Corvids are among the most cognitively sophisticated birds in the world, and their welfare in human-modified environments raises important questions about intelligent animals in anthropogenic landscapes.
The cognitive sophistication of corvids raises the moral stakes of their welfare in ways that are increasingly recognized. Animals capable of episodic memory, empathy-like responses, and sophisticated social cognition experience environmental changes, injuries, and social disruptions with a richness of experience that simple reflex models do not capture. Urban corvid welfare deserves attention both in its own right and as a case study in how highly intelligent wild animals navigate increasingly human-dominated environments.