Corvids including crows, ravens, and jays are among the most intelligent birds, with welfare implications for pest control methods and human-corvid coexistence.
Corvid welfare sits at an interesting intersection of intelligence, adaptability, and human conflict. The cognitive evidence for corvid sentience is among the strongest for any non-primate species, making lethal control of crop-raiding corvids a meaningful welfare concern. Corvids are social, cognitively active animals that likely experience their world richly. Non-lethal deterrents including scarecrows, acoustic devices, and crop protection netting cause no welfare harm and have variable effectiveness that improves with rotation and variety.