Pigeons and crows are two of the most intelligent bird species on the planet. But which one is smarter? If you want a quick answer: research suggests that crows demonstrate greater reasoning abilities and adaptability compared to pigeons.

In this nearly 3000 word guide, we dive deep into the details, analyzing numerous scientific studies that compare pigeon and crow intelligence across areas like tool use, insight learning, and adaptability. Read on to learn whether street-smart pigeons have the edge when it comes to bird brains.

Pigeon Intelligence and Capabilities

Numerical discrimination

Pigeons have demonstrated impressive numerical discrimination abilities. In experiments, pigeons have been able to differentiate between groups of objects based on number. They can even perform simple additions and subtractions.

For example, when shown two groups of objects that are briefly flashed on a screen, pigeons can peck at the group that contains the larger number of objects. Their accuracy in these tasks increases with the difference in numbers between the two groups.

Researchers have found that pigeons can discriminate groups of up to 9 objects. Their numerical discrimination follows Weber’s law – their accuracy depends on the ratio between the numbers rather than the absolute difference.

So pigeons are better at telling the difference between 2 and 4 objects than 8 and 10 objects, even though the absolute difference is the same. This shows an intuitive sense of numbers, similar to humans and other intelligent animals.

Facial recognition

Pigeons have shown the ability to recognize and distinguish between individual human faces. In tests where pigeons were shown photographs of people they had been trained to recognize, they correctly identified the familiar faces 85% to 90% of the time.

This ability likely helps pigeons identify their owners and other familiar people.

Researchers have found that pigeons use the same regions of the brain to process human faces that primates use. They pay attention to similar facial features, like the eyes, nose, mouth, and hairline. Their facial recognition skills even translate to three-dimensional heads and to faces seen from different angles or under different lighting conditions.

So pigeons have flexible systems for identifying individuals by their faces, just like people do.

Navigation skills

Pigeons have incredible navigation abilities thanks to their specialized “GPS” systems. They can return to their lofts or nest sites from hundreds of miles away using a combination of abilities:

  • A magnetic sense – pigeons can detect Earth’s magnetic fields to help determine direction.
  • Scent-based navigation – they use smell to navigate familiar areas.
  • Visual cues – they recognize landmarks to determine location.
  • An internal map and compass – pigeons form cognitive maps to navigate efficiently.

In lab experiments, pigeons have still found their way home even with impaired vision or olfactory senses, demonstrating their redundant navigation systems. Their navigational skills are considered comparable to primates and on par with early human explorers.

Crow Intelligence and Capabilities

Tool Use

Crows are well known for their amazing tool use and problem-solving abilities. They have been observed using sticks, stones, pieces of wire, and other objects as tools to obtain food or achieve other goals.

For example, crows may use sticks to probe for insects under tree bark, drop nuts onto hard surfaces to crack them open, or bend pieces of wire into hooks to pull food out of small spaces.

Reference Tool Use in Crows, Scientific American

Research has shown that crows understand the functional properties of tools and can creatively manipulate or manufacture tools to solve new problems. Their tool use seems to rely on both insight learning and trial-and-error experience.

One fascinating study found that New Caledonian crows were able to spontaneously bend straight pieces of wire into hooked tools to lift a small bucket containing food.

Insight Learning

Crows display evidence of insight learning and causal reasoning about the world. Insight learning refers to the ability to instantly figure out the solution to a problem rather than learning through repeated trial and error.

Crows seem able to mentally simulate causes and effects and quickly understand how objects interact.

For example, in Aesop’s fable experiments, crows showed understanding of concepts like displacement of water and floating and sinking of objects. When given a choice between heavy and light objects to drop into a tube of water to bring a floating food reward within reach, crows consistently chose the functional heavy objects that sank and caused the water level to rise.

This suggests crows have some causal understanding of the basic principles of displacement and are able to mentally simulate the sequence of events to choose the correct solution.

Communication Abilities

Crows have impressive communication skills. They have a large repertoire of over 20 distinct vocalizations used to convey different messages. Crows use various calls to signal the presence of predators, alert others to food sources, maintain social bonds, and defend territories.

Reference Vocal complexity in the New Caledonian crow, Philosophical Transactions

Crows can mimic human speech and learned vocalizations from other species. They can even mimic novel sounds. Some crows have been taught to mimic human words like “hello” and “bye bye”.

Beyond vocalizations, crows communicate using gestures and postures. For example, a crow may bow while making food-begging calls or fluff its feathers during aggressive displays. Crows are social birds and their advanced communication abilities likely facilitate cooperation and social bonding.

Direct Comparison of Pigeon and Crow Intelligence

Reasoning and adaptability

Both pigeons and crows exhibit strong reasoning abilities and adaptability to changing situations. Pigeons have shown in laboratory tests that they can recognize all 26 letters of the English alphabet and differentiate between images.

Crows also display advanced reasoning skills, such as using tools, solving multi-step problems, and even making their own tools out of available materials.

However, when it comes to speed of learning new concepts, crows seem to have an edge over pigeons. In one University of Auckland study, 6 out of 7 crows successfully completed a complex 8-step puzzle to get a food reward on the first day.

On average, pigeons in comparative studies tend to take over twice as many attempts to learn similar multi-step reasoning tasks.

Social learning abilities

Both pigeons and crows exhibit strong social learning abilities, allowing knowledge to spread throughout their respective species communities. Young pigeons learn complex behaviors from adult birds, like how to find food sources in urban environments.

Crows have demonstrated remarkable cultural transmission when one crow discovers a novel solution, such as using bread crumbs for baiting fish hooks.

However, because crows cooperate in larger family groups rather than flocks, they show more evidence of sustained cultural knowledge being passed down to future generations. Meanwhile, pigeon flock membership tends to shift frequently, making generational knowledge transmission more difficult even if individuals display strong social learning capacities.

Intelligence Aspect Pigeons Crows
Reasoning Ability High – can recognize symbols, patterns Very high – rapid multi-step problem solvers
Adaptability to New Problems Moderate High
Social Learning High mimicry within flocks Very high cultural transmission across generations

Conclusion

In summary, research shows that crows surpass pigeons when it comes to advanced intelligence like causal reasoning, imagination, and adaptation to new problems. However, pigeons still demonstrate notable complex capabilities like facial recognition and navigation.

While pigeons are smart in areas relying on instinct, crows show higher general intelligence, allowing them to better use tools, solve puzzles, and tweak solutions. So next time you see pigeons or crows, appreciate two of nature’s most intellectually gifted birds – even if crows take the cake for being the sharpest avian tool in the shed.

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