For a long time, apes were regarded as the most intelligent animals in the world. But although they are enormously capable of learning, there are animals that are in no way inferior to them in terms of intelligence.
Scientists at Oxford University in England have found that crows are just as creative at finding hidden rewards as apes. In some cases, birds use three tools in a row to solve the problem - a skill that had previously only been ascribed to apes.
Another attempt to prove the intelligence of birds is the mirror test. Magpies were glued with a red dot on their chest. When the animals later looked at each other in the mirror, they immediately tried to remove the dot - a sign of self-knowledge. This behaviour, too, had previously only been observed in apes.
But why do the results of the birds seem so amazing to us? Man probably tends to attribute human characteristics to the apes because of their optical and genetic similarity. But precisely this can lead to misunderstandings. Obviously, animals that look less like us can also be described as intelligent.