Crows are the first bird that has ever been proven to have the ability to count objects like primates including man can. The part of a crow’s brain that is used in counting is physically different from the primate brain structure responsible for counting and crows have counting limitations that humans do not. Helen M. Ditz and Andreas Nieder with the University of Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany reported this discovery in the edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Humans and other primates have a six-layered neocortex that is considered to be the site of cognition and the ability to count. Birds do not have a six-layered neocortex. The researchers found that a site at the endbrain of crows called the nidopallium caudolaterate region is the locus of crow’s ability to count objects. The brain activity in crows was analyzed with tests developed by the researchers and fMRI.
Crows can count objects regardless of size. Crows count objects regardless of the spatial arrangement of the objects. Crows have problems with counting when numbers get very large. Crows have difficulties with counting groups of objects with the same number of objects when the groups are close to each other.
The researchers postulate that the capacity to count has developed independently in birds and primates. Since birds do not have the physical brain capacity that primates do, the counting function developed in a different area of the brain. Counting would be important to birds in keeping track of their young and possibly in counting members of a flock.
