How the remarkable cognitive abilities of crows, ravens, and jays create unique welfare considerations in urban and suburban environments.
The cognitive sophistication of corvids elevates their welfare considerations beyond those of most other birds. Animals capable of planning, remembering, solving novel problems, and recognizing individual humans have correspondingly greater capacity for frustration, fear, and suffering when their needs are not met. Urban corvids face particular challenges from persecution, vehicle strikes, and habitat loss. In captivity, corvids require exceptional environmental enrichment and social complexity that their intelligence demands. Public awareness of corvid intelligence is growing, but policy and practice lag behind the science in recognizing the welfare implications.