How smart are crows?

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Katharina Brecht |

TED-Ed

• August 2025

In one of Aesop’s fables, a crow is searching for water. It spies a pitcher— but the water inside is beyond its reach. So, the crow begins dropping in pebbles. One-by-one, they displace the water, and the crow quenches its thirst. This is just one of many fascinating displays of intelligence from corvids. Katharina Brecht digs into what makes this bold, brainy family of songbirds so smart. [Directed by Irida Zhonga, narrated by Pen-Pen Chen, music by Phil Brookes].