Development of cognition in corvids

Abstract

Corvids - members of the crow family - exhibit some of the most sophisticated cognitive abilities outside the primate lineage, yet the developmental origins of many of these abilities remain poorly understood. Here, we present a systematic review of the past 20 years (from 2005) of empirical research on corvid cognitive development, synthesising evidence across core/ foundational, social and physical cognitive domains. Using a structured search strategy and detailed coding framework, we identified 47 relevant studies spanning 16 corvid species. We evaluate and discuss developmental trajectories, species/ taxa-level variation and methodological robustness across studies. For within and between-taxa comparisons, we particularly focus on the best represented abilities in the coded sample: 1) object permanence and caching; 2) tool-use/ manufacture; 3) object manipulation and play; and 4) gaze following. Corvid developmental patterns show both parallels and divergences from those documented in primates and other taxa. However, the existing corvid evidence base is constrained by small samples, captive biases, limited longitudinal data and under-representation of key cognitive abilities, such as executive function, causal reasoning, self-control, metacognition, spatial memory and social learning. We outline critical gaps and future directions, emphasising the need for comparative, longitudinal and ecologically grounded approaches, including the science of magic and Theory of Mind, to better understand how early-life cognition shapes later behaviour, cognition and fitness in this model avian family.