Ravens’ minds, beautifully described in 'Encounters with corvids' by Fionn Ó Marcaigh, illustrated by Aga Grandowicz.

‘It is not fanciful to see certain similarities between ravens and humans. In fact, such a comparison has driven much of the research into the workings of the corvid mind. If we are to understand our own minds, we must be able to make comparisons and contrasts, not only with our own ape relatives but also with animals more distantly related to us. In their 2004 review article, The Mentality of Crows, Nathan Emery and Nicola Clayton describe this as an example of convergent evolution, two species evolving similar adaptations to meet the same challenges. They see corvids and apes as possessing a similar mental “toolkit” comprising four main components: causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination, and prospection (the ability to think about the future). Interestingly, they argue that is the animals’ minds themselves, and not their brains, that have evolved convergently. Like ours, the corvid brain is large in comparison with the body, but its actual structure is quite different.’

🪶Extract from 'Encounters with corvids' by Fionn Ó Marcaigh, illustrated by Aga Grandowicz.

📙 To learn more about ravens and other corvids present in Ireland, consider getting a copy of the book here.