Nature & Wildlife
Tool use isn’t unique to humans. Various species across the animal kingdom, including birds, insects and mammals, exhibit the behavior. For example, sea otters use stones to crack open shellfish, while crows modify twigs to probe for hidden prey—and even have been observed using cars to crack open nuts.
Nature & Wildlife
Do chimpanzees experience grief, do crows seek joy and do elephants show affection?
Nature & Wildlife
Cities provide us with many benefits: better educational and employment opportunities, exposure to more diversity and multicultural influences, improved infrastructure and access to public transportation. On the other hand, urbanization and the consequent changes in land use often result in air, land and water pollution; economic inequalities; an increase in health issues; and overcrowding.
Nature & Wildlife
Growing up, you probably learned some version of the following: in the animal kingdom, humans are exceptional and unique. Among the one-of-a-kind qualities that we possess are a higher intelligence than all the other creatures on the planet, the ability to use tools and empathy.
Nature & Wildlife
You know them because you see them in your neighborhood every day. And you certainly have heard their distinctive, harsh caws and kraas. They are crows and ravens, the corvids that are well-known for their black color. Crows can be found all over the world in a variety of habitats.
Nature & Wildlife
“Finding your voice.” We hear that phrase a lot, lately. It means that you know who you are at your core, and you express it. Voices are extremely important for humans.
Nature & Wildlife
If you asked any wildlife fan or pet owner if animals have beliefs, I’m guessing their answers would almost all fall within the “yes” category, based on observations and anecdotal evidence. Science, however, is always held to a higher standard: proof is required.
Nature & Wildlife
We humans seem to have a penchant for studying wildlife. We tag them with satellite transmitters, outfit them with radio collars, spy on them with trail cameras and use other observation techniques—all to learn more about their lives and secrets.
Videos
Ever since I read Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” in junior high school, the bird has fascinated me. Corvids, such as ravens and crows, are among the smartest of all birds and have a reputation for solving more and more complicated problems invented by increasingly creative scientists.
News & More
Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. Veterans Matter. You could probably name a dozen other organizations that work to convince us that all human lives have value. And while most of us can probably get behind the majority of these causes, it turns out that a third of us think nonhuman-animal lives matter, too.
Videos
We’re always delighted when we find evidence of extreme intelligence in the “others,” such as when we learn that crows crack nuts open by using passing cars and gorillas dismantle snares to thwart poachers. While primate and corvid intelligence is well known, what may be a little less apparent is the intellectual power of parrots.
Videos
The intelligence of crows has been well documented by researchers, and it seems that we’re constantly amazed at their abilities.
