically are the smartest birds, in part because they stay in the nest as fledglings – rather than heading off on their own – giving them more time to develop their cognitive abilities. Young birds are able to make tools, but improve their skills by watching and imitating their elders, a sure sign of a high animal IQ. Crows are the only birds (or indeed, non-primate vertebrates) known to invent tools – forming probes and hooks from sticks and leaf stems to poke into the crowns of the palm trees. The crow is part of the super-intelligent Corvid bird family, which includes magpies, ravens, jays, and crows. The New Caledonian crow is the most intelligent bird Measuring animal intelligence can be problematic, and comparing intelligence across the animal kingdom is a tricky task, as tests are usually created for one specific species and hard to reuse reliably across species. It’s easy to recognize the traditional human signs of intelligence in great apes with their tool use and communication skills, but a wide range of non-primate species have also been observed to display traits of intelligence. When measuring animal intelligence scientists tend to look at similar indicators, which possibly underestimates animal intelligence by relying too much on human-centric testing. For human beings, we use many indicators of intelligence – self-awareness, creativity, abstract thinking, cooperation, altruism, problem-solving, maths skills, social learning, language and communication skills, and many more. It’s almost impossible to come up with a definitive, ranked list of the smartest animals in the world, not least because scientists don’t agree on a single, specific definition of intelligence, or how to measure it.Īll animals – including humans – have evolved their cognitive abilities to succeed in their natural habitat.
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