The Mind of a Crow: What Studying Corvids Tells Us About Cognition with Prof Claudia Wascher

What does it mean to be intelligent? For centuries, humans viewed advanced cognition as a uniquely human trait. Research on corvids, however, has challenged that assumption. Crows, ravens, and other members of the crow family display an impressive range of behaviours, including tool use, future planning, social learning, and innovative problem-solving.

Join Prof Claudia Wascher for an exploration of the science behind corvid cognition. Using examples from her own research and the wider field, she will discuss how studying these birds helps us understand the evolution of cognition and challenges our assumptions about the diversity of minds in the natural world.

Prof Claudia Wascher is Professor of Behavioural Biology at Anglia Ruskin University. Her research focuses on animal cognition, social behaviour, and animal welfare, with a particular interest in corvids and other social species. Through studies conducted in both captive and wild populations, she investigates how animals learn, solve problems, cope with challenges, and interact with one another.