The Intelligence of Crows

The Intelligence of Crows

This article relates to Palaces of the Crow

In Palaces of the Crow, four children escaping war in a Lithuanian forest are aided and protected by a flock of intelligent crows. While the actions of the birds in the story are remarkable, they're really not that far off the mark from what modern crows can accomplish.

There are two types of crows in the European region where the novel is set: Carrion crows (Corvus corone) and hooded crows (Corvus cornix); those in the book are of the latter species. The two are very closely related, and in some literature the hooded crow is referred to as a subspecies of the carrion crow. Unlike the all-black carrion crow, the hooded crow has a grey body with glossy black tail, wings, and head (hence the "hood").

Crows are members of the Corvidae family, which includes not only crows but ravens, magpies, jackdaws, and jays. This group of birds is considered among the smartest avian species, sometimes called "feathered primates" because their reasoning ability is perhaps second only to that of apes. Although hooded crows haven't been studied extensively, their intelligence can be inferred from experiments and observations of other members of the family.

Some behaviors that have been documented:

• They have a remarkable memory. A type of North American crow, the Clark's nutcracker, was observed collecting up to 30,000 pine seeds over a three-week period and hiding them over a 200-square-mile area. Over the next eight months, the bird retrieved 90% of the seeds it had stored away.
• They can make and use tools. Urban crows deliberately place nuts in front of tires at red lights, retrieving the food after the car has shattered the shell. They also use transit rails for this purpose, as well as dropping nuts onto the roofs of buildings to crack them. Some crow species break twigs off bushes and then shape them into hooks to obtain food nestled in wood bark. If one of these implements is especially useful, they save it to use again later. Naturalists have documented crows using stones to raise the water level in a tube; and a bird who learned how to "fish" pulling up a fishing line with its beak and a claw.
• Crows can count. A 2024 study determined the birds use their voices to convey specific quantities—something never documented before in non-human animals.
• They base decisions on their own experience. Some crows will watch other birds hide food and then steal it. Those who've done this become, in turn, very secretive of their own caches, frequently moving their food so others don't find it—they may also make several fake stores as a diversion.
• Crows recognize individual human faces. In one study, scientists who were trapping and banding crows wore caveman masks during the process. Later, when the researchers returned to the area wearing those same masks, they were dive-bombed even by the crows who only witnessed the original interaction. They also remember humans who've fed them and often return with "gifts" for the person who was kind to them.
• They cooperate with one another. A group of crows in England were seen taking turns lifting the lids of garbage cans while their companions raided the trash. Together, they mob predators near nesting areas. They also post guards who watch for trouble while other members of the flock eat in safety.
• Young birds play games. They're known to participate in a type of follow-the-leader activity, pass and balance sticks, and slide down slippery surfaces just for fun.
• They are highly social. They've been observed holding "funerals" for dead crows, with a group gathering around the corpse of one of their companions for 10 or 15 minutes before silently flying away. Crows also care for those of their flock who are ill or injured.

These are just a few of the astoundingly perceptive and practical actions people have witnessed crows performing. For more crow facts, please see our Beyond the Book article for The Atomic Weight of Love.

Drawing of Corvus cornix from Naturgeschichte der Vogel Mitteleuropas [Natural History of Central European Birds], 1897, by Johann Andreas Naumann, courtesy of Smithsonian Libraries and Archive

Filed under Nature and the Environment

This article relates to Palaces of the Crow. It first ran in the May 20, 2026 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.