Corvidae
Implications and specific comparisons with other animals

The scarecrow is an archetypal scare tactic in the agricultural business. However, due to corvids' quick wit, scarecrows are soon ignored, and used as perches. Despite farmers' efforts to rid themselves of corvid pests, their attempts have only expanded corvid territories, and strengthened their numbers.

Contrary to earlier teleological classifications, in which they were seen as "highest" songbirds due to their intelligence, current systematics might place corvids—based on their total number of physical characteristics, instead of just their brains (which are the most developed of birds)—in the lower middle of the passerine evolutionary tree, dependent on which subgroup is chosen as the most derived. As per one observer:

During the 19th century, there arose the belief that these were the "most advanced" birds, based upon the belief that Darwinian evolution brings "progress." In such a classification, the "most intelligent" of birds were listed last, reflecting their position "atop the pyramid." Modern biologists reject the concept of hierarchical "progress" in evolution.

The other major group of highly intelligent birds of the order Psittaciformes (which includes 'true' parrots, cockatoos, and New Zealand parrots) is not closely related to corvids.

A study found that four-month-old ravens can have physical and social cognitive skills similar to that of adult great apes, and concluded that the "dynamic of the different influences that, during ontogeny, contributes to adult cognition" is required for the study of cognition.
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