Ravens: Most Intelligent Species Can Detect Cheaters In Cooperation

Ravens are known as one of the most intelligent bird species and as a cooperative species, which is why cognitive biologists from the University of Vienna set up an experiment study to investigate and understand how ravens cooperate.

"From the wild, it was already known that ravens are able to cooperate when, for example, mobbing predators. But using an experimental set-up working with captive ravens now allowed us to investigate how exactly they do so," Jorg Massen, the study's lead-author said in a news release. 

In the experiment, two ravens had to simultaneously pull the two ends of one rope to slide a platform with two pieces of cheese into reach. If one of the birds pulled, the rope would slip through the loops on the platform and the birds were left with the rope and no cheese. Neither of the ravens received any training before the experiment. They instantly solved the task and cooperated successfully.

But they did not work well with everyone, they preferred to work with their friends rather than with their enemies. One of the ravens cheated in the experiment, by taking its own reward along with its companion's reward, according to the researchers. The victim raven noticed this immediately and started to retaliate in the other trials.

"Such a sophisticated way of keeping your partner in check has previously only been shown in humans and chimpanzees, and is a complete novelty among birds," Massen said.

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