Crows Show Off Surprising Geometry Skills!
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Crows are remarkably smart animals, with thinking skills comparable to those of five- to seven-year-old children. They can solve puzzles, use tools, and even remember faces. Now, researchers at the University of Tübingen in Germany have found that these unassuming birds can also recognize different geometric shapes — a skill previously seen only in humans.
For their study, Andreas Nieder and his team worked with two tame carrion crows living in their lab. These clever birds had already shown basic counting skills. To test their abilities further, the researchers designed a playful geometry challenge.
The birds were shown groups of six shapes on a computer screen. If they pecked the shape that was different from the other five, they earned a tasty treat, like a mealworm.
"Initially, we presented some very obvious different figures," Nieder says. "For instance, five moons and one flower."
Once the crows understood the game, the researchers made it trickier. They showed them different sets of shapes like squares and parallelograms. This time, the odd shape was not as easy to spot. For example, a set might have five perfect squares and one four-sided shape that looked just a little different.
To the researchers’ surprise, the crows consistently picked the correct odd shape. Eventually, they performed the task even without a reward. The team published their findings in Science Advances on April 11, 2025. This study is the first to show that animals — other than humans — can recognize geometric shapes.
The scientists are not exactly sure why crows developed this skill. They believe it might aid in navigation, food foraging, or even identifying other crows — including potential mates— by facial features.
"All these capabilities, at the end of the day, from a biological point of view, have evolved because they provide a survival advantage or a reproductive advantage," Nieder says.
Next, the scientists want to find out which part of the crow's brain helps with geometry. Unlike humans, crows don’t have a cerebral cortex — the brain area linked to complex thinking. So, they believe something else is at work.
Nieder also hopes their discovery will encourage more scientists to explore whether other animals have similar math skills.
"I hope that my colleagues are looking into other species," he says. "I'm pretty sure they may find that other intelligent animals can also do this."
Resources: NPR.com, Smithsonianmag.com, Phys.org
