We've long known ravens aren’t your typical bird brain: Myths featuring the wily black bird extend from Aesop’s fables to Native American folklore.

In more recent times, experiments testing the problem-solving capabilities of ravens and their corvid kin, the jays and magpies, have shown these birds have cognition on par with people and some other great apes. (Read how ravens hold grudges against cheaters.)

For instance, a trademark of being human is the flexibility to plan for future events, such as saving for retirement or figuring out a meal for the next morning. Scientists previously believed these behaviors were unique to hominids—humans and great apes—because no other animals, including monkeys, were thought to have such abstract thinking skills.

Now, a