I found this piece on the intelligence of crows amazing! I know this video is a bit long but it is completely worth it, watch the first 10 minutes and I assure you that you won't be able to stop!
I find animal intelligence and ingenuity to be extremely fascinating. I was lucky enough to grow up with parents who were licensed by the State of Vermont to rehabilitated wildlife - everything from abandoned litters of foxes and porcupines, to numerous orphaned baby moose. My summers as a child were spent feeding fawns, exercising Great Black Backed Seagulls with broken wings, and trying to keep baby raccoons from ingeniously figuring out how to unlock their cages.
My family's experiences with wild animals taught me all that animals each have their own unique personality, and they are conscious of our "energy" (for lack of a better word) and intentions. I am certain that by putting ourselves - homo sapiens- at the top of the "Intelligence" pyramid, we are putting ourselves behind the door to insight.
This piece really blew me away. I mean, they remember faces, communicate and learn form others mistakes, solve complex problems and make tools!!
(The tool thing makes me giddy)
I don’t really know if there are any biomimicry angles on this, but it’s still amazing. The more we learn about animal intelligence the more humans realize that we’re not “special”. We’re not the only animals who are intelligent, or who make tools. Everyday we’re discovering new cognitive neighbors and we must embrace it with grace and wonder. They’re a lot like us after all.
* * * If you want to learn a bit more here are some links about Crow cognition and language: