Ravens Know What Hidden Thieves Are Thinking

The genus Corvus contains some decidedly clever birds. Ravens, for example, have been shown to remember cheaters, those that take more than their fair share of food. Now, a new piece of research has suggested that they are also able to understand the motives of others within their group. This study, published in Nature Communications, concludes that the ability to think abstractly about the minds of others isn’t unique to primates.

Imagining what another animal is seeing is a component of the Theory of Mind (ToM) – the general ability to understand what others are thinking. This is one of the key ways that humans, chimpanzees, and monkeys operate in their own societies. A team of researchers led by the University of Vienna wanted to find out if ToM applies to ravens.

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