A new study shows crows can count out loud

Crows can count out loud, a startling new study has revealed, and they may even have the same numeracy skills as human toddlers.

- BEN TURNER

Researchers found that carrion crows can produce a specific number of caws in response to visual or auditory stimuli, enabling them to count out loud between one and four. The discovery is the first time that animals have been definitively shown to count by making a distinct number of vocalisations. "Producing a specific number of vocalisations with purpose requires a sophisticated combination of numerical abilities and vocal control," the researchers wrote. "Our results demonstrate that crows can flexibly and deliberately produce an instructed number of vocalisations by using the 'approximate number system' - a non-symbolic number estimation system shared by humans and animals."