Birds!

June 14th, 2025| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Crows can do geometry! Yup!

Claimeth scientists from the Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, in Science Advances: “Crows Recognize Geometric Regularity.” These intelligent avians can look at a handful of four-sided shapes and correctly distinguish those that exhibit geometric regularity from those that don’t, they say.

Crows were trained to detect a visually distinct intruder shape among six concurrent arbitrary shapes. The crows were able to immediately apply this intruder concept to quadrilaterals, identifying the one that exhibited differing geometric properties compared to the others in the set. The crows exhibited a geometric regularity effect, showing better performance with shapes featuring right angles, parallel lines, or symmetry over more irregular shapes. This performance advantage did not require learning. Our findings suggest that geometric intuitions are not specific to humans but are deeply rooted in biological evolution.”

Wow!

Thus far we thought this well-tuned ability to notice geometric regularity—regardless of age, culture, or education—was restricted to humans.

Said first author, Andreas Nieder, a cognitive neurobiologist at the University of Tübingen:

It’s the first time a species other than humans has been shown to have this kind of geometric intuition. Claiming that it is an ability specific to us humans is now falsified. Because we have at least the crow.”

(The same group of scientists had also demonstrated in the past that crows can count out loud!)

Nieder & Co. tested the abilities of two carrion crows that the lab has tamed. The birds’ work involved basically playing computer games designed to tease out how much they know about math. For this study, the birds would look at a computer screen and see a group of six shapes. To get a treat of tasty mealworms, they’d have to peck on the shape that was different from the others.

Initially we presented some very obviously different figures. For instance, five moons and one flower. When the crows pecked on the flower shape, they got a snack.”

Then the game got trickier. The researchers started showing them sets of shapes that included squares, parallelograms, or irregular quadrilaterals. The crows might see, for example, five perfect squares along with one four-sided figure that was just slightly off. Could these birds pick out that one figure that was only a bit different from the others?

They could!

In their paper, the scientists show crows clearly have a sense even of right angles, parallel lines, and symmetry.

Nieder thinks other critters may have this inherent sense of geometry, too.

I would never dare to say that this is the only species. It’s just now opening this field of investigation. I hope that my colleagues are looking into other species. I’m pretty sure they may find that other intelligent animals can also do this.”

Intelligent birds? The Bible knew of them a long time ago.

How beloved are Your abodes, Yahweh of Armies.
It craved and also yearned—my soul—for the courts of Yahweh;
my heart and my flesh shout for joy to the living God.
The bird also has found a house,
and the pigeon a nest for itself, where she may lay her young,
at Your altars, Yahweh of Armies, my King and my God.
Blessing [upon] the ones inhabiting Your house,
they are continually praising You. …
For better is a day in Your courts than a thousand [elsewhere].
I would prefer to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.
Psalm 84:1–4, 10

Follow the birds: Dwell with God!

SOURCE: Science Advances; NPR