One, Two, Three, Crow

In a recent study, a team of researchers in Germany discovered that crows can count out loud. After receiving visual or audio cues associated with a number, the three crows in the study were able to make the correct number of caws.

Crows are known for their intelligence, but this discovery makes them the first known animal not only to understand numbers (as honeybees do) but also to respond vocally to numerical values.

Scientists believe this ability in crows is not unlike a human toddler’s ability to “count” before learning the words for specific numbers. Toddlers often can make the correct number of vocalizations but may get the specific words for those numbers wrong, like saying “one, three, four” when counting three objects.

The scientists suggest the ability of crows to count may “constitute an evolutionary precursor of true counting.” But these brainy birds are not a result of evolution. Instead, the intelligence of crows points to an ingenious Creator who gives every creature fantastic abilities to thrive. He cares for his creatures in innumerable ways—but who’s counting?

This article is from Answers magazine, October–December, 2024, p. 17.