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Crows remember every human who fed them and research now shows hidden gift planning

Science
Published on 1 May 2026
Crows remember every human who fed them and research now shows hidden gift planning

They pick tools even when there’s no reward yet

A new study suggests crows don’t just learn from past interactions—they anticipate future outcomes. In experiments, the birds selected tools without immediate rewards, indicating planning and complex decision-making. The findings challenge older ideas that intelligence depends mainly on brain size, and place crows’ problem-solving abilities alongside those of primates.

  • Experiments show crows choose tools without immediate payoff
  • The behavior suggests future planning, not just learned habits
  • Crows’ cognition rivals primates in problem-solving tasks
  • Intelligence may be more about processes than brain size
Read the full story at The Economic Times

This summarization was done by Beige for a story published on The Economic TimesThe Economic Times

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