I talk with Professor Nicola (Nicky) Clayton at Cambridge University about her experiments which have established the remarkable cognitive capabilities of corvids which are birds in the crow family. By studying their food caching (hiding) behaviors Nicky and her students have shown that corvids can read the minds of other birds, and they can remember details of past events and plan for the future. Moreover, corvids seem to have a working knowledge of the laws of physics and they can craft and use tools to solve problems. Nicky also talks about her research on the development of cognition in children, and her efforts to foster collaborations between scientists and people in the performing arts.
Brain Ponderings podcast with Dr. Mark Mattson